GAA sports introduced to American students in Belfast

Taniah Marshall is part a group of university students visiting Northern Ireland for the first time

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Taniah Marshall from Kentucky thinks the sports are similar after trying her first Gaelic football hand pass.

"It's really easy to catch and use my hands because that's what I do in basketball so that's been easy to pick up," she tells BBC News NI.

She is one of more than 20 students from three US states who are playing Gaelic sports for the first time.

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They took to the pitch at St Mary's University College in west Belfast for an intense coaching session in football, camogie and hurling.

Coaches from St Mary's and players from the Antrim Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) development squad were on hand to help.

Fast learners

Taniah is not the only one to try to find a reference point in other more familiar sports.

For Lilli Evans, also from Kentucky, experience of playing volleyball helped.

"I played volleyball for a lot of years," she says.

Hand passes are no problem for experienced volleyball player Lilli

"The passes are a lot similar to the serves we have in America, and the hand eye co-ordination is a huge part of American sports and Gaelic sports as well.

"It's interesting to see how it's similar to a lot of sports we have in the States so I feel like that's part of the reason why we've been able to pick it up quickly."

Within 10 minutes of being thrown a ball, Lilli and Taniah are running and passing off both hands.

Elsewhere on the pitch, Connor Carlisle from Virginia and Brandon Melhorn from Pennsylvania are also paired up and passing well.

"I've watched Australian football," says Conor.

"When the pandemic hit that was the only thing on so some of the rules transfer over, like the hand hitting but it's been a lot of fun playing it so far."

Connor is trying out Gaelic football for the first time and sees similarities with Aussie rules football

He had also played baseball when he was younger so was hopeful that learning to hurl would not be too much of a challenge.

For Brandon, Gaelic football reminds him of a range of other sports.

"It's a mixture of rugby, of football and a little different from everything so I love it. It's a good sport but I haven't really known about it before coming here," he says.

For Taniah, Lilli, Connor, Brandon and the other students, learning about Gaelic football, camogie and hurling is just one part of their visit.

They are here as part of the International Summer School at St Mary's University College and have also been taking part in Féile an Phobail.

For all of them, it is their first trip to Northern Ireland.

The group's trip has coincided with Féile an Phobail's 35th anniversary events

A recent Kenneth Branagh hit film and a documentary about Holy Cross Boys Primary School in north Belfast featured in Connor's research.

"We watched the movie Belfast and then we watched a documentary called Young Plato," he says.

"People have been really nice, it's been cheaper than I thought it would be and we've got really good weather the last couple of days - which was a bit surprising - but I've really enjoyed it so far."

'Everyone is super friendly'

First impressions from the others are also positive.

"What's stood out is how much you all value your community and the work you put into making sure your community is whole and united," says Taniah.

"I think that's been one of the biggest takeaways from my visit."

For Lilli, Belfast is "fairly similar to the American south I've found - the hospitality and the smaller city vibe".

Brandon is enjoying seeing the sights of Northern Ireland during his trip

Brandon is already planning a longer visit.

"Everyone is super friendly here, like everybody," he says.

"I've been to different regions across Northern Ireland.

"I was up at Larne, I've been across the city already in three days and everybody has been super friendly.

"Everybody loves to have a good time, the food's excellent.

"I like it lot."