Roaming With the Roddens: Year two of Gaelic Football with the Kuwait Harps

Joe was very excited about the second year of GAA here in the Middle East. Following his recognition as Rookie of the Year for the club last season, Joe was named as the Captain of the men's B squad. This was a great honor from the club and he took it very seriously, continually surprising Lindsay with his dedication as he thought through strategy, lineups, and the best ways to help the coaching team train the lads. Gaelic football has grown so rapidly in the Middle East and the level of competition from last year had risen quite a bit. In 2014, the men won the Middle East Championship in the intermediate division and the B squad lost in the final of the junior division.

This year started off great for Joe's B squad, as they brought home a trophy from the first tournament of the year in Bahrain. It was the first trophy ever for the men's B team and everyone was ecstatic! That was the only trophy they won this year, but the team improved quite a bit and had a good season overall. At the Middle East Championship, they actually decimated the Bahrain team that won the title in 2014. That just shows you how much the competition improved as more and more Irish move to the Arabian Golf region for work and opportunity. Dubai (UAE), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Doha (Qatar), Al Ain (UAE), and Sharjah (UAE) are all growing rapidly and they all have many more players to choose from when it comes time for tournaments. Because of this, Joe is very proud with how well his men did throughout the year. The Kuwait Harps are the only club in the Middle East who don't have a full-sized field to train on. We also have the fewest members, so when you consider these points, along with the fact that the B team is mostly non-Irish competing against teams comprised of mostly Irish, it is amazing the success we do have. Everyone is happy with the performance of the team this year.

The men's A team saw a couple of key players, including the club Player of the Year, move out of Kuwait. They also had a tough run of injuries throughout the season and did not make it to a single tournament with the top 12 men able to play. This was the Harps' first year as a member of the Middle East League and the men finished fourth (of ten) in the intermediate division. They did win trophies at two of the tournaments, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, and played well considering the injuries and the losses of some key players. Joe played with the A team in Al Ain. We are very proud of how he and the team performed. En route to winning the plate final, the boys played Abu Dhabi, who ended the season as intermediate champions, to a draw. It was a fine performance that they honestly should have won. Joe enjoyed the step up in competition and is very appreciative to have had the chance to play with the top squad at least once while here in Kuwait.

The women, who had not lost a tournament in two years heading into this season, saw some stiff competition from Al Ain for the league title. They developed a fierce rivalry as each team won two rounds of the league tournaments and they actually had to play a deciding match immediately after the final one of the fourth tournament. Exhausted and worn out, our lady Harps took control and won the league title! They followed that up with a victory at the Middle East Championship to bring home their fourth trophy of the season and the two that mattered the most! The girls will be promoted to the senior division for next season, an impressive feat considering most of the team is from the US and Canada!

At the end of the year, Joe was honored as the club's Person of the Year by his fellow Harps. This is one of the greatest honors Joe has received and an even nicer acknowledgement than his Rookie of the Year award previously. The Harps have become our Kuwaiti family and they could not have honored Joe in a greater way. Joe has truly fallen in love with Gaelic football and wishes he had found this sport a decade earlier! Other than baseball, Gaelic is his favorite sport and he would have loved to have started playing while younger. The time with the Kuwait Harps has easily been the highlight of our two years here and we have made many lifelong friends. They are our Kuwait family and will be brothers and sisters forever. Here are a few of the many shots from this season's tournaments.