The largest-ever Féile Peil na nÓg is expected to attract a crowd of up to 50,000 visitors to the South East to watch the next generation of Gaelic football talent this weekend.
Sponsored by Irish Pride, Féile Peil na nÓg will see a frantic weekend of football activity which commences this Friday, June 26 and will be hosted by 117 clubs across Carlow, Wicklow and Wexford before crowning champions in finals on Sunday.
An institution in the GAA calendar, the Féile weekend for Under-14 boys and girls will see a total of 6,500 players on 235 teams play in 530 matches over the weekend.
Taking part in the unique ‘Féile Experience’ will involve players staying with host families across the region and as well as enjoying a football festival and making new friends from around the country.
On Friday alone, there will be 120 referees in action officiating at games in what is one of the largest juvenile sporting festivals of its kind anywhere in the world.
After months of careful planning and organising and the heroics of the teams to qualify, there is massive excitement now that the final weekend is here.
As well as teams from every county in Ireland playing across ten boys and five girls divisions, there will also be Under-14 teams representing New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia as well as teams from around Britain supplying an International dimension and further illustrating the growth of Gaelic football internationally.
The occasion marks a big milestone for all three counties as their respective newly built County Training Centres at Ferns, Ballinakill and Fenagh will take centre stage.
Logistically, this has been an epic undertaking for Leinster GAA and its organising Committee under the Chairmanship of Peter O Neill from Laois. Together his committee, along with the support of Michael O’Brien and Mick Murphy in Carlow, the Wexford and Wicklow County Committees with the help of the respective Local Authorities, Gardai, Civil Defence, Order of Malta and Johns Ambulance et al, are about to deliver a huge event that will be remembered a lifetime.
Leinster GAA wish every club, every player, every coach and every supporter a warm welcome and hope you have a magnificent time and make many new friends during this mammoth weekend for Carlow and Leinster GAA