Kilkee woman brings camogie to Toronto

A Kilkee woman has played a central role in the formation of the Toronto Camogie Club, which has enjoyed huge success in its first year.

Leanne Fitzgerald emigrated to Toronto in Canada just over two years ago. “Having been inspired by the Toronto Hurling Club, which was set up in late 2010, I had a chat with a few friends and we agreed to order a dozen hurleys from Ireland and see if we could interest other girls in the sport of camogie,” Leanne told The Clare Champion this week.

“We started to meet up once a week in the summer of 2011 and the club was born. We headed to the New York Sevens in October 2011 for our first tournament and gave a good account of ourselves by reaching the semi-finals.

We worked through the winter of 2011 getting the club officially set up and we affiliated with the Toronto GAA,” Leanne explained.

“Since starting back into our season in April 2012, the club has gained huge momentum. We have had 67 different girls out all summer with consistently 30 to 35 at training, a sure sign of the big Irish numbers coming into Canada. This year, we have taken part in the Cleveland Sevens tournament, set up our own seven-a-side league in the city, which we ran through June and July and we also took part in the North American Championships in Philadelphia the first week of September. We took home the senior camogie title, the first Canadian team to do so and the first Canadian team to bring home any title since 1976. The club has gone from strength to strength and has now become a community in itself,” said Leanne.

Leanne’s father, John, is a native of Adare in Limerick and, not surprisingly, has a keen interest in hurling.

“Leanne didn’t play any club camogie here before she emigrated but we spent a lot of time pucking a hurling ball here at home and in the handball alley in Querrin. She played underage ladies’ football with Kilkee,” John said.

According to Limerick woman Trish Griffin, “Sixteen Irish counties are represented on our team, Kilkenny, Offaly, Dublin, Wicklow, Westmeath, Louth, Down, Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Kerry, Clare, Cork, Tipperary and Limerick. We also have three Canadian girls with Irish connections.”

“The benefits of the club are far-reaching. Not only does it provide us Irish girls with a sporting and social outlet but it has also given us a chance to play one of our national sports. There are a few very experienced players on our team, who played camogie competitively at home but for the majority, it was the first time most of us had picked up a hurley since the Cúl Camps of our childhoods, or for some, it was the first time they held a hurley”, Trish added.

According to both Leanne and Trish, “It can be tough being so far from home. To be part of something as special as this club this summer has served to highlight just how lucky we all are to be here and to share in these experiences together. It is safe to say that the Toronto Camogie Club will continue to feature in all of our lives. We have created our own little parish here and we are very proud of it.”