St. Patrick’s day festivities are revving up in Greater Cleveland, and another large Irish event is gaining steam: the 2013 Skylight Financial Group North American County Board Gaelic Games Finals. Scheduled for Labor Day Weekend (August 30 – September 1), the event will bring over 1,500 Gaelic Football, hurling and camogie athletes to North Olmsted’s Barton-Bradley Sports Complex. The event, which was awarded to the Midwest Gaelic Athletic Association and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission in 2011, will also feature a cultural festival, beer garden and live music.
“The Midwest Gaelic Athletic Association is excited with the support of Skylight Financial Group, the City of North Olmsted and North Olmsted Mayor Kevin Kennedy. We are on track to creating the most memorable NACB Gaelic Games Finals in history and much of that progress is due to the support we are receiving from Greater Cleveland,” stated Mark Owens, Chairman of the Midwest Gaelic Athletic Association and local chapter St. Pat’s Gaelic Football Club.
Gaelic football is played by teams of 13 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary objective is to score by driving the ball in the goal under the crossbar for 3 points or by kicking the ball through the uprights over the crossbar for 1 point.