AMERICAN students swapped basketball for GAA this week as part of a special training session in west Belfast.
Hosted by St Mary’s University College, students travelling from as far as Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania tried their hands at football, camogie and hurling.
The training session was led by coaches at St Mary’s as well as players from Antrim Gaelic Association.
Taniah Marshall from Kentucky said her own sporting skills translated well on to the grass pitch.
"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 said.
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Lilli Evans from Kentucky also brought her volleyball talents to the session.
"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,” she told BBC NI.
"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."
Conor Carlisle from Virginia is already a big fan of Australian football, a sport many GAA players have successfully adapted to over the years.
"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," he said.
Brandon Melhorn from Pennsylvania added: "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.”
Visiting as part of the International Summer School at St Mary’s, the students have also attended the Féile an Phobail.
