OTTAWA to Belfast, 3000 miles give or take, but an easy journey for Kerry Mortimer to make given what was happening on the Irish side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Ballymena native, who moved to Canada when she was just five years of age, was representing the Ottawa Gaels club as they collected the 2018 Irish News Club and Volunteer Overseas award at the Wellington Park Hotel last week.
“It’s a small world but within the GAA it’s an even smaller world,” said Kerry, who is the club’s PRO.
Kerry, who can count Antrim defender Ryan McCambridge amongst her relatives, was doubling up by visiting family in the Cushendall area, and she said that it was very important that someone from the Gaels could be there to collect the award.
“Our club founder Pat Kelly, who is still very involved in our club, when I let him know about this award it was very important to him that someone be here to accept it,” she said.
“He said ‘one of us needs to go’. I said he should go but he wasn’t available so he told me to go.
“It’s perfect for me because my family is from Antrim, I moved from Ballymena when I was five but my cousins are in Cushendall.”
The club quite literally fought off competition from around the world to collect the coveted prize with their commitment to underage coaching really catching the judges’ eyes.
The Gaels have flown out students from Ulster to teach Gaelic games in local schools while they have also developed a link with St Mary’s University, Belfast.
While Ottawa has always had a rich Irish tradition, especially in the Lowertown part of the city, Kerry said that it’s relatively small population meant that targeting the schools was essential.
“Almost 20 years ago now is when we really started focusing on youth development,” she said.
“We don’t have a lot of Irish immigration, we don’t have a lot of ex-Pats in Ottawa. Vancouver and Toronto would have a really big Irish population so they have really strong senior teams, county players, and a very strong programme.
“We know that we have to go really grassroots. In our youth programme we’re going into schools and working with Ulster has been great in helping us source coaches.
“We have brought over coaches because we’re all volunteers so we can’t be in the schools Monday to Friday.
“There’s no county development officer in Canada so we, as a club, took it upon ourselves to invest in it.
“We raised money and raised funds to pay for someone to come over. The first year we did a six-week project, the next year we brought two coaches, Emmett Stewart from Derry and Angela Stevenson from Tyrone, and they came over for three months.
“The next year they came over for three months again and now Angela is with us full time since January.
“There is that much demand. Kids love it, teachers love it.”
For Kerry, the recognition from the Irish News gives them the ability to demonstrate to their members just how crucial a part they play in the GAA, even if they are on the other side of the world.
“I think it is quite inspiring and as an overseas club, it gives us a connection to Ireland and the heart of the GAA.
“We are this international unit and we doing our thing, but they (club members) don’t really see or hear the connection.
“It gives them an interest and gets them more connected to the global community of the GAA.
“It really means a lot, everyone was really excited to hear that we were being appreciated for what we do.”
