Ladies Football All-Stars Head For Singapore

Press Release (March 15th, 2006)

Thirty six of the country’s leading Ladies’ Gaelic
footballers left Dublin yesterday for a week long visit to Singapore
where they will play an exhibition game at the city’s Polo
Grounds on Saturday. It is the second ever tour for the TG4/O’Neill’s
All Stars and the Ladies Football Chief Executive Helen O’Rourke
described it as a ‘landmark’ event for the sport as
she led the party yesterday. ‘It is a measure of the great
progress we have made over the last decade that our All Stars
are travelling to a destination like Singapore,’ she said.
‘It is a clear sign of our growing status and of confidence
amongst our members that we are embarking on an adventure like
this.’

The Ladies’ All Stars toured for the first time just two
years ago when they had a very successful visit to New York. The
game is growing rapidly in Asia with the expatriates being joined
by a growing number of native residents in places like Singapore,
Malaysia and other parts of Asia. ‘One of the most important
elements of this tour will be the coaching sessions our coaches
and the players will undertake in schools in Singapore,’
Helen O’Rourke explained. ‘We have an expanding coaching
programme in North America, New York and Britain and this is an
opportunity to reach out to other members around the world.’

The Chief Executive and the Ladies Football Association President
Geraldine Giles will also meet with officials of the AFL to finalise
plans for an International Rules series for women this year. It
is hoped that a series can he held in Ireland in October.