About Us

The Western Canada Division (WCD), with its 5 (five) affiliated clubs, is a Division within the Canadian County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is one of two Division's in Canada, Toronto's Division having 7 (seven) affiliated clubs. There are also clubs in Ottawa, Quebec City, and Montreal. The 3 (three) founding clubs, the Calgary Chieftains, Edmonton Wolfe Tones, and the Vancouver Harps, have been joined by Red Deer Eire Og (2008) and the Vancouver Celts (2009).

For comparisons sake, any region in Ireland has a “Division” within a “County” Board which organises all competitions in that region and holds teams there accountable to the rules of the GAA. Since there are less clubs, there is only one county board for Canada.

The Western Canada Divisional Board is made up of members from each club in the Division.

What We Do:

The Western Canada Divisional Board (WCDB) legitimizes Gaelic football in Western Canada by our membership in the GAA. The board represents the teams in the Western Canadian region - Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and most recently Red Deer. Through this board the Championships of the region are structured, policed (if necessary) and managed.

Teams in the Division compete for the “Western Canadian Championship” which is held annually. New clubs wishing to enter the “ Championship” need to join the Division prior to entry.

The Western Canada Division Board is a registered society headquartered in Alberta (as this is the treasurer’s address). This status enables it to apply for funding with the province and other entities.

The Western Canada Division Board aims to grow the Gaelic Sports in Western Canada, from juvenile to adult levels, through the initiatives of members in each city within the division. In the future, these initiatives will see more teams join the Western Canada Division, further increasing the number of competitive teams in our Provinces.

Some tangible benefits that the WCDB is responsible for are, as follows,

Western Canadian Championship

In 2004, the first formal GAA sanctioned Western Canadian Championships were played. The Divisional Board, in order to facilitate tournaments that include unaffiliated teams (i.e. not in the Western Canada Divisional Board), and to allow each team host critical games (understanding the travel distances between venues), agreed that the Championship would be played out in a League format. Each member team would play each other team twice, over two tournaments. The venue for Championship games would be rotated so that each team is required to cross the Rockies only once each year. Only the 5 member clubs (5 men's teams, & 3 ladies teams) compete in this Championship.

Rules

The 2010 Western Canadian Championships (WCC’s) in Gaelic Football will be decided on a League basis, with teams playing for the “Tom Butler” (Men’s) and “Tom Gibbons” (Ladies) Cups.

Teams will play each other twice during the course of the season, at each of the two "all-team" tournaments. In the event of teams being level on points after the final round of games, play-offs will determine the winner.

The Competing teams are as follows:

Men’s (Five [5] Teams) : Calgary Chieftains, Edmonton Wolfe Tones, Red Deer Eire Og, Vancouver Celts & Harps

Ladies’ (Three [3] Teams) : Calgary Chieftains, Edmonton Wolfe Tones, and Vancouver Harps

 

WCD League/Championship Rules:

  1. 2 pts for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss.
  2. Teams play each other once, in round-robin.
  3. Teams must list their representative panel and players must be paid up, registered members of the WCD Clubs (per the by-laws). WCD Player Registrations and Club Fees are due Jun 27, 2009. This representative panel must be the same that plays out the remainder of the tournament.
  4. CCT (Championship Club Transfers) will be in effect for those clubs that expect lower turn-out at tournaments.
  5. Due to pitch size, the number of players per team will be as follows:
    9-a-side for matches involving a team with a squad of 11 or fewer,
    11-a-side for matches involving a team with a squad of 13 or greater.
    for matches involving a team with a squad of 12, the squad with 12 can decide to play either 9- or 11- a-side.
  6. A team must field a regulation (see Rule 5) team with no more than two players less than the alloted.  (i.e. if the squad can field 11-a-side, then that team must have 9 or more players or they forfeit)
  7. Though squads may be as large as a Club wishes, each team can only play 18 individual players in the course of any individual Championship fixture. Squad rotation is allowed, but these 18 players must be named and presented to the referee prior to throw-in.
  8. The number of Substitutions are unlimited, but the referree must be made aware of them (at breaks in play) and subs must enter the field at the appointed locations at pitchside. The referee must be notified of any substitutions as they are being made. The 7 or 9 players (depending on Item 5 above) that are available for substitutions, and up to 5 coaches, must be inside the substitution area at pitchside.
  9. If a team fails to produce a team or the designated number of players, then that team will be considered to have automatically lost that tie by 5-5 (20pts). In cases where 2 teams fail to field a team for their fixture, both teams will be judge to have lost that tie by 5-5 (20pts).
  10. A table, (see below), shall be posted at the end of a round-robin play to show the Championship standings.
    Table
  11. If two or more teams are tied on points their position will be determined by the following means:
    • their record against each other (if both lost a game then their record in the next three bullets is compared)
    • their points difference (total score for minus total score against)
    • their total score for
    • their total points (over the bar) for
  12. If First place can not be clearly determined on Final Points (per the table above), then there shall be play-offs to determine the Champion. Play-off Scenarios are detailed below.

IN THE EVENT OF PLAY-OFF REQUIREMENT (See Item 12), refer to the following directions.

The Rulings of the Western Canada Division in relation to all Championship Decisions shall be based on the Rules as laid out in this document. This document has been distributed amongst the competing teams and all instructions are deemed to be understood and accepted by all competing clubs.

The Tom's

In November, 2007, the Western Canada Division was approached by some of the Irish community in Greater Vancouver and a formal request was made that 2 perpertual trophies could be dedicated to two local Members of the GAA community in Vancouver (& coincidently, 2 great friends), in order:

The other clubs in the Division were contacted and it was unanimously agreed that the Cups be accepted. So, in 2008, for the very first time, the Men of the Western Canada Division will battle for the Tom Butler Cup and the Ladies' will vie for the Tom Gibbons Cup.

Tom Butler

In 1951 Tom Butler and his wife Teresa (nee Ryan), who had been childhood neighbours in their hometown of Kilmaine, Co. Mayo, arrived in Vancouver to begin a new life in Canada along with their children, Mary Ann and Kevin. In the years that followed their arrival, almost every new Irish emigrant to Vancouver became aware of Tom and Teresa’s address and phone number. There was always a warm welcome and many a party hosted at their home.

So in 1957, Tom was not surprised to receive a call from another new immigrant called Tom Gibbons asking him to come downtown to meet up with him. Butler asked where he would like to meet and Gibbons replied, “Under the shagging sun!” Butler was bewildered, “Under the shagging sun?” It turns out that Gibbons was referring to the old Sun Building on West Broadway in Vancouver. They met up and the two became good friends.

Tom Butler was a supporter of the GAA’s first club, called the Vancouver Sons of Erin who formed in 1961 and went on to the win a Northwest Championship on July 27, 1962 over Seattle and Portland. The club went to San Francisco, that summer, to battle for the Western NACB Championship.

The Sons of Erin wound down and Tom turned his GAA support to the Vancouver Irish Sporting and Social Club that formed in 1974. He would see the 1984 and 1985 Northwest Champions go on to Boston and Chicago to battle for the North American Junior crown. Vancouver would later travel to Calgary in June 1990 with their trainer, Tom Butler, and in 1991 Tom would serve on the ISSC executive. Tom made it to all of the tournament cities, at one time or another, in the Pacific Northwest.

A few years later, Tom lost his dear wife, Teresa and many at her funeral remember the late Danny Burns singing his signature ballad song, ‘GRACE’, as a tribute to a person who was deeply mourned.

As the name suggests, the Irish Sporting and Social Club encompasses both a sporting and a social element. Seeing individuals meet and becoming couples through the club is testimony to its success as a social entity. Well, by God, how good it was when Catholine Egan and Tom Butler met, hooked up, became two mad lovers, and married in 1994. The Celtic Connection newspaper was marrying into the GAA! There is no doubt that our games in Western Canada have thrived because of this “love connection” of the Celtic Connection and the GAA.

This is no “Lifetime Achievement Award” night, signifying that’s it, Tom, you’re done! Using the words of our good friend, Tom Gibbons, “No shagging way!” This is a time to honour you, and to remind you, Tom, that there are numbers of Irish community organizations here that want you to sign on with them and help them out for St. Patrick’s Day and possibly sell some of those 2008 Irish Women Network calendars. But we understand that you’ve been ‘contracted’ out to deliver the Celtic Connection papers up until the Winter Olympics are finally staged….one day, in Ireland. Catholine, let him have tomorrow off and to you Tom, let us raise a glass and say “Slainte”.

Tom Gibbons

Tom Gibbons (Thomastown, Kilkenny) came to Vancouver in 1957 where he met Agnes Morrison (Belfast). They would marry that year at St. Augustine's Church on October 23 and were later blessed with four children, Teresa, Thomas, Liam and Kieron.

With Tom's love for the Gaelic games, he supported the Vancouver Sons of Erin Gaelic Football club in the early 60's. In the 70's up until the late 90's, he contributed to the Vancouver Irish Sporting and Social Club. He cheered from the side lines, volunteered to officiate, lined the fields of play and often took beaten up old hurls and gave them the attention needed for an "extended" playing life, as only a true hurling man from Kilkenny could do.

At half time, in any Gaelic football match, it would be Tom leading the charge of hurling enthusiasts to give a mighty exhibition of skill at John Hendry Park.

Tom was delighted that his sons took an interest with the Gaelic games. A proud moment for him being when his son, Liam, was awarded the Nick Forrestal Memorial Trophy in 1990 as the "Most Promising Young Canadian". That same year, at a Seattle tournament, a senior merit medal was awarded to Tom along with two crystal glasses as a token of appreciation for his work as a referee.

The All Ireland Football finals were brought in "live" for the first time in Vancouver in 1990 at St. Augustine's School. Tom was the custodian at the school and was well known for the standard of his "Shaggin" work.

In July 1998, Tom was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to the Gaelic games at the Bailey's Cup and JJ Hyland Memorial Tournament. It also gave him great satisfaction to see both the men and lady footballers of Vancouver win all the trophies that year.

On the day of his death, Dec. 10 1998, Gaels from around the Pacific Northwest traveled to salute Tom, give thanks for his efforts with the Irish community and offered their condolences to Agnes and his family. Each time Tom's trophy is lifted by a ladies championship team in the years to come - we will remember him.