The 2014 Peach Cup, sponsored by Ri Ra’s Irish Pub, was held in Georgia Soccer Park on Saturday June, 7th. Teams from across the Southeast and Mid-West travelled to attend the only tournament in the Southeast which caters for all four codes of Gaelic Games. Tournament Director Annie Greenwood presided over the opening ceremony which included renditions of both the Irish and American national anthems accompanied by live music from Irish Traditions Atlanta. In addition, Paul Gleeson, the Irish Consulate General in Atlanta, welcomed all participating teams and outlined the growth of Gaelic Games in the southern United States. Media coverage of the tournament, including the special report below, was provided by Irish journalist Jerome Quinn throughout the weekend in a new departure for the Peach Cup.
Camogie
Five teams (Atlanta Red & Blue teams, Denver, St Louis & Southeast) competed for the Peach Cup in the largest camogie tournament ever held in the Southeast. The tournament took on a round robin format with each team playing four games to maximize playing time. Both Atlanta teams won a combined seven out of eight games on the day. The opening game of the tournament between the two Atlanta squads proved decisive with the Red team coming out on top to capture the Peach Cup. Congrats to Captain Sarah Spiller & tournament MVP Zoe Beato. Special thanks to Atlanta coach Rob Kiely who refereed every camogie game over 5 hours on a very hot day.
Red team: Sarah Spiller, Zoe Beato, Jen Beato, Kristin Cardell, Annie Greenwood, Karina Clarke, Carey McCarthy, Lauren Alexander, Liz Gildea, Lisa Diaz & Danielle Lanfear
Blue team: Cathi Dugger, Fiona O’Donoghue, Ashley Harmon, Kirsten Bendik, Jolene Glenn, Amanda DuShane, Ashley Harel, Kat Michaels, Asha Peplinski & Virginia Varela-Eyre
Ladies Football
Atlanta played off two games with Charlotte ladies followed by a pick-up game between both squads to round off the day. Both games were competitive but Charlotte proved to be too strong for the Atlanta girls on both occasions. Congrats to Lisa Diaz, Sandra Hurtado & Amelia Sevier for making their competitive debuts for Atlanta in this tournament.
Atlanta squad: Laoise O’Driscoll, Becky Biggs, Cathi Dugger, Becky Brown, Catherine Burke, Kristen Hennek, Cathy Rheinhardt, Carly Harrington, Megan Sliver, Sandra Hurtado, Linda Abbaray, Amelia Sevier & Lisa Diaz
Hurling
The growth of hurling was again to be seen with teams from Atlanta (x 2), Greenville, Charleston, Orlando & Nashville competing for the Peach Cup. It was particularly encouraging to see the Nashville club entering their first competitive tournament one year into its existence.
Atlanta 1 defeated Nashville (3-6 to 1-1) but lost to holders Greenville (2-2 to 3-5) in the group stages. Atlanta 2 defeated Charleston (2-9 to 3-2) but lost to Orlando (3-7 to 3-8) due to an injury time goal. Orlando defeated Greenville (8-5 to 5-3) to capture the Peach Cup.
It was encouraging to see Adrian Kelly, Andrew Wilson, Bill Hayward & Ciaran Lee play their first competitive hurling games for Atlanta in the Peach Cup. Thanks to Kieran Claffey from Atlanta & Liam McKenna from Orlando who refereed all games in the hurling tournament.
Atlanta 1: David O’Donoghue, Brian Laughlin, Johnny O’Sullivan, Ciaran Boland, Dan Kuemmerle, Malcolm Harris, Paddy Lynch, Adrian Kelly, Peter Molloy, Andrew Wilson, Ciaran Lee & Bill Hayward
Atlanta 2: Paul Bradley, Andrew Dodd, Phillip Groover, Stuart Kelly, Andrew Kender, Kyle Hosmer, Trey O’Callaghan, Brian Canavan & Kieran Cronin
Gaelic Football
In the opening game of the tournament, Atlanta defeated a Raleigh side in a compelling encounter. Atlanta’s ability to score goals at crucial stages was the difference between the sides in spite of a spirited comeback from Raleigh. In the second game of the day, Atlanta were defeated by Charlotte. Congrats to Charlotte who retained the Peach Cup by remaining undefeated through the tournament. Well done to Matt Beloin, Micheal Smith, Brian Canavan, Craig McIvor, Cortez Beato, Bill Hayward, Kyle Hosmer, James Logue, Ciaran Lee & Ben Greenwood who made their competitive Gaelic Football debuts for Atlanta in this tournament.
Atlanta: Ray Treacy, Andrew Kender, Matt Beloin, Micheal Smith, Alan Corr, Paul Bradley, Chris Kendrick, Brian Canavan, Cormac McCormack, Noel Kierans, David Molony, Kieran Cronin & Neil Jordan. Subs: Craig McIvor, Cortez Beato, Bill Hayward, Dan Kuemmerle, Kyle Hosmer, James Logue, Padraig Greene, Bill Hayward, Trey O’Callaghan, Ciaran Lee & Ben Greenwood
Youth Clinic
For the second year in a row, a youth clinic was held as part of the Peach Cup. With the assistance of Stephen Quigley, Southeast Board Youth Development Officer, a skills demonstration for kids was held to showcase the skills of Hurling & Gaelic Football. Led by coaches Brendan Crowley & Cormac McCormack, all kids subsequently participated in scrimmages in both codes. This session rounded off the Spring season for the Atlanta youth program and provides good momentum towards the rest of the year. Further details of the Fall youth program will be announced at a later date.
Thanks to Annie Greenwood who put in six months of work on this tournament & all the club volunteers who made this day possible. Finally, more photos from the day can be seen in our gallery.