The Wild Geese® Texas Championship: MVPs
Colm Smyth
Colm Smyth, Fionn Mac Cumhaills Dallas hails from Abbeylara, Co Longford. Colm has represented his club and a county at all levels to Under -21 as well as representing Dublin City University in Inter-University Competition. Colm’s favoured position is half forward but he plays mid field for Fionn MacCumhaills where he is noted for his high fielding and accurate kicking.
Ciaran Doogan
Born and raised in Dublin, Ciaran attended Bishop Galvin primary school and Templeogue College secondary school. His parish and local GAA club is St. Jude’s, in Templeogue on the south side of the city. Despite the fact that Gaelic football was by far the biggest sport in our Parish, I never actually played it at any organized level while growing up. Mostly Ciaranplayed soccer and a little bit of hurling in primary school. At 15 years of age he joined Dundrum South Dublin Athletic club, and discovered what was ultimately his main sport, distance running. Ciaran went on to win two All Ireland U/18 titles, one in cross-country and one in the 1,500 meters. He then earned an athletic scholarship to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Later, he transferred to UT-Arlington, where I won two Southland Conference Titles in the 5,000 meters. As soon as the GAA club started in Dallas, I knew I wanted to involve myself, even though I had a limited background in the sport. It’s a great group of players. I greatly enjoy the matches and training, and try to learn from the lads with much more experience than myself. My favorite position is really anywhere in the forward line – half or full forward. It has been wonderful to see the growth of the club and the games in Texas.