Monthly Update: April

The long-awaited April blog post is finally here! Applause. There is a lot to catch up on, so let’s get straight into it.

To talk about April, we first have to talk about the weather. In Dutch, there is a saying: “April doet wat die wil,” which translates to “April does as it pleases.” That perfectly sums up the weather we experienced during training and activities this month. From pouring rain and icy winds to sunny summer evenings, we really had it all. Safe to say, the weather app became our closest friend. Despite the chaos, we still had loads of great craic throughout the month.

One of those warm and sunny evenings was reserved for our annual clothing swap. We gathered in Siep’s garden to sort through clothes in preparation for our King’s Day fundraiser. You could call it the annual Nijmegen GFC spring clean: everyone goes through their wardrobe beforehand and brings along clothes they no longer wear. While organising and sorting the donations, we also swapped clothes among ourselves. It turned into a lovely evening filled with good food, chats, laughs, and, of course, some excellent new outfit additions.

On the 18th of April, it was time for Round 2 of the Benelux tournaments in Frankfurt. Despite the long journey and somewhat lower numbers, we had a fantastic weekend with great results and even better craic. We drove to Frankfurt the day before the tournament, and to give you an idea of what a tournament weekend feels like: imagine a family road trip, just without the fights in the back seat and maybe with a bit more drinking. After a 4–5 hour drive, we arrived in Frankfurt and started the evening with a few drinks. Yes, it was the night before the tournament, but in our defence, we kept things reasonably responsible. The proof was in the results: the girls won every game except the final, while the lads also put in some strong performances. The girls teamed up with Luxembourg, and the lads joined forces with Maastricht. Overall, it was a brilliant day with good weather, strong performances, and plenty of craic.

A week later, we had what is probably the most competitive social event of the season: laser tag. We take it just as seriously as Gaelic football, maybe even more seriously. We do, however, have a bit of a club legend when it comes to laser tag: Luize. Every year, she somehow manages to come out on top, and this time was no different. She finished an impressive 7th worldwide on the day, which speaks for itself at this point. Besides laser tag, there were plenty of other activities, including mini golf and a “floor is lava” game, which brought out everyone’s competitive side once again. Overall, it was another really fun evening for the club, with lots of laughs and full of good vibes.

Then came one of the biggest days of the month: our King’s Day fundraiser on the 27th of April. For all the non-Dutch lads reading this, King’s Day (Koningsdag) is a bit like St. Patrick’s Day, except instead of celebrating Ireland, we celebrate our King’s birthday. Rather than wearing green, the entire country turns in our national colour, orange, because our royal family name is Van Oranje, literally meaning “of Orange.” King’s Day is a national holiday, with street parties, festivals, and free markets taking place all across the country. We spent the day running our own stand at the market in Goffertpark, selling the clothes and items we had collected during the clothing swap and received as donations.

As always, the weather was beautiful, which somehow always seems to happen on King’s Day. A great group of club members spent the day behind the stand, with the Irish, Dutch, and Nijmegen GFC flags waving proudly in the background. Naturally, we also had Irish music playing all day. Leaning into the stereotype definitely helped the sales. Between the haggling, the laughs, and the steady stream of visitors, it turned into another fantastic club day with great craic and good sales.

All in all, April gave us a bit of everything: unpredictable weather, tournaments, socials, fundraisers, and plenty of good memories together. Bring on May!