This summer saw 144,494 children pitch up at one of 1,300 Cúl Camps amid a proliferation of jerseys, zip tops and backpacks
GAA Cúl Camps: cultural touchstone creating a children’s uniform for the Irish summerThe phenomenon of the GAA Cúl Camps gear is a fad that is fast evolving into a cultural touchstone. It has become a uniform of Irish summers that spills over to Irish autumns, winters and springs. And as with any popular legacy clothing range, it has got a strong back catalogue too.
Such was the proliferation of the jerseys and zip tops and backpacks on certain ferry crossings this summer that overseas visitors would have been forgiven for assuming the army of little people bombing around deck were actually part of the crew, all helpfully kitted out in the same garish bright tops so as to be easily identifiable should one require assistance. Good luck with that!
The Cúl Camps generate about€10 million per year – after the costs of manufacturing the gear, its delivery, paying the coaches and everything else associated with facilitating such an operation, the GAA aims to break even. Kellogg’s took over the sponsorship for the 2012 camps and have remained the title sponsor since. It is estimated it pays in the region of €400,000 per year.“It gives you access to a notoriously difficult group to reach. And with the tops and bags, you then have nearly 150,000 walking billboards that don’t just last an advertising cycle, they last a full year until the next camp comes around.”
“The kids will decide which design it should be for the following year – we go with the most popular.” “It gives me great delight seeing the gear, you’d nearly be wanting to go over to ask the kid: ‘Where are you from, what’s your club?’ From where it started, it’s fantastic,” says the former GAA president.“It’s unavoidable,” adds Ferguson. “I’ve seen backpacks on everyone from parents to grandparents. And sometimes you see families with the archive of Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps kits where each child is wearing one from a different year.
The camps had to be stripped back for the covid-impacted summer of 2020 where a reduced number hosted 71,000 kids, but it has grown again in the years since. But there is no escaping a sense the gear from the GAA camps has become a badge of identity for many kids. It’s a Cúl Cult!
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