Football In Ireland: Georgia Sees Green

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The Aer Lingus College Football Classic will see Georgia Tech play Boston College in Dublin, Ireland.

College football fans will swarm stadiums across the country this weekend, as the 2016 season begins.

But Georgia Tech will open their season 3,900 miles from their home turf, as they face off against Boston College in Dublin, Ireland.

Three private high school teams from Atlanta will also play there. And a bevy of political and business leaders are tagging along.

Stephen Fowler talks about the business, cultural and athletic connections between Ireland and Georgia.

It’s a sweltering Monday afternoon at the Georgia Tech marching band practice, and most of the students are wearing green in honor of the upcoming trip.

Trombonist Tristen Allen is one of them.  He’s excited, and a little nervous.

“Flying on the plane, I don’t know if I’d call that exciting, per se, more existential terror, but the actual trip itself, Ireland, I’m really looking forward to seeing the nuanced difference in culture.”

Band Director Chris Moore says the trip will see a veritable who’s who in Georgia bring Southern culture and business to Ireland.

“We’re bringing the governor, the mayor, folks from the Board of Regents, the Georgia Tech president, a lot of administrators, executives, CEOs from Atlanta to go over and experience Dublin and the Irish culture.”

There’s a strong history between the Peach State and the Emerald Isle.

An Irish priest saved several Atlanta churches from being burned during the Civil War, and Savannah hosts the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration outside Ireland.

GPB Sports’ Senior Correspondent Jon Nelson says football is another avenue to explore global connections between countries.

“You’re seeing American college foootball expand it’s reach and expand it’s base. And it’s a recruting tool and it’s also a way to expand your brand over time.”

The game comes at a time when the connections between Georgia and Ireland are growing stronger.

Companies like Coca-Cola, UPS and Equifax have invested in the country. 

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent is one of the business leaders joining Gov. Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on this weekend’s trip.

Irish companies like building materials maker Oldcastle and call center firm Voxpro are expanding their presence in the state.

Nelson says football serves as a logical economic extension.

“Athletics is big business now, and when you have sponsors tied to athletics, it rubs off and it’s almost a trickle-down theory of sports economics, I guess is the best way to phrase it, where you have all of these different tentacles overlapping each other and the centerpiece is that football game."

The state has a growing trade relationship with Ireland, exporting $146 million in goods and importing almost $800 million every year.

Shane Stephens is the country’s Consul General in Atlanta.

“I think this is going to put Georgia and Atlanta more on the map, make people think about the area more, and when they look into the details, they’re going to find it very attractive.”

So the cultural and economic ties are there, but why Georgia football, and why now?

Stephens says he noticed that football energizes people in Georgia, and he hopes bringing that to Ireland will create a “love affair” between the state and his country.

On the high school side, Blessed Trinity, Marist and Westminster high schools are packing up for their own cultural excursions. Westminster Athletic Director Tim Downes explains that the primary draw for the students isn’t the game.

“The idea of making this meaningful both in terms of athletics but also academic and cultural was the key piece to this. We would not be going to Dublin Ireland to play a football game.”

Avery Rodts is a team captain of the Westminister squad who has plenty he’s looking forward to on this trip.

“I’m looking forward to bonding with my teammates, I’m looking forward to getting our first win of the season, and also seeing some of the sights.”

As far as the sights they’ll see, there are three cultural excursions in between practices. This is a school trip, after all.

“We’ve created a fun scavenger hunt for our students to have some fun but also do a little bit of learning about Ireland and Irish culture.”

The Georgia Tech-Boston College game will be in Aviva Stadium in Dublin, in front of a crowd of more than 48,000. Almost half of those in attendance will be coming from outside Ireland.

For those of you traveling to Ireland this weekend or in the future, Consul General Stephens has a few words.

“Céad míle fáilte – which is 100,000 welcomes, and go n-éirí an bóthar leat, which is, the best of luck to you in our native language Irish.”