BERMUDA'S second season of Gaelic football kicked off this week and novices are urged to get stuck into the sport which combines elements of football, rugby and even basketball.

The first games began on Wednesday at Somersfield Academy but don't hang about if you want to get involved - the four teams only play each other twice.

The sport started here last year in May when organisor Declan Moore and his flatmate got together.

"We noticed there were lots and lots of Irish people living on the island but no Gaelic football."

They pitched it to likely enthusiasts in Docksiders pub and a host of players stepped forward including rugby and football players.

Up to 60 people were turning up for training every week at Somersfield Academy.

Footballs, kits and ref's uniforms were garnered from the headquarters in Ireland and four teams were formed of 15 members. Unlike in Ireland not all 15 take to the pitch at any one time - eight-a-sides workouts are more usual.

Teams named after four Bermuda parishes with an Irish slant with Moore's side the Hamilton Gaels taking the league last year, triumphing over the Devonshire Wolfe Tones, Éire Óg Warwick and Na Fianna Paget.

"It went great, we had a few fundraisers."

The game has also taken off in the Cayman's but in Bermuda it's going stronger.

"We had a really great year last year. This year the novelty has worn off a little bit, people don't want to be training too much ¿ they just want to play games."

Moore urged more people to try the sport where the goals look like rugby posts with soccer nets attached. Scoring a goal past the goalkeeper gets you three points, banging it above the bar but between the posts gets you one.

"We have a few Bermdians but we would like more. Some of the Bermudians who play are very fast. It's a sport that does favour people who can move quickly.

"A lot of the Bermudian guys play basketball ¿ this is about jumping up in the air and catching the ball clean out of the air, above other people. That's what's attractive to people who haven't played it before.

"It's semi-contact. You are not going to get sliding tackles or grabbled to the ground like in rugby but you will get a shoulder and people trying to slap the ball out of your hand. It is half contact but you won't bounce off the ground or dislocate your shoulder.

"It's a kind of hybrid game that suits soccer people, anyone who has played rugby or Aussie Rules.

"You are allowed to bounce the ball once in any run so basketball would come into play.

"It's a great game. In as much as it's a team sport it does promote having the skills to go around people as well as passing and shooting."

Games start at Somersfield at 7.30.

"Last year because of the heat we were playing three stints of 15 minutes," said Moore. But time periods are adapted according to weather, numbers and time constraints.

And there's also a one-day tournament, last year it was at Saltus in October.

"It's a good day out. A lot of people come down to support. This year we will maybe have a beer tent."

Interested in playing Gaelic football? E-mail to bermudagaagmail.com

or dec.mooregmail.com