Aidan Coyle grew up in the Philadelphia area and graduated from Abington High School, but his Irish roots led him on a journey to his father’s homeland, writes Andy Watters for The Irish News.

Coyle fell in love with Gaelic football which contains elements of baseball, soccer, and basketball, and is spending a year with his father’s family in the small village of Pomeroy in Northern Ireland to play for the Pomeroy Plunketts.

Coyle’s dad and uncles all played for the Pomeroy Plunketts so it is a family tradition. Coyle learned out to play at a club here at home and he loved it.

Then after playing a game for the Pomeroy Reserves during a family holiday in Ireland, he started to wonder what it would be like to live and compete in Ireland.

“Every year you get people coming out to Philadelphia from Ireland to play and I was curious to know whether anyone had ever gone in the opposite direction,” he said.

“I thought it would be a pretty cool experience to spend a year here and really get to know everyone. I’m really thankful to my parents – not only were they okay with me doing this, they encouraged me to do it, and it has been really cool.”

Read more about Abington High School Grad Aidan Coyle and his journey to Ireland in The Irish News.

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