Spanish student captains St Brigid's to league success

On Friday, May 22, Guzman Ruiz, a 16-year-old Spanish student captained St Brigid’s to the Roscommon U-16 Division 3 league title when they defeated St Michael’s/St Ronan’s in Kilbride.

This achievement marked the culmination of a remarkable sporting story. After all, when Guzman arrived in Ireland in September 2025, he had never even heard of Gaelic football. However, as fate would have it, his host family, the Gallagher family in Curramore, Kiltoom are immersed in GAA activities and, in particular, the St Brigid's club.

Guzman's first experience of Gaelic football was following the St Brigid’s seniors' march to county and provincial success. By the time, the Kiltoom club reached the All-Ireland final, in which they were narrowly defeated by Kerry champions Dingle after extra-time, he was familiar with all of the players, their positions and playing styles. It was also at this time he joined the St Brigid's U-16 panel.

The St Brigid's coaches were immediately struck by Guzman's athleticism, standing about 6 feet, three inches tall and, coming from a basketball background, his fielding skills were superb. His kicking out of the hands needed work though and he applied himself diligently to improving.

As everyone knows this last winter and has been a one to forget, the cold and wet seemed to last forever, or at least a lot longer than normal and certainly not what a Spaniard would be used to!

“We could see he had potential, but the weather was so miserable and ground so mucky, we did not think he would last,” one coach remarked. Last, he did, however.

“With every session, we could see the improvement. Also, he never missed a training session, his enthusiasm for the game really endeared Guzman to the rest of the lads. I’m sure the lads were looking at him and thinking, he’s giving everything to improve and help the team and he’s only being a part of the group for a few months," the coach continued.

The Madrid teenager played in almost every position during the league campaign over the spring - forwards, half-back, midfield and even in goals when the need arose. In fact, such is his love for the sport that he was due to return to Madrid before the final but postponed the journey in order to play.

At the time of writing, Guzman is part of the St Brigid's panel preparing for the U-16 Division 1 final versus St Ciaran's, having defeated Clann na nGael at the semi-final stage. All involved with St Brigid's are hoping that Guzman will return at some point over the summer to don the green and red jersey once again.