12 December 2005 Report on the 2005 Shanghai Asian Games Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Shanghai Asian Games 2005 Marie Gelsinen was kind enough to forward about 50 pages of comment and reports on the Asian Games the following gives us a flavour of whats happening in that part of the world Shanghai welcomed the DHL Asian Gaelic Games to China for the first time from the 23rd to 25th of September 2005, The annual Asian Gaelic Games, the largest amateur sport event in Asia, featured both Gaelic Football and Hurling. The event showcased the best of Ireland’s sport and culture and attracted over 30 teams, more than 450 athletes from more than 10 countries, and welcomed close to 2500 spectators. To leverage Enterprise-Ireland role as a main sponsor and contribute to Ireland and Enterprise-Ireland profile and reputation with the public, a PR was initiated to including a Media Day, a Kids Day, and an Opening Ceremony was implemented. The Media Gaelic Football Day, held on 10th September 2005, two weeks before the Asian Gaelic Games Opening Ceremony, introduced media to Gaelic Football and generated initial coverage for the tournament. In a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, 8 influential journalists attended the briefing and learned how to play Gaelic football. After the training, journalists chatted with team members to learn about the Shanghai teams’ hopes of winning the Football tournament and why they wanted to take part in the event. On September 14th, during Children’s Day, the Shanghai Gaelic Football Club, with the support of Enterprise Ireland successfully launched the first training class of a new long-term program designed to introduce Shanghai elementary school students to Ireland’s age old Gaelic Football. The event, succeeded in educating the media and the public and promoting the upcoming Gaelic Games through proactive communications with local media. The DHL Asian Gaelic Games opened with a bang on the night of 23rd September as more than 450 tournament participants and guests including Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minster of State for Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Declan Kelleher, Irish Ambassador to China, Consul General Nicholas O’Brien, Irish Government representatives, Mr. Kong, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Foreign Affairs Office, and major sponsors, including Gold Sponsor Enterprise Ireland, celebrated the official opening of the DHL Asian Gaelic Games at Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl TV Tower. 17 media attended the Opening Ceremony, including 14 domestic media and 3 foreign media. Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minster of State for Foreign Affairs, took questions from 7 media followed by a Q&A session between Alan Buckley, China Director, Enterprise Ireland and 4 media. The Opening Ceremony held between 8:30-9:10pm included a short speech by the Minister, ribbon-cutting ceremony by VIPs, and a nail-biting team draw. After this, Consul General Nicholas O’Brien took two 1:1 interviews lasting about 10 minutes each. Shanghai hosts ancient Irish sports festival It took a move to ultramodern Shanghai to get Maria Gelsinen playing Ireland’s ancient sport. Never much of an enthusiast back home, Dublin-born Gelsinen found herself taking the field as vice captain of Gaelic football’s Shanghai Sirens women’s team in last weekend’s Asian Gaelic Games. “You need something out here for your sanity,” said the 27-year-old property company marketing manager. “Shanghai can be kind of stressful.” Gelsinen’s experience illustrates the powerful hold Gaelic football has on the Irish imagination at home and, increasingly, abroad. While expatriate communities have always had their softball leagues and tennis clubs, the passion and organizational effort surrounding Gaelic football abroad is striking given both the size of the community – just a few hundred in China – and for the sport’s relative obscurity overseas. Strong Irish government and business support helps defer costs for tournaments such as Shanghai’s while offering companies an opportunity to push the Irish brand. “Gaelic football has 250,000 players at home and now we”re promoting it heavily abroad,” said Michael Bowens, captain of the Shanghai Saints men’s team and a player since age 10. Resembling a cross between soccer, rugby and basketball, Gaelic football is 500 years old and as much a part of the Irish identity as Yeats” poetry and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Players on teams of 15 kick, bounce and throw a round ball slightly smaller than that used in soccer down a soccer-sized field. Points are scored by either kicking the ball into the goal or between the crossbars above it, with strategy, speed and stamina all key. Tournaments have since been held all over the region, with 10 teams from as far away as Dubai and Japan joining in this year’s competition, which also featured hurling, an Irish sport similar to hockey. Sunday’s finals at a British school on Shanghai’s outskirts were attended by several hundred shouting, cheering and Guinness Stout-sipping athletes and supporters. The presence of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army marching band was one of the few reminders that the venue was in eastern China, not the Dublin suburbs. “The Gaelic Games are a symbol of everything that is good about Ireland, our culture and people,” said Irish Foreign Minister Noel Treacy, who was in Shanghai for Sunday’s finals. “They”re a symbol,” he adds, “of our little country’s uniqueness and dynamism.” . Reshipped from China Daily Gaelic football comes to Shanghai It’s not soccer, rugby or Aussie rules, but it has elements of all three and it is powered by a small but dedicated – one could say addicted – fan base that plans to spread it anywhere it can get a toe-hold. Gaelic football is Ireland’s most widespread contribution to the world of sport. It is played with a round ball similar to, but a little heavier than, a soccer ball. Use of hand passes is expected and encouraged. It is a fast and high-scoring game. “I think it attracts people who play the bigger games,” explained New Zealander Ling Teo during a training session a couple of weeks ago. “It has similar skill sets.” This weekend, about 450 players and 2,000 fans are expected at three venues across Shanghai for the 10th Asian Gaelic Games. It is the first time the tournament will be held here. In the past, it has been held in Hong Kong, Manila and Phuket. Gaelic football is not as rough as rugby or Aussie rules but is rougher than soccer. Most of the people who play are expatriates used to the more violent games, although little by little, locals are beginning to join. “People come out to have a weekend of sport,” said the New Zealander and former rugby player. “We’ve had some locals come out and say ‘that’s quite rough’.” Rough or not, a few have joined up, although they are mostly friends of current players. “We do hope to appeal to more Chinese,” said Maria Gilsenan, spokesperson for the Shanghai games and a new convert who has been playing for seven months. Gaelic football is played on a pitch about the size of a rugby field. Official pitches are 150 metres by 90 metres. The ball can be passed with hand or foot and points are scored by either getting the ball into a soccer-like net for a goal that’s worth three points or above it, between a pair of rugby-like posts for a single point. “Gaelic football predates rugby, Aussie rules and all the other games it gets confused with,” said Michael Bowens, a 25-year-old Irish IT professional who has been playing for 15 years. The Gaelic Athletic Association, the sports governing body, dates back to 1884. In Ireland alone, said Bowens, there are 3,000 clubs. “It’s been around for centuries,” he said. “It will continue. The next step is development overseas.” Nowhere is the sport developing faster than in Asia. The first Asian Gaelic Games were held in 1995 with teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. The next year Singapore joined in. The games were held in Phuket, Thailand, in 2002, and Ireland’s president attended. The last two years, the tournament was held in Hong Kong. In China, the sport is spreading. Beijing has two teams. Hong Kong has enough teams to have a league of its own. Around Shanghai, new teams are expected in Hangzhou and Suzhou next year. Few of the players – except for Irishmen who played in school and have a national tradition of Gaelic football – have much experience. “We are all new to this game,” said Maria Gilsenan, a Irish recruiter who moved to Shanghai in January and is now a player in the local team. “It is really growing.” Enterprise Ireland, an Irish cultural agency dedicated to the development of all things Irish, is backing the tournament organized completely by volunteers. The aim of the weekend-long event – which kicks off Friday with a an opening ceremony at the Pearl Tower – is to compete but also to promote Ireland and its culture, explained Maria Gilsenan, the tournament’s spokesperson. For the players and the fans, the weekend will offer a simpler opportunity to just get out from the pavement and onto the grass. “Here in Shanghai, it is such a drinking culture that people need to do something else,” Gilsenan said. While more players are coming on board -about 100,000 players around the world – the sport is still small. “At the end of the day, it is always going to be an amateur sport,” Gilsenan said. “It is not money led. It is about the competition Dubai prove too hot for Hong Kong Thousands of Irish Gaelic football fans descended on the city to watch Dubai beat Hong Kong and win the 10th Asian Gaelic Games yesterday. A lively tournament of Irish sport that featured Asia’s first-ever competitive hurling match, the People’s Liberation Army provided the marching music and Arthur Guinness provided the refreshments. A strong Dubai men’s side edged Hong Kong 2-8 to 2-6 to win the tournament’s main prize, the Derek Brady Cup. The Asian Gaelic Games are one of Asia’s largest amateur sporting events and featured 450 players on 35 teams from 10 Asian countries, including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan and Dubai. The spectators’ favourite was the womens’ final between Beijing and Dubai, a thrilling encounter, which the Beijing Banshees won 5-4 to 4-3 after extra time. Beijing only entered for the first time last year and lost five out of five games back then without scoring a single point. The same team came to Shanghai and marched away with the honours. “This is my third games and it just gets better and better, it’s an original tournament. The competition is great and the camaraderie is fantastic,” said Angela Keane, from Lispole in Kerry, who was in the Beijing team. Asia’s first competitive hurling match was won by Seoul after beating Beijing 2-5 to 2-8. Noel Treacy, Ireland’s Minister of European Affairs and a self-confessed gaelic football fanatic, was watching the match. “The standard is very good and the commitment is unbelievable. As a spectator it’s highly enjoyable and some of these players could hold their own at competitive level at any club in the country,” said Treacy. Two referees came out from Ireland to monitor proceedings and they liked what they saw. “There is great spirit and the players are very passionate, especially in the later stages, when they players can smell the silverware,” said Jimmy McKee, from Armagh, who travelled to Shanghai for the matches. About 2,000 spectators turned out for the two-day event to watch the matches and the final took place at the Shanghai Rugby Club. The first Asian Gaelic Games tournament took place in Manila in 1995 and has become an annual event, being played in Hong Kong last year. Share this Article 0 0