Every road in Asia leads to Bangkok this weekend.
18 GAA clubs, no more no less, from all corners of Asia are on the road. Destination, Bangkok.
For the second year in a row, Thailand GAA are hosting the Fexco Asian Gaelic Games and from Singapore to Vietnam, from Cambodia to Japan and from Indonesia to Taiwan, they’re packing their gear bags, their cleaning their boots and they’re getting ready.
This is the big one.
The most talented footballers and hurlers across Asia will be descending on Thailand’s captial city and they’ll be gracing the playing pitches of Bangkok Patana School.
The expats will be out in their droves, the Thai locals will be competing too. The GAA is bigger there than most of us imagine it to be.
You hear tales about the GAA spreading all over the world but you only realise what that actually means when you see an event like this one. When you hear, for example, about the Thailand GAA’s Ladies A team competing here with only one Irish born player in their squad.
This is a new era, this is a new breed of GAA players, the GAA is spreading.
And those who’ll be watching it spread even further this weekend include Laois legend Ross Munnelly, Mayo man Aidan O’Shea and Cork star Bríd Stack.
They’ll be present as Celebrity Bainisteoirí in Thailand this weekend and they’ll be experiencing the magic of it all on the other side of the world.
As for the hosts, Thailand GAA – the club founded by Derry man John Campbell have enjoyed another booming year this term and they’re all out for the finals taking place on their home turf.
To mark the occasion, they’ve created a new O’Neills jersey for their players. Traced with a map of Thailand on the back, and with the numbers in Thai, it has a real authentic, original feel to it.
The retro sleeve design is another highlight while the black and white colours work a treat. The crest is a beaut and there’s no doubting that Thailand GAA are ready to go.
“The event is one of the largest gatherings of the Irish expat community in Asia and displays everything that the GAA represents abroad: community, sport and family,” said Niall Geraghty of Thailand GAA to SportsJOE.
That’s what it’s all about.
