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Sports/Recreation & Recreation > GAA

Members: 2



There has been a tradition of Gaelic Games in the Kansai area - hardened residents of Osaka and Kobe still speak of trips to Tokyo in bygone days, to tackle the might of the Kanto boys. These legends go back into the mists of time.... In 2006, a few folks living in the Kansai area decided to resurrect the team. Taking impetus from the successful Tokyo GAA Club, Vince Manning, Matteo Cullen, Linda Curtin, and Fergus O' Dwyer put their heads together and started the club. Garnering the support of Tom O' Neill at The Blarney Stone, Michael O’Carroll at Murphy’s and the back-up of the National Australian Football League under sports guru Andy Carne, the club took off...training began at Osaka Castle Park in January 2006. We held trainings roughly every second Sunday, and from the start, things were looking good. We've had Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Australian, Kiwi, Canadian, American, Scottish, Welsh and Irish sportsmen and women pull on a jersey and get involved in the drills and games.
The club Constitution was signed and club officially launched in December 2007 followed by a compromise-rules challenge Kansai GAA VS NAFL with a return leg in February 2008. Kansai GAA ran out winners but were pushed hard by a tough and skillful NAFL team. The NAFL and Kansai GAA club are working together to promote both codes simultaneously in an effort to offer mutual support and strategies. NAFL will look for revenge in the near future..



Training restarting soon..Compromise rules games coming up.

Kansai GAA ran a mini-tournament held in Osaka on May 10th and 11th 2008 with teams from Kansai and Tokyo. This tournament was aimed to be a stepping-stone to form a more cohesive working group in building toward participation in the upcoming Asian Gaelic Games in October. The tournament wasn’t helped by non-stop typhoon rains on the opening day. Credit is due to the hardy (and insane) souls who togged out on the Saturday, particularly to the lads from Tokyo who had a good excuse to stay in their comfortable bed after a hard night getting used to Osaka city on the Friday night. Nevertheless all enjoyed the festivities on the Saturday night again. The club intends to keep building and participating in upcoming tournaments. Come along on join the fun in upcoming training sessions and of course Bangkok in October. See http://www.asiancountyboard.com/ for the organisation running Gaelic games in Asia.
Join the Kansai GAA group on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=8411037073)
See information/blog at http://kansaijapangaa.blogspot.com/
Email: kansaigaa@gmail.com

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Group URL: http://groups.irishabroad.com/group/kansaigaa/

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- Fergus O'Dwyer

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- John O'Flynn