IN deepest South-East China, one would probably marvel at the seemingly endless stretches of land and countless silk farms, demonstrating the agricultural prowess that has helped make Shunde one of the most affluent districts in Guangdong Province. One would also marvel that on one of these many fields, a few Irish lads accompanied by their Canadian mate and more than a few beers, conceived the Shunde Gaels; the self-proclaimed smallest GAA club in the world.

It would not be at all surprising if you haven’t heard of the Shunde region, given that it is one humbly sized district in the lesser-known city of Foshan that is overshadowed by the powerhouse cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen. Even the most ardent fan might not know that Shunde is, in fact, the ancestral home of the great Bruce Lee. Shunde’s illustrious son, who exposed the world to Chinese Kung Fu on the silver screen, is immortalised there in museums, Bruce Lee Lane and even a theme park called Bruce Lee Paradise.

An even more ardent foodie might know that Shunde was named the UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2014 and is considered the Crème de la crème of Cantonese Cuisine.

Yet, established in 2019, it is one of the newest and smallest GAA set-ups in the world that is making the biggest waves coming out of Shunde right now.

If the unique jersey with a crest depicting Bruce Lee kicking a Celtic cross isn’t enough to catch your eye, some of their results against bigger and more experienced Chinese opposition might. Co-founder of the club and County Down native Ciaran McCann divulged a bit further on everything from the club’s conception to its burgeoning reputation,

“I played a bit of football for Castlewellan from underage through to minors and then for Liverpool Hope University…winning a British Championship being the highlight there…but that was kind of the end of my footballing career before I moved over here (Guangdong).

“I started teaching at a local primary school and was living in an almost private community of foreign teachers outside Shunde. I moved out to China with three Down lads and because we met another Irish lad and other foreign teachers who were keen, we decided we had enough makings for a team so we kicked on with it.”

Despite the cultural chasms between Ireland and China, McCann conceded that a few beers and a few keen Irish lads were all that was needed for the new Chinese Gaelic football team idea,

“Like most good stories, it started with a few beers. It was March 2019 and we were out after work one day. We were four Down lads, a lad from Kildare and another six guys we played soccer with.

“The ones we played soccer with were big-six-foot plus physical lads and after showing the non-Irish

guys a few videos of Gaelic football they seemed pretty keen to give

it a go.

“With 12 of us there and knowing that Gaelic in China is nine-a-side, we knew we could field a

half-decent outfit at the All-China Games. The next day in the school we teach at, we kicked the soccer ball about a bit letting the new lads do a bit of catching and hand passing and they really enjoyed it. So we decided let’s crack on, order some stuff from O’Neills and get started.”

McCann mentioned that 11 of the 12 original players worked at the same school but that fact did not make the team any less internationally diverse or successful for that matter.

“We had six lads from Ireland, three brothers from North Cyprus, a Canadian fella, a lad from England and one from Scotland.

“We trained twice a week, got everyone up to speed as much as possible and played our first match against Shenzen after only about a month of training. Shenzen have been a club since 2004 and we managed to beat them the first

time we played them, despite the

fact we were expecting a whooping which gave us the confidence to kick on.”

A secret ingredient behind this success, perhaps, was a local Tyrone man in the coaching set-up. Pearse McKenna of Augher has been living in China for close to a decade now and during that time has overseen the growth of Gaelic football from Shanghai to Shenzen. Such experience made him the perfect man to help the inexperienced Shunde Gaels excel in their first season in the Chinese Gaelic arena as McKenna himself affirmed,

“There is a lot of work and commitment that goes into the running and maintaining of a club in China, bringing in new players who have never played before and showcasing the benefits of an Irish sport in local Chinese communities.

“The most challenging but also most important aspect from a coaching point of view is ensuring that this international player base is complimented

by the core of native Irish players.”

Indeed, following that first win over Shenzen, the Shunde Gaels side went from strength to strength.

In their very first tournament in June 2019, they reached the Intermediate final of the All-China-Games in Shanghai with eye-catching wins in the group stage against the likes of the far more established Suzhou Eire Ogs and another notch over the Shenzen Celts.

Alongside those pair of victories McCann spoke of an even more pleasing draw versus the Shanghai B team; a team blessed with predominantly Irish talent which also went on to ultimately win the Intermediate title by edging out the Shunde Gaels.

However, a debut tournament performance not to be sniffed at by any stretch meant that McCann’s men had announced themselves on the Chinese Gaelic football scene. This was even more impressive when you consider that one Shunde player tried to throw the ball in from the sideline like a lineout and another, formerly an Ice Hockey player in his native Canada, sprinted down the pitch once and shouted over for sub rotation after being told to bust himself.

Yet, McCann conceded that no one expected the Shunde Gaels to be more than just a one-season wonder and he wasn’t even sure the club would continue at all after the All-China Games in 2019.

“From there we kind of thought that was the end. We didn’t think we’d keep going but the lads just got a taste for it. They loved the craic and the beers after training so we regrouped after the summer and started training again in September working towards the All Asian Games to be held in Malaysia in November 2019”.

It is there where McCann noted that not everything had been plain sailing for the Shunde Gaels as a small club starting from scratch.

He explained that they had to put in some monumental fundraising efforts by selling old jerseys to be able to subsidise the expenses of a Malaysian tournament and McCann stated that although results did not follow on this occasion, the tournament was an invaluable experience due to the steep learning curve for some players.

Speaking of jerseys, the Shunde Gaels have one of the very best in the world according to the LoafofBread GAA podcast.

The maroon and silver strip, with its crest portraying Bruce Lee kicking a Celtic Cross, was voted to be one of the top eight GAA jerseys in the world losing at the quarter final stage of the Global GAA Jersey World Cup competition.

Shunde’s crest is a shining example of how Irish culture, through the vehicle of the GAA, is being spread around the world, connecting people and boosting cultural awareness and understanding. McCann claims the sense of community that encapsulates Gaelic football and Hurling translates well in the Chinese Culture as the idea of collectivism and looking after others before yourself is a key value in Chinese society.

The Shunde Gaels represent an opportunity not only for Irish people to celebrate their culture far from home but for internationals to try something new and meet new people and for Chinese locals, from a small district such as Shunde, to learn and understand about the people they could so easily write off as foreigners.

“There’s a massive sense of community in the club and even though we live in a smaller area between two major cities in Foshan and Guangzhou, everyone has heard of us now…we’ve got a reputation going. The locals see what we are doing as good for the community. The fact we started as a close-knit group of friends and now we have American lads who’ve never played before travelling an hour to come train.

“The club has that sense of belonging. In terms of the combination of cultures, the pitch we train on is in the middle of a big park and its mad because you’re surrounded by Tai Chi classes

on one side and middle-ages

women (he dubs “the crazy singing aunties”) doing karaoke on the other which can be a nightmare for coaching but it is a lot of fun…then you’re getting locals walking past and gawking at us trying to understand what’s going on so we can tell we’re attracting interest…the next steps would be trying to integrate more Chinese lads into the club as well as encourage closer connections between local sports clubs.”

With such ambitious plans to grow in place, it would appear the only way is up for the Shunde Gaels who are small in size but giants in literal and metaphorical stature.

At the end of the day, we all know Bruce Lee could’ve channelled his kicking into some solos and scores.

l Anyone interested further in the Shunde Gaels follow @shunde_gaels on Instagram.

For those who are interested in GAA around the world follow @loafofbreadgaa on Instagram for weekly podcasts.

The Shunde Gaels GAA team in China