New Friends In Cambodia - Cairde Khmer GAA Club
GAA in Cambodia?? …Yes, you heard that right! One of the newest GAA clubs established in Asia is Cairde Khmer in Cambodia. More than ever the GAA overseas clubs provide a focal point for the Irish Abroad. And as with other international GAA clubs, the key to Cairde Khmer is the integration of local players and those from other countries. SO, in addition to Gaels from home, the Cambodian lads and lasses are drawing on players from England, America, Japan, Canada, France, Sweden, and Cambodia to take part in this beautiful game.
Gaelic games are well and truly alive and growing in popularity with new clubs springing to life in many major cities across the globe. With the introduction of the GAA World Games in 2015 and the growing network of International tournaments across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australasia, this certainly has played its part in bringing the games to life outside of Ireland.
We caught up with Cairde Khmer to get the lowdown on the club and learned of ambitious plans to have a quarter of their playing members recruited from the local Cambodian population. They also are focusing on targeting female members as there are limited opportunities for women in sport. The Cairde Khmer also operate out of two sites. It’s an ambitious club run by committed Gaels.
ABOUT THE CLUB
Name of Club: Cairde Khmer
Origins of the Club Name: ‘Cairde’ is the Irish for ‘friends’, so ‘Cairde Khmer’ translates as ‘Cambodian friends’. It was felt that the alliteration of the Irish and Khmer words had a nice ring to it. Oddly the grammar of both Irish and Cambodian languages place adjectives before nouns (opposite to English grammar), so the word order works well in both languages.
Founding members & story: Whilst watching the 2017 All Ireland final in a bar in Siem Reap, in September 2017, three Irish expats formulated the masterplan to try to set up a Cambodian GAA team to enter the Asian Gaelic Games tournament in Bangkok in November 2017. Those three are Patrick Campbell (Tyrone), Jennifer Ryan (Cork) and Derek Culligan (Sligo). After making some enquiries about Irish expats living in Phnom Penh, Conor Wall (Cork) was contacted and he agreed to join forces. Patrick and Jennifer recruited and trained the Siem Reap men’s and ladies’ Gaelic teams, while Conor recruited and trained the Phnom Penh men’s and ladies’ Gaelic football teams, as well as the hurling team.
In November 2017, six weeks after its foundation, the club sent three teams to Bangkok to play in the Asian Gaelic Games. These teams included both a men’s and ladies’ Gaelic football team, as well as a hurling team (amalgamated with members of Saigon Gaels GAA Club). In particular, the men’s football team did very well, losing the Junior football semi-final after extra time. This was the sole defeat for the men’s team over the whole weekend.
The current Cairde Khmer members are spread across two cities (Phnom Penh and Siem Reap), and eight nationalities, including Irish, Cambodian, English, American, Canadian, French, Swedish and Japanese.
On March 3rd 2018, Cairde Khmer will host the first ever GAA games in Cambodia. Teams from Thailand, Vietnam have been invited to partake in men’s and ladies’ Gaelic football matches. Also an exhibition hurling game will be played.
Club colours: The colours red, white and black were chosen as the founding members are from Cork, Tyrone and Sligo.
Club crest: English and Khmer text were included in the Cairde Khmer logo design, both written in the old, and now seldom used, Gaelic and Khmer fonts, to represent the ancient heritage of both nations. Four other elements make up the crest motif; Angkor Wat temples, the moon, an ocean wave, and Gaelic games. The Angkor Wat temples symbolises the club’s home. The Gaelic games symbolises the culture and sport of the players’ birthplace. The ocean wave symbolises the distance between these two places, and the moon symbolises the time the players have spent abroad since they first left Irish shores.
So despite an 'ocean' of distance from our birthplace and the many 'moons' we might have been away from home, a link between our 'culture and games' still burns bright, even in new foreign lands of 'temples'.
Where do you play: We train at local grass and astroturf soccer pitches in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Currently we are in the process of making GAA goalposts.
ABOUT YOUR KIT
Who was involved in designing your kit: Conor Wall, Paddy Campbell.
Thought behind the design elements: Four elements went into designing the crest to symbolise links between our culture and the game in new foreign lands, whilst he jersey colours signify the founding members home counties. As we were in a rush to make the 2017 AGG in Bangkok, sponsorship options were very limited. Paul Campbell from Powerscreen, who also sponsors OC Wild Geese and Ulster San Francisco, kindly helped out with jersey sponsorship after a last-minute call.
Games played: We play men’s and ladies Gaelic football and we combine with Vietnam to make a hurling team at regional tournaments.
Number of teams: One men’s and one ladies team played at the AGG in 2017. In 2018, the club would like to double its adult membership numbers and increase player numbers enough so as to field both men’s and ladies’ A and B Gaelic football teams.
Number of members: 60
Age grades/ranges: 20-45
Competitions entered & honors: No silverware to date – but watch this space!
Outreach & participation beyond the Irish community? We currently have a number of Cambodians attending training in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Membership and training sessions are free for any locals that want to try out the sport. By the end of 2018, it is aimed to increase the number of Cambodian players on both ladies’ and men’s teams, so that they represent 25% of the total number of Cairde Khmer players. We especially plan on recruiting as many female players as possible as options for participating in female team sports are very limited in Cambodia.
Cairde Khmer have also just finalised a partnership agreement with registered Irish charity, Scoop Foundation, which has been working in Cambodia since 2008, building schools that provide free education and community development for children from impoverished backgrounds. As many of the Cairde Khmer members are teachers, the club will set up and run a teacher-mentoring programme. This would require a number of club volunteers to donate two hours per month to visit Scoop-run schools and offer teacher training to local Khmer teachers. Also club players would offer Gaelic football training to the students attending Scoop-run schools. This would be achieved in the form of PE classes and after-school training sessions.
In 2018, the club also plans to research the possibility of starting underage GAA teams in Cambodia, so as to empower children to take up sport. This would be achieved through pilot schemes where Gaelic football would be taught in after-school programmes, PE lessons, or weekend club training sessions and games. One such pilot scheme has already been introduced in Go Global International School in Siem Reap. Here club co-founder, Patrick Campbell, introduced Gaelic football to students during PE lessons.
Throughout the year, Cairde Khmer members, kitted out in club jerseys if practical, aim to take part in local community, charitable and sporting events. Examples of such events include Angkor Wat Half Marathon (Siem Reap), Angkor Wat Bike4Kids Race (Siem Reap), Cambodia Charity Run & Ride (Phnom Penh), Bokor Half Marathon & Bike Race (Kampot), Mekong Swim (Phnom Penh) and Keep Phnom Penh Clean missions.
Such club participations have already began. On 4th December 2017, seven Cairde Khmer club members, proudly sporting Cairde Khmer jerseys, took part in the 22nd Angkor Wat Half Marathon, which raises funds for local charities. One club player, Ruadhan O'Deasmhunaigh, chaperoned 65 students around the 10km course. Another, Brian van Damme, ran to raise money for Temple Garden Foundation. And arguably most impressively, another club member, Ailbhe Ni Craith, raised 2,685 USD for Angkor Hospital for Children.
QUICK FIRE KHMER CRAIC
Traditions: We don’t do warm-ups or warm-downs.
Influential figures & characters: Our French ladies’ team full back is very influential when it comes to convincing players to drink cans of beer before trainings.
Notable former / current players: Ronan Sheehan and Ruadhan O'Deasmhunaigh (both from Cork) are talented musicians and are the two ‘bad boys’ of Phnom Penh’s notorious band Complicated Business.
Development plans & the future: Double membership in 2018, with at least 25% of Cambodian players. On March 3rd 2018, Cairde Khmer will host the first ever GAA games in Cambodia. Teams from Thailand, Vietnam have been invited to partake in men’s and ladies’ Gaelic football matches. Also an exhibition hurling game will be played.
Biggest Rivals: Taiwan
Most famous member: Brian Van Damme – you’d never guess he was Irish.
Most memorable moment in the club’s history: Attending AGG 2017
Most dedicated club person: Conor Wall
Biggest comeback game: None, victims of comebacks only – especially during Cup Semi final against Taiwan at AGG 2017 (mens)
Biggest character(s): Ronan and Ruadhan - Cairde Khmer’s version of Jedward
Club member who made most progress: Our English full forward, Matt Ball, after only playing Gaelic football for 6 weeks, bagged a highly impressive 6-1 at the AGG 2017. This was the first time he ever played GAA games. Also a shout out must be given to the members of the ladies team from Japan, England, America and even Ireland, who had never played GAA before. Their improvement was immense.
Club Romances? Ruadhan falls in and out of love with himself on a daily basis.
Most memorable story involving a club member: During the AGG, our one-man powerhouse and goalkeeper, Michael Davitt from Dublin, ticked quite a few boxes including keeping clean sheets, getting sent off, and even scoring a point.