Gaelic Games in Australia and New Zealand
Over recent years there has been a steady stream of GAA players heading to Australia for work or extended holidays. Gaelic Games in Australia and in New Zealand have probably never been stronger. We take a look at some recent developments.
In March 2015 O’Neills opened its first Australian office headed up by Antoinette Brophy from Kildare, who moved Down Under to take on this role. Speaking at the time Antoinette told us: “There is some O’Neills brand awareness due to the fact that most of the Australian Gaelic football players have become familiar with the O’Neills brand through their love of Gaelic football.”
To build a picture of the rude health of the GAA in Australia and New Zealand we caught up with Jamie Fitzsimons, PRO for the Gaelic Football and Hurling Association of Australasia to get his insights on the Games Down Under.
Q: What is the general state of GAA there in the Australasia Board region and is it growing?
Jamie: The GAA is represented in all Australian states but the major hubs are Sydney and Perth followed by Melbourne and Brisbane. In recent years new clubs have been established in New Zealand, Darwin, Canberra, the Gold Coast (Queensland), and Geelong (Country VIC).
Q: There has been a steady stream of players going over for all codes, male and female. What can they expect?
Jamie: The can expect a pretty high standard of GAA - similar to most senior clubs back home. Aside from that the GAA Clubs here provide a fantastic social network of contacts for new arrivals providing info on everything from jobs to accommodation and visas.
Q Football is probably an easier game to export and play but what about hurling Camogie - any major traction there?
Jamie: Both Hurling and Camogie are very strong in Sydney and Perth and developing well in Brisbane and New Zealand.
Q We’ve seen in the United States there are more & more local people taking an interest in hurling. Has the local population there taken to Gaelic games?
Jamie: We have a challenge in Australia with recruiting local Australian players due to our seasons running in parallel to Aussie Rules, Rugby League and Soccer. Different states have varying numbers of natives playing. For example in Adelaide/South Australia 95% of the players are Australian - similarly in places like Tasmania and Canberra. Girls seem to pick up ladies football easier than guys and a number of clubs have a handful of native ladies players - we had two local born ladies on the Australasian Ladies team at the recent World Games.
Q What about things in New Zealand, and have games spread farther?
Jamie: GAA is growing well in NZ and this year's Australasian State Games will be held in Wellington which will be fantastic for the local promotion of our games. This year Canterbury GAA were also affiliated into the Australasian GAA Council signifying the growth of GAA in the region. New Zealand also had 2 ladies on the Australasian Ladies team at the recent World Games.
In the past couple of years, GAA has also spread to Darwin and the Northern Territory - due largely to the number of Irish working on mining projects there. The Northern Territory GAA were affiliated into the Australasian GAA Council last year.
Q What about games development and underage development give that we always assume that the game is played by adult expats and locals interested in sport
Jamie: Perth have established the Junior Gaelic Games Academy and will run the first Australian Cul Camps next month. Sydney are also running Go Games for kids on Sundays alongside their club games.
O’Neills Australia manager Antoinette is looking forward to working with clubs in Australia and New Zealand: “The main selling points for O’Neills in Australia will be the same as our main selling points elsewhere, which are quality of our products, customer service, choice of styles available and speed of our delivery time.
“The Australian consumer has become accustomed to waiting 8-12 weeks for customised teamwear whereas we can offer a 3 week turnaround on our stock leisurewear ranges and a 6 week turnaround on our non-stock ranges.
Thanks to Jamie for his update. If you want to get in contact with O’Neills in Australia or the Australian County Board you can get in touch directly:
Antoinette Kelly
O’Neills Irish International Sports Australia PTY Ltd.,
+61 (4) 50 360 190 | abrophy@oneills.com
Jamie Fitzsimons
Public Relations Officer (PRO)
Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of Australasia
+61 416 884 606 | pro.australasia@gaa.ie