Samba GAA Time in Brazil

There’s nothing like a bit of Samba. If Gaelic football ever takes off in Brazil, we might have one person to thank. Amy Challoner is originally from Ireland and now lives in Hong Kong where she is involved with the GAA playing and coaching our games.

This summer, Amy visited Sao Paulo, Brazil, as part of a volunteer sports coaching project through an organization in Brazil called ACER. There, she coached Gaelic football to underprivileged children aged 7 - 15 from the surrounding areas.

Ahead of the trip, Amy got in touch with our export team at O’Neills to ask if we could provide some O’Neills children’s sized footballs to teach the children all about GAA.

Here at O’Neills we are huge supporters of the development of GAA abroad and particularly seeing the impact it can have on such an underprivileged area. The thought of a group of Brazilian children taking up the game and showing off their legendary skills with the famous O’Neills football caught our imagination.

So, to help Amy on her way we sponsored 5 Quick Touch Footballs and 5 Smart Touch Footballs for her trip. 

Brazil School Report

Amy got back to us when she returned from Sao Paolo to keep us up to date on how the coaching went and to see if the GAA can break Brazil. Judging by the school report, her video and photos the young Brazilians took to Gaelic Football like the proverbial ducks to water. They were as comfortable with our GAA balls as they were playing soccer, which is what you’d expect.

Amy told us: “I decided at the start of the year as a part of a University experiential learning project that I would set my sights on a project further abroad as opposed to staying in Hong Kong. So I found this wonderful organisation ACER in Sao Paulo. It was through Oyster Worldwide and I was lucky enough for them to accept me working for only two weeks.”

She continued: “My project in ACER was focused on volunteer sports coaching. I was so delighted that I got to bring my national sport from Ireland over to Brazil, the home of football and here I was trying to introduce Gaelic Football to the professionals!! These kids were mini football stars! I can’t explain how welcome I felt, the whole sports team in ACER were more than happy to work with me and showcase this sport they never heard of before. The children from the area took to it like a duck to water. I only have good things to say about this experience. My expectations exceeded anything I predicted and I was so surprised at how interested the kids were and how keen they were for trying this new sport.”

Amy explained: “The children in the centre come from quite poor areas and when we all got together it was amazing to see how they play and have fun together. They were so friendly towards me and I was a total stranger to them. It was so funny, as when I first met them they ran up to me and started speaking to me in Portuguese and I had to pretend I understood and smiled and agreed. By the end of the two weeks I tried to communicate with some basic phrases all to do with football. I coached two sessions a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

Thanks To O’Neills

By all accounts Amy and the kids really enjoyed themselves:  “I just want to say a massive massive thank you for sending those footballs from Ireland. I have finished my volunteering in Diadema São Paulo and I can only say it was such a fantastic experience but far too short. 

“It really meant a lot that you were so kind so thanks again. It actually wouldn't have been able to go ahead without your donation!! All the kids took to the sport no problem. We had great fun together and hopefully they will keep it up every now and then. I'm going to try do some fundraising events in Hong Kong to help keep the sports centre open.”

So, if you see a team from Sao Paolo Brazil in the GAA World Games anytime soon, maybe we can thank Amy Challoner for sowing the seed. What price an All Star Tour or International Rules match in the Maracana anyone? If you can dream it, you can do it! Thanks Amy for sharing a wonderful story!