Joining Shanghai GAA changed China for the better for us

I’m 26 and have been in China three years now – I have no idea where the time has gone. We initially thought we were moving to Suzhou, just outside Shanghai, but we ended up in an entirely different province (Jiangsu) in a city called Xuzhou. What a difference that one letter makes. We were in the middle of nowhere, I was the only blonde in a city of about eight million people. We craved some GAA and after a bit of time we discovered Shanghai GAA and used to travel up most weekends on the high-speed train, about three hours, to training.

I grew up in Ardfert, Co Kerry, beside the sports field and the ball alley, so was always out and about hopping ball as they say. I started playing hurling on the boys team until about under-14 with Ardfert – my uncle Phil Stack encouraged me to get involved.

I play a running game, I run and run, and try and fill space. I train twice a week for football and then I try to run on other days or go to the gym. The GAA to me means a great bunch of friends all doing something we love.

It’s very social, our team consists of a number of different nationalities – Chinese, Americans, Kiwis, English etc. It’s amazing to see how much of a community we are and to see people of different nationalities playing our sport. GAA has become huge in Asia.

Growing in number

The Shanghai gang took us under their wings, always had a couch to stay on, and always a few people around to have a bit of craic with after training. After two years in the sticks we got jobs in Shanghai. Again, a good friend in the GAA passed on our CVs, the Irish are growing in numbers in our school.

When you are so far away from home it’s great to get immersed into a new family and community. Joining Shanghai GAA changed China for the better for us. We have made a whole new family of friends. Friends who span over a range of ages. I have definitely adopted a few family members over here.

It’s great because there is both male and female teams. We all train together and offer each other support and encouragement.

The best thing about living in China is being part of a community – our Gaelic community. You make a number of friends around the place and there’s always a couch in some country to stay on because of the GAA. The community is massive, and the friends we have made are fantastic and lifelong. China would not be the same without the GAA. My family has certainly expanded since I moved to China.