Welcome to the second edition of the Asian Gaelic Games Newsletter, which will appear weekly in the run up to this year's IrishAbroad.com Asian Gaelic Football Sevens.

Read the First edition of Asian Gaelic Games newsletter here.

So you might ask (and you might not!) who is IrishAbroad.com? A site that started life in a closet in San Francisco in 1998, we have been working at assembling what is now regarded as the world's largest online Irish community with over 168,000 members, all of who are tapping into that sort of community spirit that you might find in an old-style pub in Ireland - you can even get a virtual drink when you login! IrishAbroad, now an Irish based site, is run by a dedicated team of locals who are constantly working hard to make it a great place to hang out.
Join the community now - a great place to meet people, share ideas, ask questions, chat online and form friendships

Take part in the Asian Gaelic Games discussion forums - Do you agree with 'seamus_h' that Na Geanna will be the dark horses this year?

If you have any articles you want included, just e-mail Myriam at myriam@irishabroad.com.

***Click on links immediately below to gain quick access to the areas you are interested in***

Seoul Gaels 2004

In the year that has been, some things have changed yet others remain the same in Korea. Seoul Gaels, proudly sponsored by Guinness, will be sending two men's and two ladies teams to the 2004 Asian Games as we did in 2003. We can only hope we enjoy the same success on the pitch, and great craic off the pitch that was enjoyed in Hong Kong last year.

After a very successful Games in 2003 the winter was a thankful rest period for all of the players, with most the men returning to a local soccer league and the women returning to the pub. Training resumed in the New Year once the pitches had returned from the ice-rink-white to the usual dirty-gravel-brown. Oh of the green grass of home!! The personnel within the teams have changed a little, both in players and coaches. Ed “bring your own fu***n water” Cosgrove resumes as the men's coach, while Rags Bad-Cop and Declan Good-Cop have taken over the task of coaching the ladies.

We were delighted to play host for a men's and ladies team from Japan GAA, who flew over to Seoul for our annual St. Patrick's Day festival. A mini tournament was played in Dongguk University with the Korea men's team and the Japan ladies team emerging victorious. However, the real celebrations were held after the games in the Westin Chosun Hotel where a great time was had by all.

We have held many training sessions and group meetings all of which seem to lead to the Itaewon pub district in some way or another. To stop this trend it was decided to gather in a more exotic location off the coast of Seoul recently, for a team-bonding weekend. Unfortunately the majority of the bonding was between the local mosquitoes and our pasty white flesh!

As many know, in 2004 Seoul Gaels could create history by achieving the first 3-in-a-row if we retain the Derek Brady trophy. This pressure brings trouble as every team wishes to dethrone the champions. The ladies team had an impressive debut by winning the plate last time out and will hope to go one better this year.

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Friday Junk Trips

It is now tradition that Friday at the Asian Gaelic Games is Golf Day - some outings have been well attended in the past, some perhaps not so. Not to leave out the non-golfers of the weekend, this year we are organising a series of junk trips on the Friday, subject to demand.

What to expect – well you'll be taken on a gentle near death cruise out of Hong Kong Harbour by day, play a game of chicken with a few cruise liners and oil tankers, and inhale some nauseating toxic fumes whilst you rock from side to side as a result of the turbo jet Macau ferry whizzing by. If you survive that, you'll soon reach a series of small islands with inlets and beaches where you can partake in swimming, wake-boarding or just chill at one of the many restaurants that scatter the islands' coasts. The junk boats generally have a capacity of around 35, but are just as much fun with just a few.

The whole day would last about 5 to 6 hours between, and can be as chilled or as raucous as you like. If any team is interested in this, you may e-mail Joanne at joannewilson@yahoo.com.

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Big thank you to our sponsors

The Asian Gaelic Games would not be the weekend that it is without the generosity of our sponsors and the folk behind them. Here's a who's who…. So please get down on bended knee, pay homage and support them in whatever way you can.

IrishAbroad.com
Already covered in this newsletter, but we would like to thank in particular Liam Casey, Morgan Sheehy, Patrick and Myriam Hooper at IrishAbroad.com. Myriam is the technical whiz behind this newsletter. For those of you who have not met Liam, he'll be in Delaney's on Sunday night wearing a mighty red sweater supporting the Rebels !

Enterprise Ireland
Where would the Games be without Enterprise Ireland? Enterprise Ireland and Michael Garvey have been the mainstay of the Asian Gaelic Games over the last few years. Their support of the Games has fostered an interaction of Irish communities across Asia, which otherwise would have been difficult to otherwise achieve. Also a special thanks to yer man in Beijing, Alan Hobbs and also to Patrick Yau and Wansey Li in Hong Kong, whose operational assistance to the HKGAA is greatly appreciated.

Whitney Group
A big thanks to Harry O'Neill of Whitney Group for his support – an extremely nice gesture. Harry is the Head of the Irish Business Forum in Hong Kong and also a great supporter of Irish related events in Hong Kong. Whitney Group is a leading global executive search and marketing intelligence firm.

Delaney's Group
Noelie Smyth, Managing Director of the Delaney's Group was a founding member of the HKGAA. He tried many years ago to bring the Asian Games to Hong Kong, but at the time for various reasons (mainly cost and bureaucratic nonsense), events like this were impossible to organise. Fortunately things have changed and Noel will be there throughout the weekend lending his support – you certainly won't miss him on the golf course, least one of his golf balls won't miss you. Keep it Irish !

Guinness
David Bage and Diageo have been great supporters of things Irish in Hong Kong through the years – expect to see free standing Guinness taps everywhere you go this year.

Securicor
Originally brought in last year to guard the Toucan, their absence in Shanghai had dramatic consequences. Anyway, such is the demand for gaelic football posts in Hong Kong, the Securicor lads will be at Aberdeen Stadium all weekend long keeping an attentive eye on them (and other stuff to of course).

BC Magazine
Some folk have gone a lifetime in Hong Kong without appearing in BC Magazine, HK's number one expat magazine. However, if you're a girl with a nice smile and are only in HK for the weekend, there's a good chance that you'll make their centre page of Bcene that week.

Pat Foy
If you have ever used the expression “I'm off to see a man about a dog”, there's a good chance that you're off to the pub to see Pat Foy. Now a high flying executive with Watson's Water, Pat has assured us that there won't be a thirsty player all weekend long as a result of Watson's generous sponsorship.

If there's anyone we left out, apologies, just give us the nod, and we'll sort it out over the coming weeks.

Next Week's Issue

We'll have an article about Cork's dramatic win in the All Ireland Hurling Final and also an article on Dublin's reinstatement in the All Ireland Football Championship, because it's not being able to see them get beaten.

Will have news of the third pitch (and possibly the fourth pitch) to be used at the Asian Games and we'll provide you an update on how we're managing on building that big arch over Aberdeen Stadium.

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