The All-China Gaelic games is a Gaelic games tournament held annually in China between club teams under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Asian County Board (ACB). The Asian County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is one of the county boards of the GAA, which is set up and running outside the island of Ireland. This county board is responsible for Gaelic games across the Asia-Pacific Region, other than Australia and New Zealand (which fall under the Australasia GAA board).

The annual tournament is a one-day event, with men's and ladies' teams competing in Gaelic football. The tournament is the mid-season highlight for mainland China's Gaelic Athletic Association Clubs. Exhibition games were also held under International (compromised) rules and hurling during the event.

History The All-China Games began in 2002 and feature GAA teams from across China, such as the Shanghai Gaelic Athletic Association, the Hong Kong Gaelic Athletic Association, and the Beijing Gaelic Athletic Association. After being cancelled in 2003 due to the outbreak of SARS, they returned in 2004.

In April 2012, the Beijing Gaelic Athletic Association decided to host the 2012 All-China Games as part of the 10th Anniversary celebration of Beijing GAA. Beijing GAA hosted the 2012 North Asian Games from June 8–10, 2012. It was the first year the previous All-Asia games were being expanded to include participants from across northern Asia. Beijing invited teams from various Chinese cities, such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dalian, and Suzhou, and for the first time, it also invited teams from Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.

Participants Teams sanctioned by the Asian GAA can participate in the competition. Chinese-based teams include Shanghai Gaelic Football Club, Beijing GAA, Shunde Gaels, Hefei Warriors, East China University of Technology (Nanchang) GAA, Hong Kong GAA, Dalian Wolfhounds, Shenzhen Celts,Suzhou Eire Og, and Canton Celts.

Participant players in the competition are primarily Irish diaspora, but they also draw participants from China and other countries who learn the sport. For example, players from 22 nations competed in the 2005 All-China Gaelic games.

The cumulative top competition winners to date are Shanghai (13) and Hong Kong (9).

All China Games - A competition winners

Host location Year Men's A Cup Ladies A Cup Shanghai 2002 Hong Kong GAA Shanghai Sirens 2003 Cancelled due to SARS Shanghai 2004 Hong Kong GAA Hong Kong GAA Beijing 2005 Beijing GAA Hong Kong GAA Shenzhen 2006 Hong Kong GAA Hong Kong GAA Dalian 2007 Shanghai Saints Beijing GAA Beijing 2008 Shanghai Saints Beijing GAA Shanghai 2009 Hong Kong GAA Shanghai Sirens Shenzhen 2010 Hong Kong GAA Shanghai Sirens Shanghai 2011 Shanghai Saints Shanghai Sirens Beijing 2012 Seoul Gaels Beijing GAA (A Team) Beijing 2013 Shanghai Saints (A Team) Shanghai Saints (A Team) Shanghai 2014 Shanghai Hong Kong 2015 Seoul Gaels Hong Kong Beijing 2016 Seoul Gaels Beijing 2017 Beijing Hong Kong Shanghai 2018 Shanghai Hong Kong

All China Games - Non-A competition winners

Host location Year Men's Plate Men's Bowl Ladies Plate Ladies Bowl 1 Shanghai 2002 2 2003 Cancelled due to SARS 3 Shanghai 2004 4 Beijing 2005 Shenzhen Celts Shanghai Saints Shanghai Saints 5 Shenzhen 2006 Shanghai Saints 5 Dalian 2007 Dalian / Shenzhen 7 Beijing 2008 Shenzhen Celts Dalian Wolfhounds 7 Shanghai 2009 Beijing GAA Suzhou GAA Hong Kong GAA Shenzhen Celts 9 Shenzhen 2010 Suzhou Eire Og Beijing GAA Dalian Wolfhounds Beijing GAA 10 Shanghai 2011 Shenzhen Celts Beijing GAA Dalian Wolfhounds n/a 11 Beijing 2012 Shanghai B Dalian Wolfhounds Dalian/Suzhou n/a 12 Beijing 2013 n/a Dalian Wolfhounds n/a n/a 13 Shanghai 2014 XX XX Dalian XX

References

External links Beijing GAA club - 2005 competition hosts report (archived 2007) AsianCountyBoard.com report (archived 2013)