Vol. 09, Issue 09 September 2009 
Gaelic Football in Gwangu
Sports
“I play to win. Give me a game of rock, paper, scissors and I wanna win it,” Cummings said.
By Mark Hayden
The Irish love their Guiness, as well as their Gaelic football. It looked like a miniature Ireland this past Saturday, July 18 at Gwangju Institue of Science and Technology.
They showed up with their other foreigner mates, also. People from all over the world attended this game — The United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Korea. The Seoul Gaels made the excursion to Gwangju for the second time this year for the much anticipated match. Gwangju and Soeul do not get a lot of chances to play each other, but it was a special day to play a sport both teams love.
Some of the players from Ireland are going on their 20th or 30th year of playing the sport. As far as the rest go, they have been introduced to the sport after arriving in Korea.
Gaelic football requires many skills, fitness, and definitely not fear. It is a padless contact sport and all the players get knocked around quite a bit. It combines elements of American football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and rugby, amongst others.
Sean Cummane from Limerick, Ireland is a member of the Gwangju team and has been playing Gaelic football for as long he can remember. “I have been playing Gaelic for about 30 years now,” Cummane said.
Even if someone hasn’t had an Irish childhood, that does not mean they can’t play the sport. He assures that anybody could pick it up if they are willing to work hard.
The men and women of Ireland start playing Gaelic football at a very early age and it is looked at as a very physical sport. Some of these players will tell you it is more popular than soccer in Ireland.
The Gwangju Gaelic football club has been around for about three years, while the Seoul Gaels were started 10 years ago. Cirrian Toal of Belfast from Ireland has lived in Gwangju for about eight years and is a co-founder of the Gwangju soccer club. That team spawned the first official Gwangju Gaelic football team in 2006.
Toal was invited by the Seoul Gaeles to compete on their team in the 2006 Gaelic Asian Games in Shanghai, China. After they returned to Korea, he took it upon himself to start the team in Gwangju.
It has been around ever since, and he says it has been growing year after year. It now has about 30 members. The Seoul Gaeles held the first Korea Gaelic games last year and again this year. Gwangju finished 3rd last year and 4th this past June 7.
Both teams are focusing their training on the Asian Games, which is being held this upcoming October in Bangkok. Teams from all over Asia will compete once again. A few players from Gwangju will participate, along with many players from Seoul.
“We are very excited. We are definitely going to have a lot of fun, but we are going there to win,” Toal said.
Enda Morris is an Irish native and lived in Gwangju for one year before moving to Seoul in 2006. He has been playing Gaelic his whole life. He joined the Seoul team after he arrived there. He looks at it as a great way to have fun and meet people.
“There are a lot of great people on the team. It’s been a pleasure to meet them. The core group is very dedicated to it and they practice a lot,” Morris said.
He is lead by his coach, Mark Cummings. He is also an Irish native and has racked up a heavy Gaelic resume. He played in high school, as well as the university level. He even got heavily involved in American competition. He was selected to play in a championship game in Chicago.
“It was really fun to play in America. They are quite competitive and get very physical,” Cummings said.
He was asked to be the Gaeles coach last year. His craving for competition and his experience is what got him the job.
“I play to win. Give me a game of rock, paper, scissors and I wanna win it,” Cummings said.
There are two ways to win in Gaelic football. One is with your hands, and the other is with your feet. In this sport all of your appendages are acceptable in scoring. With one goal, the team receives 3 points. The game is played with two 7-minute halves and the first 9 points decides the game. That’s how it’s played in Korea, however.
In Ireland, it is played until 15 points are scored. The game is played on a soccer-like pitch and uses goals on each end to score. Each goal is defended by a goalie. Tackling is acceptable in the game and passing the ball should be done with a closed fist or with the feet.
“The rules are quite similar to a lot of other sports. It’s pretty easy to pick up,” Cummings said.
The Gwangju team is always looking for new members to join the team. If you are interested, join their Facebook group, “Gwangju Gaelic Football.”
Great article! However, a few descrepancies. ‘The game is played with two 7-minute halves and the first 9 points decides the game. That’s how it’s played in Korea, however.’ Not true. The game is played with 9 players on each side in Asia and 15 players in Ireland. The score is not limited and the game does not end when it reaches a certain number.