Aaron Hughes with Deirdre Ní Fhallúin, Irish Ambassador to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Aaron is ‘loving it’ after setting up first ever GAA Club in Laos
`TALLAGHT man Aaron Hughes has been living in Laos since 2009 and has set up the country’s first ever GAA club earlier this year, the Mekong Shamrocks.
A native of Ellensborough and a former youth and minor player with Thomas Davis, Hughes was inspired by a team being set up in Cambodia where now the player base is predominantly made up of natives as opposed to Irish expats.
That is something that Hughes wishes to replicate within the Mekong Shamrocks.
Laos was one of the only countries in South East Asia which did not have a club set up.
Deirdre Ní Fhallúin is the Irish ambassador for Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and on a visit to Laos was approached by Hughes about the possibility of setting up a team.
“She was over and took some of the Irish people out for dinner and drinks, that sort of thing.
‘I just sort of thought I’d give it a chance and tried to get a bit of funding to get the team going, not thinking they would agree to it.
‘It’s gone from there. It’s been a fair bit of work now but it’s come on a lot since our first training session in February, it’s moving pretty quick now.
The club gets around 20 people per training session and around half of these are Laotian.
“Yeah they have gotten into it and picked it up pretty quick. Everyone here plays soccer and that kind of thing so they all picked it up pretty quick.
“There are actually only three Irish lads who are playing. The rest would all be Australian, American or Canadian. It’s a good mix like.”
“For me it’s a bit surreal. I love it but it’s mad to see other people enjoy it as well.
‘I’m half expecting people to do one training session and give it up but the Laos lads love it.
Aaron Hughes with the club flag during training
‘They come back every week and bring their mates. It’s free for them to play and we got some funding from the Irish embassy and our sponsors so we are able to bring all the Laos boys to Bangkok.”
Hughes touched on his reasons for setting up the club to begin with.
“I’m loving it. I’ve always been a big GAA man.
“I’ve played ever since I was about six or seven years old and it was always a huge part of my life.
‘For the last 16 years of not having it, it was always something I did when I want home to visit family.
‘I’d pop up to Thomas Davis and try get a training session in or visit the clubhouse. Having that again is lovely. I don’t think we see how special it is when you’re living in it compared to other sports.”
The club is set to play their first competitive match towards the end of November at the Asian Gaelic Games which are going to be held in Bangkok.
The tournament sees clubs from across Asia take part with teams from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore and now Laos all battling it out.
This will be the Mekong Shamrock’s first Asian Gaelic Games and their first ever match outside of training.
“There’s so many teams so there is a senior, intermediate et cetera so we are starting off in Junior B.
It’s hard to say because we have nothing to compare and haven’t experienced it before.
“Most of the other teams will probably be B, C or D teams for clubs from different countries so we might have an advantage , at least we will have some young fit Laos lads that can hopefully be fitter than the other Junior B players.
‘We really don’t know but for us it’s just the experience really.
