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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. The Asian County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), (also called Asian GAA) is one of the county boards of the GAA set up and running outside the island of Ireland. This County Board is responsible for Gaelic games across Asia-Pacific & Gulf Regions other than Australia and New Zealand which are under the auspices of the Australasia GAA.
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The annual tournament is a one-day event, with both men's and ladies' teams competing in Gaelic football. The tournament is the highlight of the mid-season for the Gaelic Athletic Association Clubs in mainland China. Exhibition games have also been held in 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.
Top winners
The cumulative top competition winners in the competition to date have been Hong Kong (9) and Shanghai (7).
Participants
Teams sanctioned by the Asian GAA can participate in the competition. As of 2012, Chinese based teams include Beijing GAA, Canton Celts, Dalian Wolfhounds, Hong Kong GAA, Shanghai Gaelic Football Club, Shenzhen Celts and Suzhou Eire Og.
Participant players in the competition are primarily expatriate Irish, but they also draw participants from other countries (including China) who learn the sport. For example, players from 22 separate nations competed in the 2005 All-China Gaelic games.
Sponsorship
The tournament is an ACB Sponsored event.
2012 All China Games
There was a collective decision in April 2012 by the Beijing Gaelic Athletic Association 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 that the previous All-Asia games are 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, also invited teams from Taiwan, Korea and Japan.