Cookstown native instrumental figure in Cambodian GAA

To be involved in Gaelic football is to be submerged fully and wholly in a passionate, hearty and devoted community – a family.

It’s to have both feet planted firmly on the glorious soil of your nearest and dearest club – celebrating triumphs and commiserating defeats as a fortified unit.

More often than not, you will find that you’re never further than a stone’s throw away from a GAA fanatic at any given moment.

And so, when Irish natives flee the nest and set forth on their journeys into the ‘big bad world’, they curb feelings of wistful yearning for home by finding comfort in familiarities – the GAA usually being an ole’ faithful and dependable.

Drawn to other Irish kindred like a moth to a flame, those born on the emerald isle are attuned to seek out and befriend Irish alike – it’s instinctive, innate, and automatic.

This was the case for one Cookstown native, Padráig (Paddy) Campbell who upped sticks and swapped Tyrone’s rural scenery for the charm of Cambodian life.

“I am originally from Cookstown,” he began, “and I played a bit of underage football with Fr. Rocks before moving to Manchester for university.

“The road to Cambodia started when I took up a position with Kevin McCabe and Harpscreen to manage their operations in Malaysia in 2011 and I took up Gaelic with the Orang Eire club in Kuala Lumpur.

“After five years moving between Kuala Lumpur and Tyrone I fancied a career and scenery change and that led to me taking up a teaching position in Siem Reap, Cambodia.”

In 2017, Paddy, alongside a handful of other sportsmen, banded together and motivated by their GAA-infused roots, set up the now highly successful Cambodian GAA club Cairde Khmer.

“I became friendly with a few Irish residents, as you do, and having fallen in love with the Gaelic scene in Asia playing with Orang Eire I was always keen to convince anyone interested to attend tournaments in the region.

“I set about finding other Irish expats in Phnom Penh and was lucky enough to come across another Irish native in Conor Wall, who became the driving force behind the club in Phnom Penh.

“Combining Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to make one Cambodian team allowed us to enter mens and ladies teams in the 2017 Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok under the name Cairde Khmer.”

The teams back then were mostly made up of Irish expats and a few American, Canadians and English players.

“I remember our first sets of jerseys were sponsored by Powerscreen of California and Hawaii, one of a few connections to the Tyrone quarry industry in the club.”

Paddy, Conor and peer Ronan Sheehan, then began slowly building up their local player base, encouraging people to join by implementing a policy that all local players should train for free.

Paddy explained, “This is a country where the average monthly salary is $200, and the majority of Cambodian players don’t have the disposable income to pay for pitch rental.

This ‘free training’ policy became influential in the development of the club.

Paddy shared how the sport and its compelling essence had beguiled the Cambodian locals, a lot of whom have taken to the sport fervently.

“The Cambodian players love it and their participation is why the club is thriving so well.

“Cambodia is very much a patriarchal society and it is an especially difficult place for non-affluent females to avail of the benefits of team sports.

“And for the world games Cairde Khmer will be exclusively represented by Cambodian born players – 13 men and 13 ladies.

“The club still has a number of mainly Irish and Australian ex-pats at its core and these guys are long-term residents in the country, however, they also see the most sustainable path for the club being the continued promotion of Gaelic games amongst the locals.”

Not only has the Tyrone man helped to enhance the lives of the Cambodian people, but the Cambodian community have also greatly enriched Paddy’s life.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Asia – both in Cambodia and Malaysia and the Gaelic scene in the region has been a massive part of that.

“Cambodia in particular was a great learning experience for me.

“It’s great to see the inspiring work of Irish NGO’s in the education sector, most specifically ‘SeeBeyondBorders’ and ‘SCOOP Foundation.’

“The Cambodian people themselves are the some of the nicest and most resilient people I have had the pleasure of meeting, despite the traumatic events of recent history.”

Cairde Khmer club has been chosen to represent Asia in the upcoming World Games in Derry, Northern Ireland, in July 2023 so the focus is now on fundraising.

“There will be plenty of strength and resilience on show as a group of players, who may be small in stature, put it up to other native teams competing at the world games.”

Concluding, Paddy said, “There is always a lot going on beyond the football pitches in Cambodia, but there’s no doubt that the main focus in the next few months will be honing player skills to compete with the best in Derry, and making sure the funds are in place to cover costs for the native players.”

Strickland Engineering in Coalisland are the main sponsor for the teams trip to Derry and the company owners children, Donal and Claire O’Neill, played for Cambodia at the Asian Games in 2022.

To help Cairde Khmer GAA, Cambodia with the costs of travelling to Derry, you can donate using this link: ‘https://gofund.me/86ff2525’.