Foreign business people shake stress and build relationships in Gaelic football network

Busy executives shake off stress with Beijing's Gaelic football team.

RED-FACED, Gerry Whitty sprints along the astroturf playground of a local primary school, bouncing and kicking a white leather football as he runs. It’s a little after eight on a humid Beijing evening where the lights from ubiquitous construction sites and office complexes never let the sky completely darken. A few yellow-hatted construction workers on a smoking break cock their ears to shouts and cheers in a cacophony of English and Chinese.

Whitty plays Gaelic football here twice a week with about 40 other expatriates and Chinese. Described by some as combing the disciplines of basketball and soccer, Gaelic football is a code that’s become popular for its mix of kicking and jumping. It’s also fast, as shoulder as well as leg tackles are allowed.

The two-hour training session is just the thing after a 90 minute conference call, says Whitty. “You have to be disciplined to drag yourself away from the office but it’s worth it.” An hour of jogging, sprinting, stretching and kicking practice releases the tension of a day spent racing against deadlines and competition in the nearby office tower where Whitty works as a business development manager for the Chinese office of an international event management company.

A few doors east of the North Korean embassy compound, the team training pitch is ten minutes away from the heart of the city’s Central Business District, where long hours take their toll. Stressed out, burned out, foreign businesspeople suffer from the grind in China, where limitless opportunities mean it’s often difficult to get a chance to recharge batteries.

Beijing Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club was set up in 2003 by a group of Irish men and women as a way for harried expatriates and locals to exercise and meet people while playing one of the world’s oldest and toughest team sports. The game originated in Ireland in the 19th century and was later adapted to create Australian Rules, one of Australia’s most popular sports.

Shaking off stress on the gaelic football field gives Whitty energy, and the edge to work 12-hour days of seeking and closing deals and stoking business way into the night over dinners at Beijing's many fine restaurants.

The GAA is unusual in having both men’s and women’s teams. Michelle Ahoy, a teacher at a local international school, came to Beijing in August 2006 on a teaching contract with the International School of Beijing. After teaching maths and science to her first graders this Vancouver native, 30, pulld on her boots to practice kicking and tackling. Like many, she’s finding it harder to master the solo, the art of moving the ball from foot to hand while running, which is one of Gaelic football’s key skills. “Practice makes perfect I guess...”

The running and high-tempo nature of the game helps her throw off the stress of a day’s work. Another highlight is meeting new people. She’s gearing up for a new season, and keen to play. “It would be great if we had more ladies out to form more than two teams so that we get some more playing practice.”

Claire Nelson, 27, and a marketing consultant, was introduced to the sport by a fellow American. A keen sportswoman, she juggles it with long mountain bike rides at the weekend. “It is a good work out… Mostly I mountain bike, so football is great cross training for that.” But Claire finds Gaelic football much more fun than mountain biking.

Beijing’s harsh climate adds to the challenge. The club plays in the hot summer sun and the biting winter winds. Beijing’s seasons - long freezing winters and hot, humid summers- limit the play. Pollution generated by Beijing’s growing traffic jams and construction sites also limits play - “deliciously thick air,” Nelson calls it.

What began as a way to soothe stress and let off steam has become a passion worth traveling for. Gerard Whitty is still resting after a tough time in Singapore. Every year teams from all over Asia compete for the Derek Brady cup, named in honour of an inspirational player and founding member of the Taiwanese club who died tragically while working in Taiwan.

Players are keen to play in more tournaments, says Michelle Ahoy. “Traveling with a team is heaps of fun... [2006 Asian finals] Shanghai was a definite highlight - tons of fun!” Games against other teams gives a competitive edge to the club’s training program, says Ahoy, who is helping the club organize more regular games against sides in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan: “having a league would be phenomenal.”

The GAA in Ireland spawns many well known business partnerships and is renowned as a source of networking and jobs for members. So too in Beijing, where club members tell jobs and staff found through team mates and a group email network which keeps members informed of club activities.

A business conference was handily tacked on to the recent All-Asia Games finals in Singapore, giving European businesses with Asian-wide strategies a chance to meet and swap ideas. Whitty, who plays in goal and defense, is looking forward to the games and networking opportunities presented by the All-China finals, to be held in Dalian or Shanghai later this autumn.

Club members draw on business skills and connections to raise the cash for club shirts, training grounds and player travel subsidies. Recently club members organized a pub crawl through several of Beijing’s bars. For an RMB150 flat fee members and friends got discounted drinks. “It was great craic (fun)” says Whitty. We were out half the night and raised about RMB20,000."

The fitness and networking benefits are great but club members have also plugged into the local community in a quest for friendship and players. An exhibition game on the asphalt-surfaced sports ground of Beijing International Studies University brought plenty of bemused students onto the stands to watch. The fundraising prowess has played well for local good causes too. The club collected RMB50,000 for a Beijing orphanage at an end-of year party last year.

Balancing work and exercise has become a challenge in booming China, where dream economic growth has created a market for fitness studios and wellness products, yet restricts the time available to exercise. The intensive work and camaraderie offered by the GAA club are a perfect solution to keeping busy executives healthy, says Brian Bucsit, a personal trainer who counts CEOs and company managers among the dozen clients he sees weekly in Beijing.

“Fitness should be a priority on any executive’s time plan,” says Bucsit, who encourages white collars to join the GAA club. “Executives who decide to institute staff fitness as a company priority quickly see the benefits. Staff become more energetic and motivated.” Executives in China endure some of the longest working hours in the world and rank among the most stressed on the global business scene, according to an international survey of business executives by international consultancy Grant Thornton.