In the last year or two, the number of hurling teams here in the U.S. has exploded. Here at Hurley to Rise, I’m doing my best to keep track of those clubs. I do so on this list of U.S. hurling teams, but I need your help!

If you have an active club here in the U.S. and it isn’t listed there, then send me a message or leave a comment here or on the list page. If you play a team not listed, then send me a message too.

Why should you do so? Because people are looking for you, and this list is another way to find your club.

What I need: Club name, base city, state and website URL.

Let’s hear from you!

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St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, and that (according to my blog statistics) means that there’s a sudden, huge upswing in the interest in the sport of hurling here in America.

Well then, I’m glad you found Hurley to Rise. Since I started writing this blog in 2009, I’ve watched as this sport has grown exponentially across the United States.

Clubs are popping up in more and more cities here in the U.S., and not just the big, name-brand cities, but the smaller cities too. Likewise, there’s similar growth in colleges.

But if you’re looking into hurling for the first time, I figured you might be interested in learning the basics of the sport before you venture out to join your local club.

SOME TERMS: Over on this page, I have slowly been adding a list of hurling and gaelic football-related terms to help newcomers to the game. No need to be completely ignorant on the sport, right? (Seasoned American hurlers, please suggest terms to add!)

A QUICK OVERVIEW: The extreme basics of hurling are covered here. Most importantly, watch the video, which is the best explanation you’ll find of the sport.  You can also learn more in this section of the Hurley to Rise blog: The basics of hurling

ATHLETIC LEVEL: The best hurling players in the world are in spectacular shape. In fact, many of the hurlers here in America look pretty good too. If you play, you might soon find yourself fit as a fiddle as well. But to start out in the game, you don’t need to be an amazing athlete — or any sort of athlete at all (which was/is my case). This is a sport that is easy to learn, but difficult to master. If you can accept the fact that you may never be a master at it, you can play. My advice, just give it a try and have fun.

PHYSICAL CHALLENGES: In hurling, you do a lot of running — usually in the form of stop-and-go sprinting. You also might get bumped around by other players. That being said, I’m a horrible sprinter. Slow as molasses, in fact.  To me, it doesn’t matter. I just like to get out there and my teammates seem to be accepting of that.

SKILLS: Aside from running around a lot, there’s a few other skills (hitting and catching the ball) you’ll develop as a hurler. I have offered tutorials of these skills in a variety of blog posts. I suggest you check out some of them by visiting the “Skill Development” section.

WHAT TO BRING:Aside from enthusiasm and a willingness to try something new, you should:

• Wear shorts and a t-shirt.
• Bring a water bottle.
• Bring a spare t-shirt, too. One of your shirts should be light colored (white or yellow), the other should be dark (Navy, black, dark green or dark brown). The spare is so you can be split into teams for a scrimmage.
• If you have them, bring cleats, otherwise sneakers are fine.
• If you’re of drinking age, many clubs have drinks after their practice, so bring some money for that.
• If you have some sort of sports helmet (Lacrosse helmets being the best), bring it.
• A towel to wipe down is also a good thing.

EQUIPMENT: Most clubs will have spare equipment available. You won’t have to bring your own hurley (the stick) or sliotar (the ball). Helmets are usually at a  premium, but many clubs do have spares. Once you decide whether or not you like the sport, you can order your own later on.

COST: Hurling isn’t a very expensive sport despite the unique nature of it. Here’s a rundown:

• Stick ($35-$75)
• Ball ($10 per ball. We’d suggest you get at least 3 of your own)
• Helmet ($110. Often provided by the club.)
• Membership fee (Varies. My club’s yearly fee is less than $100)
• Traveling (Varies. Many clubs travel to other cities for games. This isn’t a requirement, but it’s a lot of fun)

WHAT ELSE? Quite simply, prepare to have a lot of fun. Prepare for some exciting challenges. Hurling is a great game, and we welcome you to it.

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For years now, American hurling has been largely based on the weather.

Here’s how the schedule usually ran:

• In the chilly, damp spring, city-based clubs around North America gathered up old members, drew in new recruits and start practices.
• By hot and humid summer, tournaments sprang up and travel teams dashed to nearby cities for games.
• In early fall, the best of the best gather to fight it out for the North American championship — typically in sweltering heat.
• As winter set in, clubs closed up shop. They might have a fund-raiser or two. They might throw a banquet, but in general, it was the off-season.

But that off-season is rapidly getting smaller and smaller.

Now some clubs are meeting for cold-weather outdoor games. A few  pull together mid-break shape-up clinics. Others gather at indoor soccer fields for inter-club games in the dead of the winter.

And, in the last few years, there’s a growing hurling movement within the college/university system of America. Yes, hurling is branching out to college campuses across America, teams are forming and battling old rivals from other college sports.

Those college squads are using a fairly new organization, the National Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association, to help them organize and be recognized by their university, get equipment and, of course, play games.

For example, the NCGAA, whose chairman is Eamonn Gormley (you know him, he’s the guy who created the “Fastest Game on Grass” video), offers some valuable advice on starting a collegiate club and really cool  QR-code imbedded posters to help with recruiting.

Little by little, the NCGAA is making some headway. They now have three divisions — California, Midwest and Northeast — and they all hold regular matches throughout the the school year.

Most importantly, college-based hurling  runs on a schedule that’s almost exactly opposite of city-based hurling. It begins in late summer and can last through May.

That means that many players — the college-age ones in particular — can basically be playing all year long between their college squad and those in their hometowns. They can hurl from the start of one school year, right through to the start of the next school year.

With that year-round schedule, hurling is now a game for every season — and more importantly it’s another step on its way to conquer North America.

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I signed up for the UStream broadcast of the hurling finals out of Croke Park in Ireland. Since I’m in the U.S. and no U.S. broadcaster has offered a hurling match in years, watching the games it via pay-per-view was the only way possible.

After I entered my credit card information and activated the player, the game popped on the screen. The first game on the bill was the “Minors” match featuring teams from Dublin and County Tipperary. Minors play is for any player under the age of 21, and is sometimes called “U21.”

The game ended up freezing on my computer a lot early on as I had it in “Best” mode, but that was too much for my DSL connection to take. Eventually, I switched it down to “Low,” which is at the 240 setting. From there, I got great audio, but the images were blocky. That made it tough to follow the sliotar, which is smaller than American baseball. The game locked up completely on a regular basis in “Best” mode, which made for some frustrating viewing — especially since I missed several point scores.

Eventually, I scaled up the streaming level to 360p and then 480p. Just one level below “Best” mode, the 480p locked up a bit here and there, but ultimately served me well.

Watching the game, the skill level was impressive, and better than any play I’ve seen in the U.S. It turned out to be a great game that was only dampened by the fact that it ended in draw.

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As the various North American Gaelic Athletic Association champions celebrate their wins last weekend, the rest of the Irish-friendly world is turning its eyes to Dublin’s legendary Croke Park where the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships are set to be played on Sunday.

Where the North American games in Philly were played by enthusiasts of the game of hurling, Sunday’s match is all about the best teams in the entire world, not just the best in the U.S. and Canada.

This year’s match pits perennial favorite County Kilkenny against the County Galway team lead by Joe Canning.

Personally, I’m rooting for Galway in this match, but it seems that Kilkenny has the edge in this “Super Bowl of Hurling.” You can read some previews and news on the games here, here and here.

WHERE TO WATCH

For the Irish stuck here in America and American fans of the game, Sunday’s Galway v. Kilkenny match will be tough to find. As usual, the game broadcast is being kept under strict control.

Most American fans will zip out to a local Irish pub or sports bar that has decided to foot the bill for the broadcast. You can check out the venues available in your area by going here.

For those of us who don’t have a nearby GAA-friendly establishment. There is another option — and honestly it isn’t too expensive assuming you have a computer with a super-speedy connection. For about $30 (plus taxes and fees), you can watch the game here.

I haven’t actually tried watching any of the games this way, so buyer beware.

WHEN TO WATCH

Here’s a schedule for the upcoming games (for hurling and men’s gaelic football) and their associated talk shows. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

• 8:15am — GAA Minor Football Championship Final: Meath vs Dublin
• 10:30am –  GAA Senior Football Championship Final: Donegal vs Mayo
• 4:30pm –  The Sunday Game – GAA Match Highlights and Discussion

 

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For me, probably the biggest disappointment of the 2012 North American County Board finals is that there were virtually no vendors at the tournament on Friday. Set in Philadelphia’s massive Pennypack Park, there was certainly room for more.

Let’s do a rundown of what was available:

• COUNTY BOARD: The NACB set up a tent and sold some of their own NACB-branded gear brought in from Ireland by the O’Neills company. Hats, polo shirts, fleeces and sweat shirts were available.
• GAELIC SUPPLIES: There was a small stand for the American Hurling Co., which sells a variety of gaelic sports-related items. Most notably, they sell the hurleys, and the company has actually supplied a large percentage of American hurling and camogie players.
• FOOD: Beyond those two vendors there was one beverage seller (water, soda, power drinks and alcohol) and two food stands.

Since the park was relatively isolated from any nearby stores it was difficult for teams to get extra supplies to the field.

With that in mind, here are a few suggestions as the NACB begins to work on their plans for the coming years.

• MORE GAELIC EQUIPMENT – Get another vendor or two for gaelic equipment. Not that we don’t like American Hurling Co. or anything (I own three of their hurls!), but variety is wonderful.
• MORE SPORTS EQUIPMENT – Recruit a  sports store — it can be a chain like Dick’s or a local shop — to bring in a variety of sports supplies. I’m not talking baseball bats and football helmets — I mean things like sports tape, hand towels, Under Armor shirts, socks, knee pads and gloves. They also might be wise to bring in a little “home team” merchandise — in this case Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and Flyers gear — to bring in a little more revenue.
• WI-FI ACCESS – Internet access was nonexistent unless you had an Internet-ready cellphone or a satellite card in your laptop. The NACB itself couldn’t get on the Internet most of the day on Friday. The board needs to make sure access is available to all so teams can update their websites, Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds. Having solid Wi-Fi access will also help your vendors — and many won’t even show up without that guaranteed to them.
• BETTER FOOD – Yes, everyone comes to Philadelphia for a cheese steak, but remember the people coming to the national finals are all athletes. They aren’t going to be eager to gulp down trays full of grease. Instead, recruit some food vendors who sell fresh fruits, salads and smoothies. Meat and beer are also needed, of course, but you need to cater to the athletes.
• CULTURAL VENDORS – I’ve been to enough Irish festivals to know that there are plenty of vendors who specialize in Irish merchandise. Get a hold of one of those and bring them in. People love to show off their heritage in the North American GAA — what county their grandparents are from and so on — and a cultural vendor might do good at the NACB finals. Since this is kind of iffy, I’d suggest you give the vendor free space the first year and then sell a spot in the following years.
• CLUB SALES – This is the most important point of them all! …  Somehow figure out a way to allow clubs to sell their own merchandise to players from other teams and fans in general. There were a lot of really great hurling, football and camogie T-shirts on people’s backs at the Friday games and I wish I could have bought a few. The NACB should set up some sort of  “club” vendor tent where the member clubs can sell some of their own creations (t-shirts, jerseys, bags and even some used equipment). Maybe install a big tent and give every participating club a table inside to sell their merchandise. Aside from getting excess stock out of their hands, the clubs could also use their sales as fundraisers.

Of course, all or some of these ideas might have been explored in previous years, but I can only address what I saw this year. Regardless, there’s plenty of time to try to improve for next year’s effort in Cleveland.

 

 

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