The Clash of the Ash in Vancouver
By JEROME O'SULLIVAN
The ancient sport of hurling was being played in Ireland long before St. Patrick arrived and convinced the Irish to curb their pagan ways. The game is one of the two national sports of Ireland (the other being Gaelic football).
Among hurling enthusiasts it is affectionately known as "the small ball game" to differentiate it from Gaelic football which uses a larger ball (similar in size to a soccer ball).
Hurling is a stick and ball game. The stick is over a metre in length made of ash wood and it broadens and curves outwards at one end (the business end!!). The name given to the stick is the "hurley" (caman in Gaelic) and the name given to the small white leather ball is the "sliothar" (roughly the size of a tennis ball).
There are those that say that hurling is a mix of field hockey, lacrosse and even ice hockey. There are even those among us here in North America that think hurling is an involuntary bodily reaction that occurs when one consumes too much alcohol!
The truth is that though there are some aspects of every "stick and ball" game in hurling it is very much its own game. Its closest relation is probably the equally ancient game of shinty played in the Highlands of Scotland.
The game of hurling is played with 15 players per team on a grass rectangular field slightly bigger than a soccer pitch with rugby-like goal posts at each end. Like all team games the object is to score more points than the opposition.
Points are scored by getting the ball into the opponent's goal net (worth three points) or knocking the ball over the crossbar of the goal (worth one point).
The player can strike the ball with the hurley in the air or on the ground. The player can also leap into the air to catch a high ball. Unlike field hockey, the player can scoop the ball off the ground with the hurley and take the ball in his/her hand.
Once the ball is in hand the player can run four steps with it so as evade a tackle or get into a better shooting position. He/she must then either try and pass the ball off to a team mate by hand passing with the open palm (not throwing) or throw the ball up in front of him/her and strike the ball in the air or he/she may decide to run towards the opposition goal with the ball balanced at the end of the hurley.
The player can also kick the ball if no other option is available to him/her. Firm shoulder challenges are allowed. The game is played in two halves. There are no time outs, no roll on-roll off substitutions and there is no time for half-hearted efforts. The game is 70 minutes of passion and pure physical exertion!
On first encountering the game of hurling one may be forgiven for thinking that it was little more than an organized melee between two groups of angry Irish men waving wooden clubs about in a menacing manner while a man dressed in black (the referee) chases the mob around a large field.
However, on closer inspection one cannot but be impressed by the sheer lightning pace of the game and the amazing acts of agility and courage displayed by the players.
Any fan of contact sports will be awe struck by the sight of a player leaping into the air to pluck a high ball from the sky, then landing, turning, twisting, bouncing off shoulder tackles before throwing the ball up in front of him and sweetly connecting with the ball in mid-air to send it sailing over the bar for a score.
Then there is the goal keeper, the most courageous of them all. This player stands alone on guard with little more than a slightly bigger hurley and steely resolve to stop all that comes before him.
The goal keeper with not a shoulder pad or cup in sight spends the game facing down equally determined forwards charging towards goal or putting his/her club and/or body in the way of the small ball travelling directly goalwards at speeds of over 140 kph.
So if you fancy seeing the fastest field sport in the world being played here in Vancouver, then please come out to watch and support the Vancouver Harps in the Gaelic Games Tournament as they "do battle" with the Seattle Gaels and the Alberta Chief Tones on July 12 and 13 at Brocton Oval in Stanley Park.
The Harps hurling team also train twice a week and are always glad to welcome new players looking to try their hand at this great game. Please check out the Irish Sporting and Social Club website (www.isscvancouver.com) for details on practice times and venues.
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