It is hard to really understand a sport and the role it plays in a culture without actually being there to experience it. I arrived in Dublin late Wednesday night and by Thursday morning I was already well underway in a crash course of Ireland's greatest pastime: The Gaelic Games.
I had done a little bit of reading on the Gaelic Games before I came to Ireland but nothing I could find in a book could teach me just how engrained these sports are in the culture and heritage of Ireland. When it comes to an outsider's knowledge of Irish culture, some ideas that come to mind are the traditional Irish music, maybe some traditional Irish dance, and maybe the consumption of an alcoholic beverage or two- but nobody seems to know anything about the traditional Irish sports. The complete lack of knowledge surrounding these sports to any outsider, very quickly came to amaze me after just a few days of being here.
The Gaelic Games
The four main sports covered under the Gaelic Games Association (GAA) are Gaelic Football, Handball, Hurling, and Camogie (women’s hurling). The origins of the Gaelic Games date all the way back to 1800 B.C. with references being made to the sport of Hurling in ancient Irish mythology. Under the rule of the British Empire, the games became a channel for the Irish to preserve their identity. Today, the Gaelic games continue to hold great significance in Ireland with the presence of over 2,000 Gaelic clubs across the island. Every year, each club fights to compete in the “All-Ireland” finals. Just last year there were over 82,000 spectators for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final which is a number equal to the number of spectators present at last years Super Bowl at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
What makes these games unlike any other though is that the athletes do not earn a single cent. There is no rookie draft, no player trading, and no free agency. Each player plays for the parish they are born into. Athletes play for pride, honor, and the rights to call themselves the best. These sports are part of Ireland’s history, ingrained in their culture, and part of an Irishman or an Irishwoman’s identity.
So on Thursday April, 9th- I got the chance to accompany a group of American exchange students from Dublin City University and participate in a session with Experience Gaelic Games.
Handball
Following the introduction on the history and significance of the Gaelic Games, we were taken down stairs to a court resembling that of a squash or racquetball court for a lesson in Handball. Our trainers, Tiernan and Brian, warmed us up with a few drills. We hit the ball against the wall with our right hand, then our left. We were challenged to keep the ball in the air while hitting it against the wall, all while making our way around the perimeter of the court. After a few more drills we were given the opportunity to play. The ball moved fast and there were a lot of quick sprints. My life long confusion as to which side of my body I athletically preferred finally came in handy because I needed to be able to utilize both hands to be affective on the court. It was a good sport to start with because Gaelic Football and Hurling were increasingly more difficult.
Gaelic Football
After Handball, we followed the trainers up the stairs and outdoors to a field that was around the length of a soccer field but twice the width. Gaelic Football and Hurling are played on a pitch that is around 130-145 meters in length and around 80-90 meters in width with goals around the size of a soccer goal and field goal posts on top. Tiernan and Brian went over the rules and put us through some starter drills again. First we practiced a kick/scoop like motion to get the ball to our hands. Then we practiced our hand passing, dribbling, and soloing. After around 15 minutes of drills we got a chance to test our skills in a scrimmage. Having played soccer my whole life and being relatively athletically inclined, I was pretty decent at this sport. My footwork came back to me a little and I was able to score a few goals. The pace of the game was fast but it could not prepare us for what was to come next.
Hurling
Next was the fastest stick and ball game that exists in the world today: Hurling. Our coaches brought out our helmets, hurls, and a bucket of slithers (balls). Many of the rules in Hurling are very similar to that of Gaelic Football, except that as opposed to using your hands and feet with a ball resembling a vollyball, you use an axe shaped stick and ball resembling a baseball. We practiced our scoops, hand passes, stick passes, balancing the ball on the hurl, soloing, shots, and after around 25 minutes we were “ready to play.” It was at this point that I regretted ending my baseball career at the prime age of 12. I was thankful though that the rest of the group was pretty tired at this point. We played a leisurely game and gave everybody in the group enough space to practice a hurling motion or two in a game-like situation. My stick and ball skills were lackluster at best but it was a great end to the day and a fun sport to close on.
As the day concluded and we went inside to hang our helmets up and set our hurls down, a feeling of great joy consumed me. I was in Ireland. After weeks of uncertainty surrounding my future and whether or not I was going abroad, then a week to complete all of my planning only to almost be deported at the Dublin airport, I was finally here and this was to be my internship. Obviously there was bound to be loads of work surrounding the Experience Gaelic Games experience, but my internship had a cultural identity. It was a product I could be passionate about and an organization with a family environment I could be apart of. Eagerness and excitement soon followed as I left the complex for the day. All I could do was wait and see what the rest of my time with Experience Gaelic Games would bring.
For more information on Experience Gaelic Games and where I will be working be sure to check out our website by clicking the link below or the tab above! http://www.experiencegaelicgames.com/
Orejan, Jaime, PhD. "The History of Gaelic Football and the Gaelic Athletic Association." The Sport Management and Related Topics Journal 2.2 (2006): 45-48. Thesmartjournal.com. Elon University, 2006. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.