Hurling

On Sunday we went to a semifinals hurling match that Adare was playing in. Hurling is a purely Irish sport and is very hard to describe but I'll give it a go. It's basically like a mix between american football, soccer, hockey, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee. (the only way it's like ultimate is that you can only take 4 steps if you are holding the ball in your hand before you must pass it on or transfer it to your stick.) I'm not even going to try to describe the shape of the stick because there's a picture of one below. The game is played on a field with 15 players on each team and a goalie. You score points by getting the ball in the goal. 3 points if you get it in the soccer like goal and 1 point if you score in the field goal-like space above the net. The game is incredibly fast paced and it is near impossible to follow the little ball around the field. People get smashed to the ground and there is no mercy. The game was often paused for players that went down and stayed down for need of attention by the trainer. The first game we watched was exciting because Adare was playing, but that was it. The game itself was a little dry because Adare was so much better than Garryspillane. Each half lasts 30 minutes but it went by very quickly. The second game was much more interesting. NaPiarsaigh and Kilmallock were both evenly matched and seemed to have a more intricate skill set. In the first 2 minutes, 3 real goals were scored. It happened so fast it was incredible. The game continued to be fast paced, with one team scoring and then the next evening it back out. We watched the first half of the game and then decided to go back home. Shane and John stayed for the whole thing, but we listened to the end of the match on the radio. Kilmallock (the team I had decided to root for because their jerseys were green!) won in the end, beating out the reigning champions NaPiarsaigh. All in all it was a very high energy Sunday. Alexis, Shane and I went to the bar in town that sponsors the team. Everyone from 17-65 was drunk, celebrating the team's win. A lot of the team themselves were there too!

Liz