All a player needs is a stick, a helmet, and a ball. But first go try it out. The Providence Hurling Club came to my attention this year as they marched by in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Arrangements were made and I met with club manager Mike “Woody” Kennelly at the Gano Street Park. He has been playing for about 12 years and 10 years ago he and some like-minded friends formed the club.
Hurling is the national sport of Ireland dating back centuries. The rules were finally written down in Dublin in January of 1883 (oh, to be a fly on the wall). And while equipment needs are simple you should familiarize yourself with the proper terminology. (Learn the basics here.) Last Saturday we spoke with Mr. Kennelly as well as Claire Fallon who is building a women’s team. The interview has been edited for clarity.
Prov Daily Dose: What is the upcoming schedule? When is your next meeting?
Kennelly: We just got our next schedule: Wednesday nights, 5:30pm to 7pm, and Saturdays from 10:30 to noon. We are at the Gano Street park for now, but it’s kind of fluid. Instagram is still the best for keeping up to date. [Go here for team event page.]
PDD: I understand that the standard hurling pitch is roughly twice the size of a soccer field, is this field big enough?
Woody: Unfortunately these fields do not exist very much. Our home field is behind the Pleasant View Elementary School which is big enough, but that is being worked on. [This is adjacent to Triggs Golf Course.] They are putting in sprinklers so they have been working on the field. Hopefully it will be ready this summer but it’s the city and they have a lot of fields.
PDD: What is the hurling schedule? Do you end the season with playoffs with other hurling clubs?
Woody: The season starts in June to the end of August? We are in the USGAA Northeast Junior C Division, with headquarters in canton, Mass. There are teams in every New England state except Vermont.
PDD: If somebody reads this and is inspired to join, is it too late to contact you for this year?
Woody: Not at all. We have two new players today, starting for the first time, who never played at all.
PDD: What background in sports is typical?
Woody: Runners, cyclist, tennis, hockey, basketball, soccer . . any sport. I never played stick sports until I started playing this.
PDD: I looked up the hurling glossary and the stick is a hurley?
Woody: Hurley, or hurl.
PDD: The ball is called a word I couldn’t pronounce . . . a sliotar?
Woody: It’s “slitter.” [Go here for the pronunciation. Go here for two Irish guys arguing about the pronunciation.]
PDD: Is this a rough-and-tumble sport like rugby, but with sticks?
Woody: It is similar to rugby but we say “rugby, lacrosse, soccer, baseball . . every sport has kind of come from this. It got instituted in the 1880s when they set down rules.
PDD: Did you take this up in college . . . how did you find people hurling?
Woody: My parents are from Ireland. I saw it when I was little but never thought I would have a chance to play it. But then my brother found a team in Seattle . . . so there are teams all around the country.
PDD: Is there a collegiate cohort developing?
Woody: Just in the past ten years it’s growing. They actually played on ESPN last year. [This year’s college hurling finals just aired last month. Check it out.]
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So just head over to Gano Street, but also check in on their Instagram etc. As the man said, the situation is fluid. Until the season starts in June, these meetings are for learning and drills and what they call a “pucaround” or less intensive practice. If this turns out to be your thing, I’m sure your new friends will tell you what equipment you need and where to buy it.
Contact info: Write to pvdhurling@gmail.com or phone +1 (401) 484-1682.
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The same game played by women is called camogie (pronunciation). This is Claire Fallon of the Providence Ladies Gaelic Football Team who was getting ready to hit the field. She has been hurling for about 6 or 7 years and the LGFT are actively recruiting female players, ages 16+. “Our team is trying to get together a Ladies Gaelic Football Team for the city of Providence. We have five or six people right now which is not enough to field a team, so for the last year or so we’ve been training with the Hartford Ladies Gaelic football team.”
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The basic object of the game is to hit the sliotar between the opponent’s goalposts, either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points.