The Shamrocks hurler holds the sliotar in one hand and the hurley in the other during last year's championship game.
Once you get past the jokes (“Hurling? Sure, I can do that! One night of drinking and I’m there”), hurling is an ancient game that encompasses many aspects of soccer, hockey, lacrosse, a little baseball, cricket, and, as one wag put it, “assault with a deadly weapon.”
The deadly weapon in this case is the hurley, the axe-shaped stick the players carry and use to hurl a small ball called a sliotar (prounounced slitter) between their opponents’ goal post—either over the crossbar for one point, or under it into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points.
You can catch the ball with your hand but you can’t carry it for more than four steps before you either have to strike it in the air or on the ground with your hurly. You can kick or hand-pass it to another of your teammates. If you want to carry the ball for more than three steps, you need to bounce or balance it on the end of your stick. You can use shouldering, as long as it’s side to side (no charging or tackling allowed). Usually the players don’t wear protective padding though many wear a helmet (sometimes with a faceguard). And the pace? Fast. It almost makes ice hockey look a game of golf.
Check out more photos of the 2007 championship (won by the Philadelphia Shamrocks).
