APPLETON (NBC26) — At Darboy Community Park, the Fox River Hurling Club teaches people of all ages about the sport of hurling, which dates back about 3,000 years and is the national sport of Ireland.
“Once you get those first couple of steps down and understand how the game is played a bit, it goes a lot smoother and it’s a lot of fun to hit the ball around,” said Mitch Leahey, who has been participating in the sport for five years.
For most who have started playing and joined the club, it was just by chance.
“Word of mouth got me here, but once I got out on the field and played a match, there was no rush like it,” said Terry Tersine, who has been hurling for about 10 years.
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“I was at the bar and I was chatting up this guy who was telling me about the sport, and he was like, 'Yeah, check us out,'” said Joe Connor, who has been hurling for 13 years and was the one who hooked Terry into the sport.
The sport is a lot like soccer, with positions for forwards, backs, and midfielders, and it begins with a roll-in.
“So you get your midfielders, you roll the ball in, and you fight for the ball,” said Connor.
You have a wooden stick called a hurley, and that’s how you pick up the ball, which is called a sliotar. Once you pick it up, you can then put it in your hands, but you can only hold the sliotar for four seconds or four steps, unless you bounce it or balance it on your hurley.
“That’s called soloing, and you can do that as long as you can,” said Connor. “But you’ve got someone coming right behind you at a full sprint.”
Then you try to work the ball downfield.
“Your object is to get it either in the uprights of a soccer goal or in the goal itself,” Connor said. “Through the uprights is one point; through the goal is three points.”
However, it’s not an easy sport to pick up.
“You want to hit the ball like a baseball bat, but you’re supposed to actually switch your hands and do the opposite,” said Connor.
“Even on my best day, I’m going to toss a ball up, take a strike, and completely whiff, and look like an idiot, but that’s part of the sport,” Tersine said.
“Honestly, the mechanics of getting the ball off the ground were the hardest,” said Leahey.
But it is a sport that is very welcoming, according to the members.
“That’s the great thing about this club; we’re all developmental,” Tersine said. “No one’s out here trying to kill each other. We’re going to play physical; we’re going to throw a shoulder, but at the end of the day, we’re going to help new players come out. We’re going to help everyone have a good time, and we may or may not go for a beer after.”
Now they’re trying to spread their love of the game with the youth. They just held their first practice for any kid who wanted to try the sport. Five came out to play, and they’re hoping that will grow as summer progresses.
“I like the part where I did the picking up of the ball,” said Onyx Deschler, who just recently started the sport.
“I didn’t think I would like it at first, but once I tried it, it sounded pretty fun,” Mairead Bartels said.
If you’d like to try hurling and join the Fox River Hurling Club, kids practice every Thursday at 5 p.m. and adults at 5:30 p.m.
