Most countries have a sport they've developed into a form of legalised warware. America has American Football, Canada has Ice Hockey, and Thailand has Kick Boxing. Ireland is no different, but as Irish their sport of choice takes things just that little bit further. That sport is Hurling.
Hurling is basically what happens when hockey, lacrosse, and medieval warfare have a love child. Played with a flat wooden stick (hurley) and a rock-hard ball (sliotar), it involves grown adults sprinting across a field, whacking the ball (and occasionally each other) with alarming enthusiasm. The goal? To score points and avoid being turned into a human piñata. It’s fast, chaotic, and just dangerous enough to make you question the players’ life choices.
What is most astonishing about Hurling is that the players aren't paid. Hurling like other Gaelic sports is administered by the GAA (Gaelic Athletics Association). The GAA promotes amateur Gaelic sports, music, dance, and the Irish language. With its roots in Irish nationalism, the GAA's rules forbid use of their grounds for non-GAA sports. Such socialist ideals is what's behind the non-professional stance of Hurling.
Players can claim expenses for travel, and can earn money from product endorsements, but that's it. Will the GAA ever allow professional is the sports they control? I don't think so. The idea of amateur sport is deeply embedded.
Anyway back to the game of Hurling. It's fast, energetic, and very entertaining. Sometimes referred to as the fastest team sport in the world, it likely to have you hooked from the first time you see a game. Try it out. Trust me. You won't regret it.
There once was a hurler named Shay,
Who swung his old stick every day.
With a sliotar in flight,
He gave it a might,
And it still hasn’t landed, they say.
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