The Augusta Gaelic Sports Club begins its 13th spring season with a kickoff event at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 at Blanchard Park.
The event is open to anyone interested in participating in the traditional Irish sports of hurling and Gaelic football. Spectators, are welcome, too, said Kristopher Wells, club founder and spokesman.
The Irish have played hurling for about 3,000 years, according to Wells. Michael Cusack founded the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884 in response to the Irish nationalist movement of the period. The GAA promotes not only hurling but also Gaelic football and Gaelic handball.
Hurling is similar to baseball in that it uses a stick, called a hurley, to hit a leather ball, called a sliotar and pronounced similarly to the English word slither, according to Wells. The object of the game is to hit the ball into the H-shaped goal. Often referred to as the “fastest game on grass,” Wells said that the game is a cross between field hockey and lacrosse.
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According to Irish legend, Irish monk St. Brendan the Navigator actually brought hurling to North American natives when he and a small band of his fellow monks discovered the Americas in the early sixth century. The natives transformed hurling into lacrosse.
Gaelic football is played with a round ball and is a cross between rugby, basketball and soccer, but its rules are similar to those of hurling, Wells said. The Augusta club participates in both sports.
Club leaders are hoping to rebuild the organization to the nearly 60 members the team had before the COVID-19 pandemic hit last spring. Before the pandemic, the club had two full rosters of travel teams ready to compete in regional matches, Wells said. Their numbers have declined since last spring, however. About 20 people have been involved through the fall. Some members have dropped out at least temporarily as a precaution during the pandemic, Wells added. New members are always welcome.
The club competes in matches and tournaments organized by the southeastern division of the United States Gaelic Athletic Association. Some 20 teams from the region are members of the division, including three in Georgia and another three in South Carolina, said Wells, who started the Augusta team in 2009 after a trip to Ireland during which he fell “in love with [Irish] music, culture and sport.”
Wells said it took him some time to find all the gear needed to play hurling, but he eventually gathered what he needed and then persuaded three friends to try out the game with him. From there, the team has grown large enough to have three teams usually for Sunday round robins.
The club also offers spring and fall leagues as well as a summer football league. It even awards a prize to the team with the most wins, the Alex Johnson Memorial Hurl, named for a friend of the club who died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 21.
Anyone interested in participating should attend the Jan. 17 kick off to learn more about the game. Those who do come out will participate in a “poc fada,” or long strike competition to see who can hit the ball the farthest. They will also divide participants into age-based teams during the event. Those under 35 will go to the Whippersnapper team, and those over 35 will go to the Geezers team.
These teams will practice together for several weeks before team captains announce their rosters on Jan. 31, and the first league match will be Feb. 7.
Blanchard Park is at 4541 Dewey Drive in Martinez. Anyone interested in more information can email Wells at augustahurling@gmail.com
Debbie Reddin van Tuyll is Editor-in-chief of The Augusta Press. Reach her at debbie@theaugustapress.com
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