Irish Examiner Article on Youth Trip
April 20th 2009
Milwaukee Hurling Club’s second Irish visit
Following his elevation to the presidency at last Saturday’s GAA Congress in
Cork, new GAA head honcho Christy Cooney stated that one of the principal
planks of his tenure will be the re-establishment of the GAA in our major
urban areas – as a pointer towards achieving that ambition, perhaps Christy
should take a trip to the mid-west. No, not to Athlone or Mullingar – to
Milwaukee, USA. Even as Christy was making his inaugural address to
Congress, 51 members of the thriving Milwaukee Hurling Club were winding up
their second hurling tour to Ireland with a Puc Fada competition in the
famed Cooley Mountains. It was a hurling tour with a difference, a youth
tour, 23 young hurlers with their five coaches and as many parents as could
make it. One of those coaches is Karen Fink, and she gives us a quick
run-through of the itinerary. "We flew in on Monday, had the Croke Park
museum tour, then headed for Naas for two days of a hurling clinic. On
Thursday afternoon we went to Northern Ireland, played a match against a
local youth team there on the 17th, the Friday. The Saturday then was on to
Annaverna Mountain (in the Cooleys) for a Poc Fada, before heading home
again on the Sunday."
All a bit hectic, admittedly, but given that
Milwaukee Hurling Club is primarily run by and for people who – like Karen –
have no real ties to Ireland, and certainly have neither history nor
tradition when it comes to Ireland’s ancient sport, they were determined not
to waste a moment. Total immersion for the duration, that’s what they went
for, and the kids, according to Karen, thoroughly enjoyed the whole
exercise. "It was a whirlwind tour, but they are bowled over. They got
excellent training all the way through. We met Paudie Butler (GAA National
Hurling Development Coordinator) for an afternoon, they got an hour with
him, phenomenal training. They also got to meet Joe Canning and that was
very exciting for them, and they also met Damien Fitzhenry; they got to see
a hurley-maker in Meath, couldn't believe how much work goes into making a
hurley. In the north they had a great time, were introduced to several new
methods of training. A lot of these kids are also involved in baseball and
football but after what they saw this week they have a far deeper
appreciation of the GAA, of the organisation they’re now involved in. I
think they’re overwhelmed with the whole experience, they’re so excited, but
also so tired!”
Understandably so, given all they’ve experienced in such a short time, but
those 23 youngsters will already be spreading the new gospel in Milwaukee,
in their schools, among their friends, using all the tools of the modern
internet-savvy youngster. And remember, we’re not talking here about
Murphys and McCarthys, about Ryans and O'Briens, we’re talking about
Fehrenbachs and Hoffmans, about Herbers and Olsons, about Sacks and
Slawskis, and those are just six surnames taken from one ten-member youth
team in the Milwaukee Hurling Club league, the strangely-named Comfort
Keepers – "Polish, German, American-Indian, typical American mish-mash,"
says Karen. If a new hurling club can be formed from scratch in Milwaukee,
in all its splendid isolation, why not in Dublin city north and south, in
Sligo, in Galway, in all the other underperforming major urban locations in
this country?
"We have about 260 players right now," says Karen; "We have
approx 80 kids in the youth league, about 20 camogie members, around 160
co-ed players." Co-ed? Well, yes; you see, in the beginning, in all their
innocence and naivety when they first formed their hurling club, they
believed that men and women lining up with and against each other on the
hurling field was the norm, and that’s how they’ve been playing their own
leagues ever since. Hasn’t done them any harm, and Milwaukee camogie teams
have always acquitted themselves well in the annual North American
Championships, while the men are this year promoted to Junior A, having won
the B title for the past two years.
"We had only three Irish-born on that
team, three guys in their 40’s, one guy who has been playing for only three
years – just amazing. Probably what we’re proving is that it’s never too
late, people can take up a sport at any age – maybe not play at the top
level, but they can play. Already this season our preseason training has
started, and we have 40 new adult players we’re training in right now; May
17th is our first game, opening day, we’ll have seven games that afternoon."
One of those 40-plus players on the junior A men’s team is Dave Olson, he of
the long plaited hair who featured in these pages during the Seán Kelly era
when he gained one of the prestigious GAA President’s awards. Dave, a
former baseball player with absolutely no ties to Ireland or to hurling, is
still lining out for Milwaukee, full-forward, as is Karen herself in camogie – "Struggling away," she laughs, "I preferred offence, used to be a
half-forward, but as I get older I’m heading for defence!" Some things are
the same everywhere, aren't they? Nevertheless, good to hear that hurling
is still thriving in Milwaukee, surely the GAA’s most fertile outpost. A
pointer for the new GAA President in his efforts to spread the game at home?
Yes, surely.
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