Ireland: Gaelic Games

Game face on!!! Ready to dominate these Irish sports!
(c) Bryan Koop - Official SAS F'13 Photographer

As a dancer, all my time for extra-curricular activities was devoted to the dance studio, and never to an outdoor playing field, except during my senior year in high school when I joined the track team. That's the most I've ever done as far as sports go.

But one of my goals on this SAS voyage is to experience new things (activities, food, transportation, etc) in every country we go to. So when I read about the Gaelic Games Experience on the list of field programs available to us in Ireland, I jumped at the chance at trying my luck with Irish sports...or, well, sports in general.

So that beautiful sunny Sunday in Dublin, I hopped on a bus together with 13 other fellow SAS-ers, excited (and a bit anxious) at the thought of a sports-filled day!

Irish Football

So this is basically like soccer, but with different rules. Now, I know squat about the rules of American or Philippine or whichever country's soccer, but I did ask if Irish football was different from the kind of soccer that is played during the World Cup. Our coach said yes, Irish football is a wee bit different. One of the main differences is the fact that as opposed to the soccer I know, the ball in Irish football is barely kicked around on the ground. I'm not gonna go into details about the rules because i'm finding it difficult to explain and illustrate the moves allowed in the game. But, I am gonna brag that I scored a goal during practice!! Buuut.. never again during the actual game. Haha #athleteprobs #charot

(c) Bryan Koop

Hurling

When I first heard our guide say that we will be hurling that day, I was like WHUT. Hurling to me (and probably to everyone who is not Irish lol) means umm, throwing up. I thought they implied that I won't be able to take all the sports we'll be doing that day and that I'd have to hurl. Lol. So I was kinda relieved when the coach explained that Hurling is another type of Irish sport, similar to what field hockey is. You go around chasing a ball with a hurling stick (shaped a bit like a hockey stick) and try to maneuver the ball into the goal.

(c) Bryan Koop

Handball

This is just like racquetball, except without any racquets! You use either the palm or the knuckle of your hands to hit the tiny ball against the wall, alongside your opponent. I think this was the easiest because it was the one I did really good in, so it must have been easy if I excelled in it hehe.

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The Gaelic Games experience was definitely the biggest highlight during my stay in Ireland. Not only did I get to try something new that I wouldn't normally do back home, but I also got to have a taste of that passion that runs deep in Irish sports. New personal experience, check! New cultural experience, check! Happy Laura, check and check!

Me with my two Irish men hehe aka my coaches for the day!

Photo collage: Me trying on the helmet used for Hurling, me giving two thumbs up right by the field where we played football, me with the Dublin Boys in Blue banner, and the last photo is just Hurling helmets :)

The SAS Gaelic Games Team!
(c) Bryan Koop