This week was another relatively slow week in Carlow, mainly because of the break in national league games and practice. Aside from class and coaching, I had a ton of free time on my hands, so I decided to go check out the IT Carlow Hurling team.
I have become very close with a kid in my class named Kevin Kelly, who plays for the Carlow hurling team along with the Kilkenny team that played in the All-Ireland Final a few months back. I had been meaning to get out and see them play, but because of how their schedule worked out, there weren’t many home games on the schedule. But I finally got that opportunity on Wednesday. It was hard to get a sense of how the team was because of how humble Kev is, only hearing from Kojack and our Director of Sport how good they were. Kev also failed to mention that Kilkenny is practical a cult of fantastic hurlers, who are a huge deal in Ireland. So once again I had to find out from an outside source that he is actually one of the best hurlers in the country….
So I get out to the field to experience the game for the first time, and let me tell you it is nothing like anything back home. There are about 20 guys out on the field running around with these wooden sticks, NO PADS, and essentially beating the crap out of each other for this little baseball shaped ball. Thank God I had a few teammates with me to explain what was going on, because I was absolutely lost. Carlow absolutely dominated the game, and unfortunately Kev’s time was cut short due to a lingering hamstring injury, but it was still great to see him play.
The next day in class, Kev walks in and asks what I thought of the game, and I said there isn’t an amount of money in this world you could pay me to play that sport!!! But overall it was a great experience, and Carlow hurling gained a huge fan!! Best of luck to the guys net week!
