Plymouth State senior, Anthony Wynands, is the newest member of the Barley House Wolves; New Hampshire’s first ever Hurling team.
Setting up their tent at Manchester’s first annual Irish Fest on Sunday, October 7, the Wolves had their sights set on putting out the word that hurling has finally arrived in New Hampshire.
Slated as the inaugural Hurling team, the Wolves decided that Irish Fest was the best place to educate folks about the pioneering effort in bringing the ancient Gaelic sport to the Granite State.
Among the team’s eight-foot by eight-foot canopy tent were other tents, all occupied by other organizations bringing light to some aspect of traditional Irish culture. The festivities also included classic Irish music and dancing as well as all the cabbage and brisket one could eat in an effort to further the knowledge of traditional Irish culture.
Hurling is a sport that dates back before the existence of recorded Irish culture. It is played on a field much like that of soccer but larger in size. Using specially fashioned sticks called “Hurleys,” the objective is to knock the baseball-like ball into one of two goals at each end of the field. Tactics such as kicking, dribbling and slapping the ball are used in association with violent and speedy play to accomplish the task of scoring.
Among the inaugural members of the team in attendance was Plymouth State senior, Anthony Wynands. His friend, Plymouth resident Rob Stansfield, was also present. Wynands and Stansfield were made aware of the sport through a network of friends in New Hampshire’s Army National Guard 54 troop command in Manchester back over the summer, “A friend asked me to try it out, when I did, I was hooked from then on,” said Wynands about his entrance onto the team.
With hopes of furthering the awareness of the sport, Wynands and Stansfield teamed up and subsequently became a part of something new and exciting, “I think this sport can go a long way in the U.S. and New Hampshire, its fun, combining aspects of already popular sports in this country.”
Started by Ray Valas and Ken Kinsella, the team began as a means of keeping in touch after a 2004 Iraq deployment for returning members of the New Hampshire National Guard Mountain Infantry unit.
“We stopped in Shannon, Ireland to refuel the plane and allowed for members of the unit to depart the plane for a few beers in Ireland,” stated Valas, “I felt that we had to do something at that point to keep in touch with the other members of the unit. While we pondered together, one of us remarked on the strange sport we saw playing on the television at the bar. It was hurling, and we decided to use this unique game as a way to form a team and keep in touch. It all took off from there.”
Kinsella and Valas named the team the Wolves, after their unit call sign in Iraq. The team also adopted the ancient Gaelic saying, “Bona na Croin,” meaning, “Neither collar nor Crown,” as the motto of the team.
“I love how Hurling combines the disciplines of soccer and baseball with athleticism of soccer and the coordination of baseball it uses those key talents of the sports,” said Wynands.
The team ordered their equipment straight from Ireland when they returned and went to work, recruiting players and signing onto the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA). This association is focused on, “Promoting Hurling, Camogie and Gaelic football in North America,” according to the GAA website, NAGAA.org, and proved to be very accepting of the Wolves plans to bring this sport to New Hampshire.
“The GAA was very accommodating to us in our efforts,” said Valas, seconded by 2007 team MVP, Eddie Clements, both of whom were present at the festivities, “They seemed very excited about us bringing this sport to New Hampshire.”
The team also was able to find a home field in Canton, Massachusetts, where there is a facility to play various ancient Gaelic sports.
The first season was a little rough for the team, as all but one member had never played the sport before and keeping regular player outside of the core members, was tough.
“Basically we are looking to use year one as a learning year. Year two we want to scrimmage more and establish a team identity. And year three, we hope to play in a tournament in Canton. Maybe we will get to play more established teams, like the Cork County’s junior team that come from Ireland to play,” said Wynands, “Also, we plan to do a lot of work with the local children, helping them to learn about Hurling,” Valas said, “So far the community has been really supportive of us and they seem to like the nature of the sport. We are happy with our affiliations, the Barley House and the New Hampshire Police Emerald Society. They have been tremendous in making this happen.”
The Wolves will begin their next campaign in the summer of 2008 and are looking for more athletes to be a part of history. Their website Barleyhousewolves.bravehost.com is where potential player and tryout information can be found.
With this, all of us here at PSU would like to wish Hurling and the Barley House Wolves in Irish, “Céad míle fáilte!” (A hundred thousand welcomes).