Hurling is going social in Ulster and everyone is being encouraged to join in

Gaelic Games

New craze: Action from the Social Hurling tournament that took place at Colaiste Feirste during Feile an Phobail over the summer

Social hurling has been the biggest growth area of the GAA in Ulster over the last two years and another tournament is scheduled for Ballinascreen today

New craze: Action from the Social Hurling tournament that took place at Colaiste Feirste during Feile an Phobail over the summer

Social hurling has been the biggest growth area of the GAA in Ulster over the last two years and another tournament is scheduled for Ballinascreen today

New craze: Action from the Social Hurling tournament that took place at Colaiste Feirste during Feile an Phobail over the summer

McBurney/Declan Bogue

Pictured Declan Bogue

Date: Thursday 12th April 2012

Location: BT Offices

Credit: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Copyright: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Liam McBurney - RAZORPIX

liammcburney@gmail.com

+44 7837 68 57 67

Declan Bogue Twitter

October 02 2021 04:48 AM

Every summer, you can set your watch by it.

A big hurling game will be televised from Semple Stadium, Nowlan Park or Pearse Park and will transfix anyone tuning in.

And outside all the various strongholds of Ulster where hurling is on a par, or sometimes favoured ahead of Gaelic football, the feats onscreen will be viewed with awe and astonishment.

The appreciation for the sport, though, rarely extends to serious consideration of taking up hurling for those not of that background.

While some areas of Ulster will always favour hurling and camogie, to another parish a couple of mile down the road, the same sports could feel as exotic as Kabbadi.

With the range of equipment with helmets and hurls, the breadth of the skills, hurling and camogie can seem a daunting environment.

One movement that is stripping all that mystique back are the various groups of ‘Social Hurling,’ operating all around Ireland at the minute, but with a particular relish in Ulster.

It might be no stretch of the imagination to say that it is the biggest growth area of the GAA.

The premise is fairly simple. Come along and try your hand at hurling.

While there may be players who performed at a decent standard in the past, they have the good sense not to lord it over novices and beginners, and everyone coaches each other through the games.

There is no pressure, and no false belts from players hyped up to the last with something truly at stake.

Today, a number of social hurling groups are coming together for a tournament in Ballinascreen, hosted by Social Hurling Doire.

As well as themselves, the ‘Half-Paced Hurlers’ from Belfast, along with Tyrone clubs Cúchulainn An Ghleanna, Eire Óg and the ‘Rusty Ruadhs’ of Dungannon will be in attendance for a two-hour tournament, followed by music and a social event.

The man behind Social Hurling Doire is a Belfast musician by the handy name of Paul Brady.

Living in Claudy for the last 10 years after moving from Belfast, Brady felt he wanted his children to experience hurling and camogie. He approached the local club and asked if they would be interested expanding their codes.

“The incoming chairman came to me and told me they were happy to do it, but it had to be my baby,” he explains.

At the start, the hurling force of nature that is Kevin Hinphey, coach with the Ulster Council, helped Brady out with equipment and got coaching into the local school.

It has progressed nicely from an under-6 team, with aspirations of putting out an under-9 team next year.

But it was felt that more was needed.

“One of the things I thought of was how to raise the profile of hurling in this area because I am not from here,” Brady explains.

“So we started doing social hurling. We pay for the 4G off the club every week and that gives us a bit of a profile.

“Some people at the start were scoffing at it, ‘what is this, old man’s hurling?’”

Gradually, from a standing start of half a dozen people, a What’s App group had to be created and has exploded in popularity.

Over 50 names are on it, and when they meet weekly they have to take the first 30 that put the thumbs up in the group.

Across Ulster, teams have been meeting and playing casual games and a few took part in a mini tournament for Belfast Feile.

In June, a ‘Social Saturday’ was held in Owenbeg with teams coming from Belfast.

Today’s event in Ballinascreen is just the latest to be held so far.

“Most of our guys are not from Claudy, there are lads from ‘Screen, from Na Magha, Slaughtneil, Lynchs, Banagher all coming on a Monday night,” Brady says.

“So it was a guy from ‘Screen that said to us while we were up in Belfast that we could do this in ‘Screen. That we could have the pitches, the clubhouse, the bar, everything we could need on site.”

While there needed to be a level of bullying and nudging to get attendances up for the weekly puc-around, now Brady is noticing the group evolving and becoming a slicker operation.

“You see others now taking the lead,” he beams.

“We now have guys organising buses and food and everything else. It has become a community group in its own way. People are coming to watch us play.

“Look, we are not Derry seniors or Kilkenny, but the kids are coming along and that is why, that is part of it, that my weans have watched Daddy play hurling and that was important for me to show them.”

He adds: “They are a great bunch of lads.

“A lot of them are involved in a lot of things and the photo you see on Twitter of big numbers is well and good, but you don’t see any of the work that goes on behind that. And you cannot push too much as it is supposed to be social. If it wasn’t, you would lose the appeal.”

Action gets under way at 12 noon today in St Colm’s Ballinascreen if you want to get a look at it yourself.