Hurling sticks immediately for coach, takes him to Ireland

Michael McClain dug deep to feed his Irish roots.

The 2004 Bishop Eustace Preparatory School graduate and current coach of the Crusaders’ boys cross country team and girls track and field team had visited Ireland twice before – once as part of a college class trip and another as a Father’s Day excursion with his parents.

This time, he carried the weight of a country with him.

McClain competed in the sport of hurling at the Gaelic Athletic Association World Games in late July in Derry, Northern Ireland. The GAA is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organization, focused on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which includes traditional Irish sports like hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, Gaelic handball and rounders. 

McClain heard about hurling through his Irish literature class during his senior year of college at Rutgers University-Camden and wanted to know more.

“The professor described it as a sport that began thousands of years ago that soldiers would play before they went into battle. It was a very … tough game but a very skilled game that was still being played by the Irish people today,” McClain recalled. “I immediately went home and started researching for clubs that were somewhat close to the area.”

He found one, called the Philadelphia Shamrocks at the time; it’s now called Na Toraidhe. “They responded to me within 45 minutes and told me to come out to a preseason meeting,” he said. “They said to bring some cleats and they’d set me up. That was 15 years ago, and I’ve been playing ever since.”

McClain explored the sport and honed his skills with the Shamrocks before a group of like-minded individuals started a hurling club closer to home. The South Jersey Rebels were created; they practice in Haddon Township and Westville. Membership fluctuates, but there have been as many as 25 hurlers in the South Jersey club at its peak. 

“We have a nice combination of those who have played before and are experienced, along with new very athletic kids from college who were interested,” McClain said. “The last couple of years, we have had a few Irish guys that are on our team and helping us train.”

Hurling is a team game that shares many features with Gaelic football. However, in this 15-on-15 game, players use wooden sticks and hit a small ball called a “sliotar” past a goalkeeper into the opponent’s goal for three points, or through uprights above the net for a single point. Games are played on grass and are very physical, despite players wearing limited protective equipment.

“The best description of it for someone that’s never seen it before is hockey on grass and in the air,” said McClain, who plays defense. “I’ve heard it [described] as a sport that combines baseball, rugby, field hockey, lacrosse and football. Pretty much everything. It’s a very beautiful sport to watch. It’s very fast and very aggressive.”

McClain’s team in the World Games consisted of members of four different clubs in the Philadelphia area, which combined to represent the city. The Philadelphia team faced European powerhouses as well as other American cities in the tournament.

Once they took the field in front of large crowds and the nerves settled, McClain and his teammates knew they were doing something special.

“For me, playing against Germany, hearing team members yelling in a different language … that’s when I realized this is real,” McClain said. “That’s when it started to get really, really fun. At that point, we realized we’re doing something really huge here, and we can go far.”

The Philadelphia team had a great run and made it all the way to the semifinals before bowing out to the eventual champions from New York. Overall, that’s an amazing accomplishment for both New York and Philly since the Irish competitors have hundreds of years of hurling experience in their culture. In fact, the game is said to predate the arrival of the Celts, with the earlier references of the game in written history going back to the 5th century.

“It was my first opportunity playing anywhere outside of America,” McClain said. “We had a great time and absolutely held our own. We didn’t know what to expect, and for me, probably the nerves set in once the jet lag subsided. I realized the magnitude that not only am I playing the sport that I love in Ireland, where it was created thousands of years ago, but I was in a world tournament and on the world stage for everyone to look at us. It was the experience of a lifetime.”

McClain returned stateside shortly before the calendar flipped to August, and he said he’s still riding the high into the boys high school cross country season, where his Crusaders have their own big expectations once the season begins in September.

“I’m really excited to be back,” McClain said. “We do have a challenge that we have a very small [cross country] team this year, but this team can go very, very far. It has a nice chance to win states. Our goal is to stay focused on training and take care of ourselves at home. We are willing to do whatever it takes to make the top of the podium in November.”

And after they succeed in cross country, could there be a future in hurling for those same high school athletes?

“I would very much love to recruit them, especially our distance athletes,” McClain said with a laugh. “We’d love to have them in the midfield running circles around the other team.”