BY ANDY VALENTINE
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sports
Hurleys & Sliotars
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The Eugene Trappers put the Sick in Hurling
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onsider the brutality of a pad-less, club-wielding fi eld
of men beating the living crap out of each other for
no good reason. Now consider the brutality of giving
that fi eld of bloody, beaten and bruised men jerseys, a ball, a
goal and good reason. This actually exists. This is the hybridic
predecessor of rugby, lacrosse and fi eld hockey. This is hurling.
The game dates back 3,000 or so years to the Celts in
Ireland, and it’s still steeped in tradition today — right down to
miniscule details like calling the seamed ball a sliotar, and the
fl at-headed stick a hurley, as well as preeminent administration
by the Gaelic Athletic Association.
It’s played just as one would expect, considering the
aforementioned combination of sports, but with a large set of
rules regarding the ways in which the ball can be maneuvered.
Simply, the goal is to get the ball into the goal. How it gets
there is up to the players — it can be kicked, slapped, hit or
carried, but not thrown. You may not have heard, but some
locals decided to try their luck at this sport.
First-year player
“I mean, just on aesthetics alone it looks like lacrosse and
Ryan Falk feeds
hockey
and whatnot, but as far as playing style goes it’s almost
off defense to
keep control of
like basketball,” says Peter Gallagher, captain and coach of the
the sliotar
Eugene Trappers . “It’s been fun trying new things, trying new
moves; it’s such a weird open sport. It’s so improvisational.”
The Trappers began playing regularly in the fall of 2009 when former team member Chris Griffi th brought the idea to some friends.
From there Eugene’s hurling scene has blossomed into far more than a simple way to beat the hangover out of each other on a Saturday
morning. Becoming involved with the Oregonian hurling circuit (which is not to be confused with the offi cial Oregon Hurling Association)
means regular home and away games — savage, teeth-gritting match-ups between two 9 to 13 member teams that almost always end in
scrapes and bruises for all. Though the traditional Irish way of hurling dictates that there be 15 to a side, the sport must fi rst generate enough
local interest to encompass teams of such magnitude.
So if you’re outside this weekend and you happen to see a gaggle of dudes in green taking LARPing to a whole new level, don’t stop
them — they’re beating the shit out of each other in the names of tradition, sportsmanship and recreation. And as brutal as it sounds, you’ve
got to admit: This puts the fun back into hurling after a night of heavy drinking. ew
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EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 17, 2012 13