Presentation: Hurling, the oldest sport!

T.J Reid, Kilkenny, scores a goal against Tipperary during the 2012 All-Ireland Semi-Final at Croke Park.

As Gaelic football, I didn’t know Hurling before I came here.

It’s one of the oldest and fastest sports in the world. The game has prehistoric origins and has been played for over 3,000 years.

Hurling combines the skills of baseball, hockey, and lacrosse in one high speed, high scoring, high octane sport. The sliothar sometimes reaches 160km/h!

Here is a very interesting video presentation of Hurling:

It shares a number of features with Gaelic football: the size of the pitch, the goal, the number of players and the duration.

Players use a hurley, a kind of stick, to hit a small ball which is called a sliothar.

As Gaelic football, two types of scores are possible: points and goals. A point is awarded for hitting the sliothar over the crossbar; a goal is awarded for hitting the sliothar under the crossbar into the net guarded by a goalkeeper.

Since 2010, all players must wear a helmet, as in ice hockey, and may wear other protection such as shinguards and a special kind of glove called an ashguard.

The main championships and competitions are regulated by the GAA, but Hurling is played throughout the world. The All-Ireland championship, the most prestigious competition, was described by CNN as the second most important sport event in the world. I’ll be back later about this.

The All-Ireland final replay between Galway and Kilkenny:

Picture credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile