2002 Hurling All Stars v 2003 Hurling All Stars

Sat. Jan 24, 2004 Competition Starts: 11:00 am All Stars Game: 3:00 pm This competition will be hosted by the Phoenix Gaels www.phoenixgaels.com

Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road. Scottsdale, AZ 85256 Free Admission

Irish Stars to Light up Arizona

The biggest stars in Ireland's national sport of hurling will play an exhibition game at Scottsdale community college on Saturday January 24th.
The "All Stars" game will feature some of Ireland's most famous hurlers, including many players from the ranks of the current All Ireland champions from the county Kilkenny. A large crowd is expected to attend the game and the organising committee has confirmed that there has been huge interest since the glamour game was announced. In recent times Ireland's All Star teams have played similar exhibition games in places as diverse as San Diego, Buenos Aires and Dubai and with interest in hurling at an all time high, this is a trend that is expected to continue.

The game of hurling itself is Europe's oldest field game and has been chronicled as a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years, featuring in Irish folklore to illustrate the deeds of heroic mystical figures. The game is played with a small ball and a curved wooden stick (called a hurley) and is similar in many respects to hockey, although the ball may be picked up with the Hurley and struck through the air as well as on the ground. Considered by many to be the fastest field sport in the world, the game attracts enormous interest in Ireland and crowds in excess of 50,000 are commonplace during the summer months. In September, the National Finals bring the country to a standstill and 80,000 people attend the games in the magnificent Croke Park stadium.

Kilkenny are the current champions of Ireland and eleven of their fifteen players will take part in the Scottsdale game. Among those who have attained pop star status in Ireland are their powerful centre forward and scoring machine Henry Shefflin, defensive colossus Peter Barry and the teenage sensation Tommy Walsh. Other famous names that will be involved in the game will include Ollie Canning of Galway, Tony Browne of Waterford and Tipperary's Brendan Cummins. The proposed game is attracting huge interest from the Irish in California, New York and Boston in particular. The game itself will commence at 3.00pm and offers a unique opportunity to experience a tradition and culture that is uniquely Celtic and Irish.

The games will commence at 11.00am with teams from Boston, Chicago and San Francisco competing in hurling, and an exhibition game of football.
The All Star game will start at 3.00pm.
Admission is free.

For further Information please contact:

Hurling Lonely Planet.com

A Brief History of Hurling

A Short History of the GAA

A History of Hurling

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