It has been announced that the Dublin and Galway hurlers will play a one-off ‘Super 11s Hurling’ match in Fenway, home of the Boston Redsox, in November. The AIG Fenway Hurling Classic will form part of an Irish Festival that weekend, which will also feature Boston College playing Notre Dame in American Football the day before.

It is an amazing opportunity to expose the sport to a new audience, at an historic home of American sport and the oldest Baseball ground in the MLB. Boston, a sports-mad city steeped in Irish culture, is the type of American city that would cherish a vibrant hurling culture.

However, the game will not be out and out hurling, as such, but rather ‘Super 11s Hurling’, a brainchild of the GPA. Super 11s Hurling is 11 aside. It has no points, only goals, as the nets are like in soccer. Also, there is no sliotar, rather a similar sized ball with no rims.

Most hurling purists would agree that hurling is perfect. So why would you change it when attempting to to market it to America?

Hurling is unique. One of its appeals is that there is nothing else like it. Writing from experience, Americans, and many other non-Irish nationalities, do not share the same excitement when seeing Gaelic Football for the first time, because they have sports similar to it. It is nothing radically new.

The option between pucking a ball over the bar for one point, or shooting for a goal for three points is a feature that does not exist in American sports. In fact, it is amongst the greatest skills in our national sport. It has heralded some of the greatest moments hurling has ever seen: DJ Carey, Ciarán Carey, and Diarmuid O’Sullivan for example. So why remove it?

The sliotar is a symbol of Irish sport. Replacing it with a similarly weighted luminous coloured ball without rims seems bizarre. It is a traditional icon, making hurling balls recognisable and distinguishable from all others. They also aid in the striking of a sideline cut. It is more difficult to get underneath the sliotar for a sideline if there are no rims. Super 11s is less likely to produce moments of magic like this:

Oh wait, they removed the point too, so even if you managed to hit a perfect sideline, you’d would get nothing for it!

The 11 aside aspect is plausible, as it is pointed out by that the typical GAA pitch is far larger than other sports fields. Pitches such as American Football fields would not accommodate for a 15 aside hurling, and therefore 11 aside is more appropriate. Fair point.

But this has been happening anyway for a long number of years before the farcical notion of Super 11s Hurling was introduced. Simple logistics make this an obvious choice, and hurling clubs right across the United States have done this for years, due to playing area restrictions and playing numbers. It is nothing revolutionary; it is common sense. There is no need to dress it up and call it a new sport.

This is an ideal opportunity to market hurling to a new audience, and grow the sport in the USA. In October 2013, they had a similar venutre as Super 11s Hurling appeared at half-time in the college American Football game between Notre Dame and USC. Some of the country’s very best hurlers traveled to compete. It was a great exhibition, but what was the legacy? Absolutely nothing. It was nothing more than a junket for those involved. Notre Dame did not have a hurling team before the tournament, and still do not have one to this day. They did not cater for any students at the college game who may have been interested in taking up this strange new sport. They played, upped sticks and left.

It is likely that the same will happen this time around in Boston. The appeal is obvious in shipping Joe Canning, Liam Rushe, and Co. over to Boston to attract the crowds, but as they already have the field in Boston for the day, could they not also let the local teams play perhaps as a curtain-raiser? This would let the spectators know that there are teams in the area for any potential players. Also, it would be a massive boost for Boston hurling, rather than it simply coming across as a money-making racket. Pundit Arena has profiled GAA teams in the US playing in large stadia such as Texas and Montana. The sports and the recruitment of players are thriving in those areas.

Super 11s Hurling has the right intentions, but leave hurling as it is. The teams they are looking for Americans to set up or join are not Super 11s teams, they are hurling teams.

Dave Lewis, a New Jersey born hurler, told Pundit Arena of his dismay at the concept.

“While yes this is a good opportunity to see the basics of the sport of Hurling in America on a large scale, it comes with negative connotations. The idea of creating a bastardized version of Hurling to fit an ‘American mould’ is wrong as it inaccurately depicts the regulation games that hundreds of Americans have played in the United States since the 1850s. The use of baseballs and the loss of points takes away the cultural differences the sport has with other American sports and kind of insults those that have played the sport in America and Americans who are learning the game for the first time.”

Chairman of the GPA Dónal Óg Cusack stated that “This a truly wonderful opportunity for us to exhibit hurling at a high profile US sporting venue, and there is none more iconic than the home of the Red Sox. We believe that hurling ranks alongside the best sports in the world and the staging of this game in Fenway is part of our commitment to convey that message to a new and influential audience.”

GAA Director General, Páraic Duffy stated that “It will be occasion to remember on November 22nd as two excellent teams from Dublin and Galway demonstrate the best skills of our games”

As you acknowledge that hurling ranks among the “best sports in the world”, why not leave it as it is, and not remove any of the “best skills of our game”? There are better ways to spread our games. There are better ways to use our resources. Showcase hurling for what it is; hurling.

Brian Barry, Pundit Arena.

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