Sat Aug 17 - Junior B Hurling FInal: Worcester v NH Wolves

New Hampshire Wolves 2-8 Worcester 3-10

Worcester Fenians captured the first Junior B Hurling championship in the Northeast division after a hard hitting, exciting game against old rivals, the New Hampshire Wolves.  Worcester got some great performances from several of their number, none more so than center forward, Conor Greene.  Greene accounted for all 3 goals and a number of well taken points to steer his side to the win.

Captains Seamus O'Shaughnessy and Dave Crowley accept

the Cup from Peter Murray.

Worcester got off to a great start with a goal from center forward Conor Greene.  Greene’s shot on the turn looped over Wolves keeper, Steve Desjarlais, and into the corner of the net.  Worcester followed with a point to hold a 4 point lead early on.  It was Sean Naughton who got the New Hampshire side off the mark with two points, one from a free and it was uncompromising stuff as each side threw themselves into the fray with total commitment.  The challenges were heavy with few 50/50 balls easily won.

The Wolves were in the lead after Will Mullen netted.  The corner forward’s initial shot hit the post but the rebound was put away to the cheers of the numerous supporters who traveled from Concord, NH.  Liam Kelly restored parity with a well taken point and the writing was on the wall for a close game.  In the run up to half time the Wolves established a two point cushion, outscoring their opponents 4 points to two with some well taken scores from each side.

The second half saw the boys from Massachusetts drop two goals into the net, both from Conor Greene long range frees that dropped just below the crossbar and the ball found its way through the forest of sticks and into the net. The two goals were the difference between the teams as Worcester had pointed 3 times on one for New Hampshire.  

Worcester win the first Junior B Cup in the Northeast Division.

With the game going back and forth the Wolves needed a goal to get back into it, and at one stage a Sam Durfee shot hit the crossbar.  Worcester defended well with the Wolves pushing, Timmy Jackson cleared well on a couple of occasions and Dave Crowley in the middle of the field kept the ball moving.  The Wolves had their chances, but with Sean O’Shaughnessy standing tall in defence the Wolves were going to have a tall order to breach the ramparts.  Worcester held firm and kept the door closed for the remainder of the game to end up 5 point winners and will represent the division in Leesburg, Virginia next weekend at the USGAA Finals.

Wolves:  Steve Desjarlais, Alec Foley, Dan Hanna, Torrie Lemmon, Ryan Nickerson, Justin Stasz, Sam Durfee, Jay Abramowicz, Tanner Starmer, Sean Naughton, Mark Misiarski, Jason Burpee, Chris Rougeaut.

Worcester:  Dan Smith, Luke Lagorce, Timmy Jackson, Dan Williams, Sean O’Shaughnessy, Seamus O’Shaughnessy, Dave Crowley, Nate Crowley, Tom Lind, Conor Greene, Zack Jacobs, Liam Kelly, PJ Heffernan.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sat Aug 25 - Junior C Hurling Final: NH Wolves v Worcester Fenians

Worcester Fenians 2-9 NH Wolves 2-11

The Junior C Hurling final came as advertised, with hardly a puck of a ball between the teams.  There was a healthy contingent of supporters who came to the Irish Cultural Center, Canton Mass. from Worcester and Concord NH to cheer on their teams.  There was some excellent hurling and great scores – and saves.  It was a testament to how far these clubs have come since forming 10 short years ago.  It could have gone to either team, and in the end it was the New Hampshire side who came out winners.

The New Hampshirites Celebrate the Championship Victory.

The first half was as tight as can be with just a point separating the teams at the break.  The Wolves had the better of things in the early going, but missed several opportunities to point.  A goal from Pat Naughton maintained the Granite State boys advantage for the half.  After Mikhael Gregoire pointed, a hopeful long, high ball from Naughton sailed into the back of the net.  Mike Durfee followed with another point and the Wolves had a three point lead.  Worcester then came into the game.

The men from western Mass. outscored their opponents 5 points to 3 in the approach to half time.  Connor Green put some excellent scores over, one from a very tight angle after Worcester had almost netted.   Tom Lind also pointed from distance as the Worcester side had a slight edge and were hurling well.  Steve Desjarlais was very busy in goal for the Wolves and held his nerve well under many high balls, and delivered several lengthy clearances.  At corner back Alec Foley also did well to keep Worcester at bay and cope with the pressure.

Worcester got off to a great restart with a superb goal from Greene.  PJ Heffernan found Greene with a high cross field ball and Greene fetched and finished expertly into the far corner.  The goal put Worcester up a point, but the Wolves came right back.  Pat Naughton leveled the scores with a point, and then rifled the ball into the corner with a pull off the ground shortly afterwards.  Naughton at center forward was a force for the Wolves in the second half.  The teams traded scores with Worcester needing to catch up as the game entered the final quarter.

Zack Jacobs who entered as a sub for Worcester made an impact, pointing after entering play and driving his side forward, along with Dave Crowley who tried to find a way through the Wolves defence.  The Wolves held a 4 point lead, which seems huge in such a tight game, but Seamus O’Shaughnessy netted for Worcester and just like that it was a point in it with the clock winding down.  Jason Burpee got the insurance point after cutting in from the corner, and his goalbound shot was excellently saved by Mike Dufault and went over for a point.  Burpee had to leave the field following a heavy challenge after the shot for which Seamus O’Shaughnessy was sent off.

The Wolves held on to win It and in the end probably just about deserved to.  A great victory for the New Hampshire team, and on the Philly next weekend!

Fenians:  Mike Dufault, Dan Smith, Tim Jackson, Joe Nett, Liam Kelly, Jason Cretais, Sean O’Shaughnessy, Jeremy, Seamus O’Shaughnessy, Tom Lind, Connor Green, Dave Crowley, PJ Heffernan.

Wolves:  Steve Desjarlais, Alec Foley, Dean Williams, Torrie Lemon, Ryan Nickerson, Jason Stasz, Sean Naughton, Dan Hanna, Will Mullen, Pat Naughton, Sam Durfee, Mikhael Gregoire, Jason Burpee.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sat Aug 18 - Junior C Hurling Semi-Final: NH Wolves v Providence HC

NH Wolves 3-16 Providence HC 1-2

The NH Wolves earned a place in next week’s junior C hurling final with a solid display against Providence in the Junior C Hurling semi-final.  A goal in each half from Mikael Gregoire and some good combination play from the back saw the Wolves through to the win.

The Wolve's Jason Burpee shoots.

The first half belonged to the Wolves.  Displaying a level of skill and connectedness that comes with years of practice and playing together, the men from the Granite state steadily built up a sizeable lead.  Corner forwards Jason Burpee and Mike Gregoire got on the scoreboard early, Gregoire putting one score over from a very tight angle.  Along with Sam Durfee in the half forward line, it was all Wolves.  




The Providence back line were busy and Travis Croker, Martin Green and Mike Walsh did well to stem several Wolves attacks.

About 20 minutes into the half it was an eight point to no score lead, and Providence mounted a promising attack that had goal possibilities, however the ball was cleared and the goal came at the other end with a nice finish by Burpee.  Providence’s efforts showed a little more bite in the latter stages of the half, and a goal came from Corey Diamond after two brave saves from Will Mullen in the NH goal.  At the break it was a 10 point lead for the men from New Hampshire.

Juston Stasz Clears Under Pressure.

Providence gave a better account of themselves in the second half and made the Wolves back line work, Austen Clarke popped over a nicely taken point and the Providence men threatened the Wolves goal on a couple of occasions but could not breach the wall.  Gregoire and Sean Naughton each pointed a brace to extend the lead for the New Hampshire side, and the result was never in doubt.  As a heavy rainstorm set in it was the Wolves who would be coming back next week to meet defending champions Worcester in the final.

Wolves:  Will Mullen, Alec Foley, Jay Abramowicz, Ryan Nickerson, Juston Stasz, Sean Naughton, Dan Hanna, Mark Misiarski, Sam Durfee, Pat Naughton, Mikhael Gregoire, Jason Burpee.

Providence:  Brendan McGinn, Mike Walsh, Chris Ryan, Matt Parks, Travis Croker, Martin Green, Austen Clark, Jimmy Glendinning, Adrian Ganley, Mike Kenneally, Padraig Doyle, Brian McNamara, Corey Diamond.

By Rory O'Donnell

New Hampshire's Barley House Wolves

Some four years ago my curiosity was piqued when I noticed on the Boston GAA's Web site that a hurling team from New Hampshire was included in the list of clubs registered with the board here.  I got in contact with the club and Ray Valas had a very interesting story to tell.  Since then the club made up of New Hampshire National Guardsmen has continued to dedicate itself to the national game of Ireland, and have made a pilgrimige of sorts to the mecca of Gaelic Games, Croke Park.  The club also played some "friendly" games against St. Mary's Athenry and an Irish Army team from Renmore Barracks.  There is also a video featuring the club that can be viewed on Dennis O'Brien's Gaelicsportscast.com site: 

http://www.gaelicsportscast.com/2011/01/03/two-fields-one-team-us-pentagon-channel-special/   



Action from the Barley House Wolves trip to Ireland.



I thought it would be interesting to revist the story behind the club from 4 years ago, please read on.

The Wolves of New Hampshire – A Hurling Club is Born

For many years now the efforts going into the promotion and development of Gaelic Games in North America has focused mainly on football. Fledgling underage hurling programs have started in Boston and New York and the work going on in this regard has been showcased at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton during the Interprovincial Football and Hurling Finals. However, outside the two cities there had not been as much of a focus on promoting the game involving the small ball with the youngsters. The logical conclusion as to why football has been the more prominent of the two games probably lies in the assumption that hurlers are bred, not made, and only bred in select parts of the country of Ireland mind you. In fact, the theory of natural selection as regards what makes a skilled hurler might have us believe that over the next few generations people from Kilkenny, east Galway, Cork, and Tipp will evolve with bas shaped hands. Evidence that the game in Ireland is becoming more geographically concentrated is found in the fact that outside Cork and Kilkenny there are only two or three other counties that might have an outside chance of winning the All-Ireland. While the GAA are trying to change the direction the game is taking in Ireland, one wonders what hope is there outside of the homeland of the game that it might take hold?


Well, it might surprise some people that evidence of the potential of the game abounds the length and breadth of the United States. A quick glance at the North American Web site (www.nagaa.org) shows a plethora of Hurling clubs being formed outside of the traditional strongholds of Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. In fact, Chicago has faced difficulties in recent years, and just one year after making their Ulster final debut, New York will not be entering a team for the Ulster championship in 2007. Difficulties also lie ahead for Boston and San Francisco where the clubs have relied on emigrants and summer players to fill their ranks and the pool of these players is drying up, like a parched lake in the middle of a drought there is no longer a stream of players from traditional sources to feed the pool. Hurling Clubs are springing up in places like Portland Oregon, Albuquerque New Mexico, and closer to home, Concord New Hampshire. These are places that could hardly be described as having a hurling tradition, or be populated with people coming from such a tradition, and whether the game takes root and blossoms remains to be seen, but it certainly is a development that is worth a closer look.



I got the chance to ask Ray Valas, one of the founders of the Barley House Wolves a few questions about the newly formed hurling club based in Concord New Hampshire. The circumstances surrounding the foundation of the club was as unlikely as you could expect. A combination of pints of Guinness at the Shannon Airport bar and a 12-month tour of duty in Iraq formed the basis for New Hampshire’s first – and so far only – hurling club. Ray talked about how the club was formed, “The club was started by Ken Kinsella and I. We serve in the same Army unit, and went to Iraq in 2004-2005. We departed the States on St. Patrick's Day in 2004, and our plane stopped over in Ireland for refueling on our way into Iraq. It was 2:00 in the morning and we let the guys go into the airport bar and have a Guinness before going into country. No alcohol is allowed in the combat theater, so it was the last drink for a year. So almost 200 soldiers lined up to get a quick one in the hour and a half before we went wheels up again. I've never seen a bartender work so fast. We all saw a full year of combat, and despite 14 of our guys getting wounded, we all came home alive. On the way back out of Iraq a year later, we stopped in the same airport in Ireland, again at 2:00am, and again had a Guinness, this time to celebrate. We decided we needed to do something to keep in touch, since guys go separate ways after a deployment. We ended up deciding on Hurling since Ireland was our point of departure and return for the war.” In addition to the Irish connection everybody would be on the same level. “It was also attractive because not a one of us had ever played before” continued Ray. “With Hurling, we were all on the same level. We started recruiting from the guys that we went to Iraq with and about two dozen of us got involved.”



Ray had heard of the game through his brother who had visited Ireland and from there developed an interest. Also, coming originally from Canton Mass., HQ of the ICC and the Boston North East Board of the GAA, Ray had some exposure to the sport. With a group of players trying to pick up the skills of a sport none have ever played before, the question of coaching comes to mind. The core of the team comes from the NH Army National Guard Mountain Infantry unit based in Milford, NH and all are American born but one. After relocating to New Hampshire from Ireland, Tipperaryman, Brian Slevin, joined the club on hearing about it from one of the club’s sponsors. According to Ray, “He is a great guy and has actually played before, so we were excited to have him. He has helped out a lot with practice drills and basic skills development.” This is the only expertise that the club had drawn on, but the club has done some of it’s own research on practice drills and the players work on those. “We have not had any coaching from outside the club yet. We have seen that our players who also play hockey or lacrosse have some skills that definitely translate into hurling. A lot of the hand-eye coordination is similar between those sports. We end each session with a scrimmage, since keeping it fun is definitely of the utmost importance. I think Croke Park is a long ways off for us, so we just try to have a good time and improve as we go. We have registered with the Boston-North East Board and they have been very helpful with information and getting us pointed in the right direction.”


The club has not had any competitive encounters yet, and Ray feels that the competition from Boston would be a little too advanced for the New Hampshire lads at this point. “Last year was our first season, and we certainly were not ready for any games,” said Ray. “We were starting from scratch, and just learning the rules was one of the first steps for us. We are not yet ready to play Irish-born teams, but we are seeking other American-born teams to play this season. We have been trying to taunt other groups into starting teams so we can get a league going up here!” According to Ray the biggest challenge is finding suitable opposition, and there has been interest in areas close by. A group from Burlington, Vermont expressed interest in starting a club and the Wolves invited them to practice and provided information on where to get the necessary equipment to help them grow. “It is also in our interest to develop as a club that other clubs form and grow close by” said Ray.



The players have traveled down Interstate 95 to the Irish Cultural Center to sample some live action. It seems that this has whetted the appetite amongst the Wolves to continue to try and hone their skills as well as get a feel for the game. “We have gone down to Canton as a team to watch games, which was incredibly helpful in learning the game. You can read the rules and look at clips on the Internet, but nothing compares to seeing a live game to really get a feel for the tempo and the conduct of the game. I have brought my family to the ICC to watch games as well, and we have a great time. The intensity of the competition is great, and the sport has us hooked.” Ray also noted the importance of what they saw as regards the coaching that was taking place with underage players. “It was good to see a lot of the kids playing since that is the best way to grow a sport. Just like with baseball here in the States, when kids start playing young, the skills get ingrained and the sport improves overall,” added Ray.



The Club trains indoors during the cold months and switches to outdoor training on soccer fields in the Summer. The Barley House, the best tavern in Concord, NH says Ray, and The NH Police Emerald Society each provides sponsorship to the club. “They have helped financially with the purchase of equipment and uniforms, and with the overall promotion of the team” said Ray. So enthusiastic is The Barley House that the pub sells team jerseys and the bartenders wear them while working.



Ray has no doubt that Hurling will take root in America. “The game has everything Americans want in a sport- speed, skill, intensity, high scoring, and overall fun. I remember when Lacrosse was just beginning to catch on, my high school started a program. None of us had ever seen or played a game, but we got a team going and got a foothold in the sport.” “Our club has only grown over the past two seasons, and I see that interest continuing to develop”, said Ray. “The bottom line is that it is a fun sport to play, and so as people become aware of it, they will get hooked.”



As regards future goals the next step is to get a schedule of games with other American born teams. “We need more games to keep the interest up, and to develop the sport” according to Ray. “We would like to be the first, but not only, club in the state of New Hampshire!” The club hopes to have a junior and senior within two to three years and then start getting the kids involved. Ray also said that one of the goals for this season is to get some scrimmages with some of the junior teams in the Boston area and to learn from the experience.

At Croke Park are Lore Ford, Luke Koladish, and Ray Valas.

Ray also provided the story behind the club’s name. “We named the team the Wolves because that was the callsign of our Infantry company in Iraq. Each leader had a callsign that started with "Wolf", so your name might be "Wolf Six" or "Wolf Two-Seven" for a year. Since the team was founded by the guys that deployed to Iraq with us, we named it so. Our crest has a Wolf with a broken collar and broken crown under him, from the saying "no collar, no crown" since we are all from the birthplace of the American revolution. The nine stars are for New Hampshire, the ninth state to join the Union, and the one that made the ratification of the US Constitution official.”

For this season the club will be without 3 players who volunteered for another tour of duty in Afghanistan. The lads brought their sticks with them, and the jerseys. “We will not have them this season, but they will be back for next year. In fact, they might have the first hurling practice ever held in Afghanistan!” said Ray jokingly.

Contact information for the club can be found on their Web site at www.barleyhousewolves.bravehost.com. The Web site for the Boston North East Board of the GAA is located at http://www.bostongaa.org/.

By Rory O'Donnell