Training with a champion

On October 14, Colm Egan from the NACB came down from Chicago to give us some training. Colm was on the Tipperary All-Ireland Championship team from 1989 and is currently giving clinics on training for hurling.

Colm lead us on some warm up drills then on some possession drills. Indy Hurling came out in force with over 30 showing up for practice.

A couple of the major points that Colm made was even though we don't have the same skill level as the Seniors playing in the All-Irelands, we do the same drills as they do. Of course they do them a bit faster and more accurately, but they are the exact same drills. The other major point he made was getting as many touches as possible in a practice, even during the warm-up drills get a lot of touches in. The more touches you have the better you're going to get.

Colm promised to stop by again in the Spring. We REALLY appreciate him taking the time out of his schedule to drive down and we look forward to continuing to work with him.

Kicking back, Irish Style

Indianapolis Star profiled the club as part of the Irish Festival a few weeks back... here's an excerpt...

Kicking Back, Irish Style

"Irish culture is based on song, dance and enjoyment. That's why we invented beer and whiskey," Conlon said with a smile.

Conlon, who moved here from Ireland 12 years ago, stood in a booth and shared his love of a sport developed as a way to train young men how to fight: hurling.

At North Central High School, a hurling club has been formed. There, Max Haberstadt and Alex Chesterfield, both 17, were intrigued by an invitation to play hurling, they said.

It's a great sport where you can go out there and make some contact, they said.

And how did they get invited?

"Someone said one day, 'Do you want to hurl?' " Haberstadt said.