What a terrific event!  The Naperville Hurling Club, represented by Amie Basic, Shannon Davison, Delaney Moran, Andy Moran and Kevin Pearson, manned a hurling and Irish language booth at the Will County Celtic Festival on August 27, 2016.  This was the third year the NHC has attended this terrific event and the first year that we successfully introduced the Irish Language to the attendees. The women baked and made an assortment of Irish themed treats for the event.  The group posted Irish words about the grounds and had the kids do a scavenger hunt for the words.  The trick was that once they found the words, they had to write the card number on their scavenger sheet and then guess what word represented in English.  Many kids participated and walked happily away with treats in hand and a bit more knowledge of Ireland and its culture.  Hurling / Camogie were big hits again this year with all of the helpers teaching people about the game and taking them out to a side field for lessons and a quick puck around.  Last year's efforts yielded the Davison family, Shannon, Kate and Doug, so we are cautiously optimistic that we might score some more players this year too.  Shannon has been a staple of the team this fall and Kate is a very handy player who, at just 13, shows the courage and skills to play with the adults already.  

Special thanks to the Irish American Society of County Will for inviting us and for being so supportive of our efforts to spread the lessor known aspects of Irish culture, namely the sports and language.  Most Irish festivals focus on the music, dancing, drinking and socializing, so it was no small gamble for them to add these features.  We look forward to doing the event again next year with even better results!

Our first youth indoor program ended as a resounding success!  We entertained and taught about 30 kids how to play hurling and had many first time players attend.  The shear fun of the sport grabbed their attention and they learned so much and so fast that the coaches were all amazed!  The final two sessions were mostly half-court games with the kids demonstrating all of the skills they learned in the first 4 sessions.  We are also happy to announce our first Naperville Park District camp!  It is a three-day Cul Camp, Irish for "Goal Camp", from June 22-24.  This camp is designed for youth from 6-14 and will have coaches available to teach all experience levels, from absolute beginners to experienced veteran youth players.  In any event, all participants will have a great time and wlll receive both t-shirts and a medal upon completion!  Call or text Kevin at (630) 306-6983 for more information!

Indoor adult hurling starts on January 11, 2015 at 3 p.m. at Players Indoor Sports, 1740 Quincy Ave., Naperville.  We are excited to be offering indoor adult hurling this year in Naperville vs. in Downers Grove last year.  The upside is convenience while the downside is that we may not get participation from some folks who came out from Chicago to play with us.  As far as we know, we are the only club in Illinois running an indoor league this year!  YOUTH GAELIC FOOTBALL AND HURLING STARTS JANUARY 25, 2015 AT 3 P.M. AT PLAYERS INDOOR.

SUMMARY

1) Three teams with 7 on the pitch (goalie is the 7th player).
2) Each team will be scheduled for 6 games starting 1/11 (double header).  
3) Nine regular season games which are already on our club calendar on the www.naperhurling.com website.
4) Championship game will immediately follow the last regular season game on 3/15/15
5) Players can come and substitute on weeks that they are not scheduled to play.  This will either help make up games people have to miss OR just give people more playing opportunities.  At this point, every team will need subs every week.  
6) If anyone else wants to play, there is room for 5 more right now.  If we get more than that, we will have the ability to extend the season and create a 4th team.  
7) The teams have been set based on a) who said they are in, and b) creating 3 relatively even teams.  We looked at age and skill levels to try to create parity.
8) We’d sure like to see a few more new male and female players!  Spread the word!

We got a bit of a late start securing space for our winter programs this year.  We found some space near the Fox Valley mall on Friday afternoons between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., but the membership resoundingly said that time wouldn't work.  Since then, we have continued to call local indoor facilities and have not found space.  Even the Darien Sportsplex where we played in January last year has no availability.  I will have to personally take the blame for this because I didn't get a jump on it in the fall.  We are still looking and I am hopeful that space will be found.  We will notify you all as soon as we have any news.

We submitted proposals to have a Cúl Camp, spring youth program and an adult hurling league to the Naperville Park District early this month.  The Park District has a successful twelve-team cricket league and we are hoping to stand up four teams for next year with the advantage of having the marketing power and endorsement of the Park District behind us.  The adult program would be in lieu of our ad hoc league this year.  The Park District take a big part of our fees, but they include field fees and guaranteed fields. All in all, I think the move to the Park District will provide our players with a better experience.

Our President traveled to the NACB Annual Convention and successfully lobbied for removal of the language limiting "Major City" clubs to playing only Americans.  While the CDB membership had already approved our request to not be part of Chicago and therefore were not part of a "Major City," removing the language from the NACB By Laws ensures that we will never be subject to that restriction even if the CDB reverses its decision at a later date.  For the record, no club funds were used for the trip.

We are teaching hurling to a Cub Scout Den in Wheaton tonight, Friday, November 14th, at 7 p.m.  Colm Egan provided the kids equipment on a loaner basis so we can provide the course.  We will also teach them a bit of Irish so they can knock out two merit badges in one night.  The boys will have a good time and so will the coach!  

We have a box of small and medium helmets from Azzurri as well as two medium Mycro helmets.  I'll be contacting those of you who have paid for or expressed interest in helmets today and tomorrow.  I'd like to get them in your hands this weekend!

Try to stay fit during the holiday so we can start playing next year at a high level.  We will remind you again and again that we will be playing in the NACB finals in Chicago next September.  We will need a very strong core group to be fit and committed in order to make a good showing.  There will not likely be another post between now and Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all of you!

It was a big week for the club last week!  The Central Division membership supported a motion we put forward that help us to grow and retain membership next year and in the coming years.  The consensus was that the collective "we" need to support the growth of new clubs, including our own.  This is a tremendous step toward stimulating even more growth of hurling in the region but particularly in the collar counties around Chicago.  I would argue, however, that all clubs need a bit of help when it comes to growing membership.  There are things each club can do to support its own growth, but GAA leadership at the divisional and national level need to find ways to increase awareness of the sport.  I don't need to use this blog to talk about the brilliance and beauty of these games, but it is evident that encouraging awareness of the sport and providing encouragement and support to new clubs are keys to its growth trajectory and ultimate success.  I look forward to contributing to these efforts.

Separately, we will be submitting our first Irish Sports Camp / Cúl Camp description to the Naperville Park District this week.  The camp will take place for three consecutive days next summer in June or July, with the dates to be determined between us and the Park District.  Here is the description:

Irish Sports Camp / Cúl Camp (pronounced "Cool" Camp)
This camp introduces kids from age 6-14 to two of the national sports of Ireland; Gaelic Football and Hurling.  Exceptional coaches, including several from Ireland, will teach the basic rules of play and fundamental skills using a variety of fun games.  Agility, hand-eye, and foot-eye coordination are developed as well as fitness in a supportive environment.  Skills learned in this camp are transferrable to baseball, soccer, hockey, handball and lacrosse.  Give your kids a chance to experience what kids play on the Emerald Isle!

We are also working on a youth program that will run weekly from April to June 2015.  One of our aspirations has been to launch a successful youth program locally.  It is important to us as parents but also to the long-term growth and success of the sport. Finally, we are still looking for field space for both an indoor winter youth program and an adult hurling program.  As soon as we get more news on these things, we'll share them!!  

It's been a bit since my last blog post.  It is mostly because we have been so busy.  Games have been coming fast and furious and attendance is way up.  Until tonight.  I was worried about tonight as we only had 14 players committed prior to game time.  As Sunday wore on, the news got worse.  One, two and finally three players contacted me to say they weren't going to be able to attend.  I began to wonder if hurling would succumb to the draw of NFL Sundays.  Fourteen is kind of the minimum number we need to play, so when we hit 11, I was a bit despondent.  At 6:00, there were only 4 people at the pitch, but that number quickly swelled to 10.  Then several people came who I hadn't counted on, Patricia Carmichael and Paige Medlin.  It was Paige's first game tonight and after going through a crash course, she bravely and confidently took the field.  When the dust settled, including some walk on players who asked to play after watching the first half, we had 17 on the pitch tonight.  If the four we lost (no fault guys) had come out, we would have had 21 out tonight!  And that was without two of our most reliable players, Dan Lund (working) and Sean Murphy (personal commitment).  So that is the numbers story.

The real story though was in the play.  Everywhere I looked I saw people smiling and having fun.  Every word I heard was encouraging.  I saw people pushing each other while supporting each other.  The other thing I continue to see is progress. People are scoring points regularly where they were not scoring at all in June.  I see skills and confidence building each and every week. If we keep having fun, people will keep coming out.  If people keep coming out, they will keep getting better.  As they get better, they will have more fun and the positive cycle reenforces the strength of the club.  Enough said!

Over the weekend, I had the good fortune of being invited to the Will County Celtic Festival, resulting from the encouragement and introductions from our member Curt Weikert (pronounced Wikert).  My good friends Patrick Paison and his wife Úna McNulty joined us at the festival, where we introduced a bunch of youngsters and about an equal number of adults to the sport.  Everyone was mesmerized by the sport and a think a few will eventually join the club.  Curt Weikert and Paige Medlin also hung out with us at the festival.  It was a great time, a great festival and a great success!  

The NHC got notice from the Internal Revenue Service that it is an approved 501(c)(3) charitable organization effective to December 13, 2013.  At the most basic level, that means that any donations that have ever been made to the club are tax deductible.  At a higher level, the 501(c)(3) is an indication to donors and potential donors that the NHC is "for real."  This is because the paperwork and requirements to be a 501(c)(3) are burdensome and fairly difficult to meet.  Donors and potential donors use the 501(c)(3) status to help narrow the field of charitable organizations which they will make donations to.  For example, we are currently working on a request to Amgen, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies.  They have a segment called "non-health care" donations but they require a 501(c)(3) to even apply.  Several of  our goals are to minimize the cost of membership as well as raising funds for youth equipment and programs.  Your management team will continue to seek corporate sponsorships and donations in order to make belonging to this club and playing this sport affordable for our members and their families.  We are very proud to have attained the 501(c)(3) status, but now we need to put it to work for the benefit of the club!

The Naperville Hurling Club will have a booth at the 1st Annual Aurora Irish Festival on August 3rd downtown Aurora.  The purpose of this effort is to a) increase awareness of the sport and our club, b) support the West Suburban Irish organization, which has been leading this effort, c) raise a few dollars for the club through social sponsorships and club merchandise sales, and d) more broadly increase awareness of Irish culture.  We really have no idea how this event will go at the macro or micro level.  The event is occurring the same weekend as Lalapalooza downtown, so many young people may be otherwise disposed.  We had hoped to purchase a batting cage prior to the event, but funding is simply not available for that at this time.  However, the West Suburban Irish organization has been supportive of us and Ballydoyle is also heavily involved in the festival.  Bottom line it is important to support the organizations that support us!  Thanks to T.J. Kelly and his family for manning the booth during the festival!  

We are confirmed for our first game at Illinois Benedictine!  Our game is currently scheduled for August 3, 2014 at 4:00 p.m., but we are going to try to get that pushed back to around 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.  The pitch is 135M x 70M, which is a very nice size for our game!  We hope to expand the schedule of games at Illinois Benedictine in 2015 due to the quality location, the quality facilities and to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between the University and our club.  Our vision is to eventually have Illinois Benedictine be our "Home" field for purposes of practices, games and tournaments.  In the absence of a "Gaelic Park West," we envision a relationship with Illinois Benedictine like the relationship between the New York GAA and Manhattan College and a day when "Home of the Naperville Hurling Club" is adorned upon the Stadium.  This will take years to develop and may require commitments of labor and funds, but if successful, the relationship will help maintain a strong and vibrant club for many years into the future.