Hurling is a team sport performed in Ireland using a hurley and a tiny ball (a Sliotar). The field, goals, number of players, and a lot of the vocabulary are all shared with Gaelic football.
In North America, we play smaller-sized games to fit the smaller sports facilities. It is usually played between two teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch.
The positions in hurling consist of a goalkeeper, six defenders, two midfielders, and six forwards, with a variable number of substitutes, and are comparable to those in other team sports. Depending on the size of the accessible field, these figures will fluctuate.
Usually, we play with seven players per side when playing indoors in the winter and with nine players per side when playing outside in the summer and fall.
What to Do
Hurlers players begin a game positioned on each side of the half, paired with a player from the other team, unlike other sports where players from each team line up in their half. For instance, each team’s midfielders will line up at the field’s center line. The fullbacks will line up next to the forwards of the opposing team while the forwards will stand in front of their goal. You are now partnered with a player from the opposing team, and for the game duration, you will be “covering” that individual defensively.
The Sliotar is tossed towards the center of all four midfielders to start the game. Players will try to pass the ball to a teammate while moving it along the ground in either direction.
The ball cannot be picked up off the ground by the player; they must use their Hurley to lift the ball into their hands.
Only four steps or four seconds are provided to players to advance the ball.
After taking four steps, the player must play the ball either by kicking it, slapping it with an open hand (the hand pass), or striking it with their Hurley. In addition, they can choose to bounce or balance the Sliotar on the end of the Hurley and may move with the ball in this manner for as long as they desire.
The player can only touch the ball twice while it is in their control. The player must play the ball without touching it once after taking it into their hands a second time.
Tackling
The “block,” when a player tries to stop an opponent from striking by trapping the ball between their Hurley and the opponent’s swinging hurl; the “hook,” where a player approaches another player from behind and tries to catch their Hurley as it swings.
The “side pull,” in which two athletes rushing toward the Sliotar collide at the shoulders, swing together to win the tackle, and “pull” (hurley swing) vigorously.
How to win
There are two possible outcomes for the game: points and goals.
The umpire raises a white flag to indicate the score when the ball is kicked or hand-passed over the crossbar.
The umpire raises a green flag to indicate a goal when the ball is kicked beneath the crossbar and into the goal.
