Hurling Club of Phoenix establishes roots in Arizona with lofty goals to expand reach across Valley, US

The hurling club’s long-term goal is to recruit enough members to create an official city league in Phoenix.

MESA – Before attending weekly practices on Sunday afternoons, not many new members of the Hurling Club of Phoenix knew what to expect when they had signed up to join the group.

They were informed to meet at the East Valley Academy in Mesa to practice at the school’s soccer field. Little did they know that they would practice making difficult shots at the goals with paddles.

The club has practiced at the school for the past four years and grew in that time thanks largely to Connor Jones, the team captain who started the squad after moving from Madison, Wisconsin, to Arizona for a job opportunity in 2020.

Along with his necessities, Jones also packed his childhood passion for hurling, and his love for the sport continued in the desert. However, he encountered one problem upon arrival: few people in the Valley knew about the sport or played it.

RELATED: PURE Pickleball & Padel set to change the game in Scottsdale by 2026 with 50-court complex

However, giving up the sport was “simply not an option.”

“I’ve been playing hurling since I was 9. And ever since I was 16, I’ve competed in a hurling match at least once a year,” Jones said. “My dad steered me towards the sport, and it has encompassed a lot of my time and energy.

Growing up in Madison, we have one of the most successful hurling clubs in the nation. The Hurling Club of Madison has won five national titles. And it’s very meaningful to me that I can say I was a part of two of the five national championship teams.”

Jones set out to recruit members and regularly holds an information booth at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Faire. One of the team’s newest members, Jeremiah Lee, joined the club last year with limited prior knowledge or experience of the sport.

“In the short time that I have been a part of the team, I have fallen in love with the sport of hurling,” Lee said. “It’s a great outlet to release stress and aggression. Playing hurling has been a great way to connect with other people who want to have some lighthearted fun.”

Hurling is an ancient Irish and Gaelic men’s and women’s outdoor team game that encompasses skills and aspects from lacrosse, field hockey and baseball. It is believed to date back to 1272 B.C. The women’s version of the sport is called camogie.

A traditional game in Ireland is played with teams of 15 players. In the U.S., teams are typically composed of 13 players.

The sport has three main rules. The first is that the sliotar, a baseball-sized ball, can’t be thrown. The ball is passed by tossing it in the air and hitting it with the paddle. Traditionally the paddle is referred to as a hurley or a camán in the Irish language.

The second rule is that players are not allowed to pick up the sliotar from the ground. Instead, the hurley is used to flick the ball into one’s hand.

Lastly, a player in possession of the ball can only take four steps before they pass the ball. To bypass this rule, the ball can be bounced on the paddle to take multiple steps, which is referred to as soloing.

The sport, which requires a helmet, has earned a reputation for a hard-hitting, physical and fast-paced event, making it recognized “The Fastest Sport on Grass.”

“Hurling is a great field sport because of its activeness and physicality,” Adam Ruiz, one of the team’s members, said. “Out here, (Arizona) is heavily rooted in golfing and hurling brings something different and exciting.

“There’s a lot of unique aspects and rules to the game. And the rules are relatively easy to pick up. I picked it up on my first day and have been loving it ever since.”

Currently, the Hurling Club of Phoenix doesn’t have an official coach and is not registered with the U.S. Gaelic Athletic Association. However, the team plays annually in the San Diego Sevens tournament. The tournament has teams composed of seven players on each side, whereas national tournaments played in the states have teams of 13.

In working with the Hurling Club of Madison, the long-term goal is to recruit enough members to create an official city league in Phoenix.

“Once we have somewhere between 22 to 24 members, we can start a draft,” Jones said. “We would have two captains for the draft and have two teams that will play a best-of-five series every year.”

The Hurling Club of Phoenix and other clubs around the country believe that additional awareness of the sport will bring more widespread popularity. The hope is that a professional league could be established in the U.S. in the future.

“I hope we can continue to see hurling grow in Arizona,” Lee said. “It requires people wanting to promote it and people like Connor who have passion for the sport to show others who have never heard of hurling or never experienced it.

“And across America, I know there’s a big movement for the sport on the East Coast and it’s starting to gain traction on the West Coast. It would be great if Arizona can become a focal point for hurling on the West Coast.”