MHC Swinging Sticks Indoors During Winter

In order to keep the skills sharp and stay fit over winter, the MHC has been holding practices and scrimmages indoors at Uihlein Soccer Park over the last 6 weeks or so.

Once 2009 rolls around, we will continue on with the practices and scrimmages. Some photos from one of the scrimmage sessions are below.

Junior B Hurling - The Cup Stays in Milwaukee!

NACB 2008 Recap

The annual North American County Board Finals took place over Labor Day weekend in Canton, MA at the Irish Cultural Centre. Here is a recap of the weekend.

** JUNIOR C **

Milwaukee's Junior C team kicked off the Milwaukee schedule Friday morning and played very well against Robert Emmets from the Twin Cities. Although Minneapolis was undermanned, they put up a strong fight. Milwaukee was able to create and capitalize on many opportunities and they were able to move on to Friday afternoon with a win. Congratulations to our Junior C team for their 1st NACB tournament victory! Many more surely await us in the future.

Advancing from Friday morning, Milwaukee's Junior C played a newcomer to the tournament at 3:00 pm, the New Hampshire Barley House Wolves. Milwaukee was able to use its experience to overcome a spirited Barley Wolves team and was able to advance to a match with Indianapolis on Saturday. Keep your eye on the Barley Wolves as they are certain to be around for quite a while with their enthusiasm for the game.

On Saturday, the Junior C team went up against a very talented and eventual tournament champion Indy Hurling team. Although Milwaukee fought hard and played very well in the second half, Indy had established a lead that it would not relinquish and was victorious by a score of 6-13 to 1-7.

Well done to our Junior C team - the team jelled very well this year and big strides were made and we look forward to the opportunities that the future offers.

** JUNIOR B **

Friday evening at 6:00 pm, Milwaukee's Junior B hurling team lined up against Robert Emmets from the Twin Cities. This was a rematch from last year's Junior B championship match and it was sure to be an exciting one. Milwaukee was able to jump out to a lead that they wouldn't give up thanks to some wonderful ball movement and teamwork. Milwaukee advanced with a 2-15 to 1-4 victory.

Next up was a date with Seattle, a team that Milwaukee first faced in last year's tournament. Seattle was quite the opponent, giving up no free 50/50 balls, playing hearty defense and scoring at the right time. Milwaukee was able to fight off a late rush by Seattle and was victorious by a slim margin of 5 (1-15 to 2-7).

Milwaukee would face Washington DC in the Junior B final by virtue of DC's victory over Denver on Friday. Milwaukee found themselves on the short end of the stick early on as DC was able to find the back of the net twice within the first 10 minutes and Milwaukee couldn't quite find their stride. Soon though, Milwaukee woke up and started moving the ball well themselves and capitalized on some nice movement and teamwork. After the halftime whistle, Milwaukee was able to take control of the flow of the game and started putting points on the board without response from DC. The teams traded goals and DC scored a late one, but it wasn't enough as Milwaukee came out on top at fulltime by a score of 3-16 to 3-6, thus claiming the Junior B Champions title for a second year in a row.

Congratulations to both Milwaukee teams and all its supporters that traveled to Boston for the weekend - a grand time was had by all. And a hearty "cheers" to all the teams and individuals that continue to make the NAGAA the organization it is.

Photos courtesy of Paula Gilson.

Dan McAuliffe Poc Fada Updates

The Milwaukee Hurling Club's very own Dan McAuliffe became the first North American hurler to participate in the pretigious Poc Fada competition, sponsored by Martin Donnelly. See below for updates from Dan in his adventure. Congratulations Dan!

Saturday, August 2nd:

64!!!   Had a great day, and a bit of luck. Finished last but with a very respectable score (10 off the leader).  More later. To the pub!!!

Thursday, July 31st:

Greetings from Newry and Mourne, Armagh in Northern Ireland.

I've been pretty busy since getting off the plane. We were picked up at the airport by Martin Donnelly and then met Pat McGinn for breakfast. Pat is one of the organizers of the competion and a counsellor in Newry. After a brief rest, I had an interview with a local radio station in Northern Ireland. I'm told it will be able to be heard online on Friday but I don't know the details yet. This was followed by a reception with the mayor and council of Newry and Mourne. Strangely enough, one of the councellors daughters Catrina played with the hurling club a year or two ago. Small world.

The press I've been recieving is pretty amazing. There have been several articles about the Poc Fada which mention me as well as one in the Sunday Irish Sun in which the headline reads "Dan's ready to be a poc star!" That might be an overstatement but everyone here is pretty excited and supportive.

I was able to go to the mountain today for some practice. It will prove quite difficult on Saturday, but should be a lot of fun. The 3.1 mile course traverses up the side of a mountain through knee deep heather and is marked by large stones. Its pretty tough to get a run before hitting and since I'm swinging on my left (the side facing up the mountain) the heather is often in, or just below, the
path of my swing. The weather has been authentic Irish. The practice was in a consistent rain/mist with a pretty stiff cross wind and the fog prevented you from seeing more than about 75 yards. I made it to the first checkpoint (the major rising section) before the mist and fog forced us to cut short. I'll be try to get more practice tomorow, but of course, its weather dependent.

I'll update everyone in a couple days.

And here are a couple photos of Dan competing, courtesy of Patrick Murphy, Rostrevor, County Down.

Junior B Champions!

On Sunday, September 2nd, the Milwaukee Men's Junior B hurling team, sponsored by M. Donnelly, Inc. defeated Minneapolis by a score of 4-20 (32) to 1-11 (14) for the Junior B hurling championship at Chicago's Gaelic Park. Milwaukee has been participating in the NACB tournament since 2003, and this is the men's 1st championship. Congratulations!

On Saturday, Milwaukee beat a tough Seattle team,
4-14 (26) to 1-12 (15) to qualify for the championship game.

Hats off to a tough Minneapolis team for a great match. In its 3 years of existence, Minneapolis has been to the championship game twice and will certainly be back with a vengeance.

Milwaukee also sent a Junior C hurling team and a Junior camogie team to the tournament. The Junior C hurling team fell to a fine Denver squad that took the Junior C title on Sunday. The Junior camogie team faced a very talented St. Mary's team from Chicago that came out ahead.

Congratulations to all for the outstanding effort put forth in Chicago! Next year, it's on to Boston!

Photo courtesy of OffCenterPhoto.

Photo courtesy of OffCenterPhoto.

Photo courtesy of Kathleen Hoffmann.