Hurling

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Hurling

David Collins of Galway holds off Tipperary's Eoin Kelly in the 2014 National Hurling League
Highest governing body	Gaelic Athletic Association
First played	Pre-medieval origins; first codified match played 27 January 1883 in Dublin, Ireland
Characteristics
Contact	Yes
Team members	20 (15 and 5 substitutes)
Mixed-sex	Camogie is the female variant
Equipment	Sliotar, hurley, helmet
Presence
Olympic	Demonstration sport 1904
Paralympic	No

Hurling (Irish: iománaíocht, iomáint) is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology. The same game played by women is called camogie (camógaíocht), which shares a common Gaelic root.

The objective of the game is for players to use an ash wood stick called a hurl or hurley (in Irish a camán, pronounced /ˈkæmən/ or /kəˈmɔːn/ in English) to hit a small ball called a sliotar (pronounced /ˈʃlɪtər/ in English) between the opponent's goalposts either over the crossbar for one point or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for three points. The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked, or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass), for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick (solo), and the ball can be handled only twice while in the player's possession. Provided that a player has at least one foot on the ground, he may make a shoulder-to-shoulder charge on an opponent who is in possession of the ball or is playing the ball, or when both players are moving in the direction of the ball. No protective padding is worn by players though a plastic protective helmet with a faceguard has been mandatory for all age groups since 2010.

Early forms of hurling have been played since at least the Middle Ages, with the earliest written references appearing in Irish law tracts from the seventh century. The earliest archaeological evidence dates from the twelfth-century.^[1] The first written rules for hurling were published in January 1883 by the Dublin Hurling Club.^[2][3]

Hurling is today administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It has featured regularly in art forms such as film, music and literature. The final of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was listed in second place by CNN in its "10 sporting events you have to see live", after the Olympic Games and ahead of both the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship.^[4] Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper wrote after Stephen Bennett's performance in the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final that hurling was "the best sport ever and if the Irish had colonised the world, nobody would ever have heard of football".^[5] UNESCO lists hurling as an element of intangible cultural heritage.^[6] A 2024 survey found that hurling was the favourite sport of 25%of Irish people.^[7]