Oranmore School hurling team.

Club Hurling is very different from school hurling, school hurling the school

play’s and in club hurling the parish play’s. The parish of Oranmore joined the townland of Maree in 1967 and was known as Padraig Pearses for the first three years. In there first year of existence they reached the County Senior final where they lost to their biggest rivals Castlegar by two points. They have produced many county stars in the past and present.

I myself play for the under 11's, 12’s and 13's.We the under 12's have had a lot success such as the Barna/Furbo and our own tournament. We have got to other semi-finals and finals. This year we got to the quarterfinal where we lost to Liam Mellows by a point. The under 13's and 14's had have a good run in the city league and championship. The men behind all the good work on the training pitch are: under 10: Peter Murphy’s

Under 11: Ciaran Hayes/Pat Burke

Under 12 : Ciaran Hayes/Pat Burke

Under 13 : Diarmaid Keane

Under 14 : Diarmaid Keane

By Michéal

5th

One of Oranmore's and Galway's finest hurlers was Pat Malone. Earlier on I had a few word's with Pat. These are some of the question's I asked him.

Date of birth: 8/3/1965

Height: 5'10''

Job: Self employed

Club: Oranmore/Maree

Interest: All Sports

Where did you go to School: Oranmore B.N.S

Moneenageisha Community Schools

School influences: Parent's and Teacher's

Childhood influences: John Connolly/Steve Mahon

How long were you playing with Galway: I spent 9 year's playing with

Galway

What Honour's did you win; I won a Minor in '83 & U21 in '86 & 2 all Ireland medal's in 87,88, & National Leagues, Railway Cup's and 1all Star in '93

Position: Midfield

Favourite Position: Centre Back

Greatest achievements: Winning All Ireland in 1987

Favourite hurler of each decade: 80’s = Steve Mahon, 90,s =Joe Cooney

Who was the best Galway hurler you have played with: Joe Cooney

Do you still play: No

Do you think hurlers should be rewarded better: Yes

Who will win the All Ireland next year: Cork

Hurling is a game similar to hockey, in that it is played with a small ball and a curved wooden stick. It is Europe's oldest field game. When the Celts came to Ireland as the last ice age was receding, they brought with them a unique culture, their own language, music, script and unique pastimes. One of these pastimes was a game now called hurling. It features in Irish folklore to illustrate the deeds of heroic mystical figures and it is chronicled as a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years.

The stick, or "hurley" (called cam·n in Irish) is curved outwards at the end, to provide the striking surface. The ball or "sliothar" is similar in size to a hockey ball but has raised ridges.

Hurling is played on a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The goalposts are the same shape as on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than a rugby one and slightly higher than a soccer one.

You may strike the ball on the ground, or in the air. Unlike hockey, you may pick up the ball with your hurley and carry it for not more than four steps in the hand. After those steps you may bounce the ball on the hurley and back to the hand, but you are forbidden to catch the ball more than twice. To get around this, one of the skills is running with the ball balanced on the hurley To score, you put the ball over the crossbar with the hurley or under the crossbar and into the net by the hurley for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points.

Each team consists of fifteen players, lining out as follows: 1 goalkeeper, three full-backs, three half-backs, two midfielders, three half-forwards and three full-forwards. The actual line out on the playing field is as follows:

GoalkeeperLeft corner-back Full-backRight corner-backLeft half-back Centre half-backRight half-backMidfielderMidfielderLeft half-forwardCentre half-forwardRight half-forwardLeft corner-forward Full-forward Right corner-forward

Players wear a jersey with their team colours and number on the back. Both teams must have different colour jerseys. The goalkeepers' jerseys must not be similar to the jersey of any other player. Referees normally tog out in black jerseys, socks and togs

Goalkeepers may not be physically challenged whilst inside their own small parallelogram, but players may harass them into playing a bad pass, or block an attempted pass.

Teams are allowed a maximum of three substitutes in a game. Players may switch positions on the field of play as much as they wish but this is usually on the instructions of team officials.

Officials for a game comprise of a referee, two linesmen (to indicate when the ball leaves the field of play at the side and to mark '65'' free kicks and 4 umpires (to signal scores, assist the referee in controlling the games, and to assist linesmen in positioning ''65' frees).

A goal is signalled by raising a green flag, placed to the left of the goal. A point is signalled by raising a white flag, placed to the right of goal. A '45'/'65' is signalled by the umpire raising his/her outside arm. A 'square ball', when a player scores having arrived in the 'square' prior to receiving the ball, is signalled by pointing at the small parallelogram.