Sunday, July 6, 2008

America's hurling messiah Dave Olson and the Milwaukee hurling club

Today's Sunday Independent features a fascinating article - written by Sean Ryan -on Dave Olson and the Milwaukee Hurling Club............... " Born in Minnesota 45 years ago, he is of Swedish stock, and was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His only regret is: "I wish I had this game when I was a kid."

Here are some brief excerpts "...................... A convert from baseball -- in which he was good enough to get professional trials -- he has all the ardour of the converted in his desire to spread the good news about the game he loves...........In fact, it was only 12 years ago that Dave was introduced to hurling.......Olson became one of the founders of the Milwaukee Hurling Club -- one of 24 in the beginning -- but he was the one who stuck at it and brought the club forward to such an extent that he was presented with a President's Award by Sean Kelly two years ago for his contribution to hurling. The club has 264 players and only three of them are Irish-born.

".......Dave Olson helped make possible what many thought was impossible, when he brought hurling to Milwaukee, but the game is thriving there, and now his sights are set on extending the game's influence right across the North American continent. If anyone can do it, Olson can."

Read the full article here: America's Hurling Messiah
The web address of the club is : Milwaukee Hurling Club
The web site features What is hurling videos taken from youtube. Hurling is the fastest and most skilful field game in the world and has potential with proper exposure to develop on a world wide scale. Lets hope Dave Olson's mission to spread the game throughout the US succeeds. "The Continental Youth Championships (Hurling) in Chicago last year were contested by 114 teams, again mainly American-born."

No comments: