Pittsburgh Hurling
About Pittsburgh Hurling Club
The Pittsburgh Hurling Club is an adult co-ed evening and weekend sports club for anyone interested in learning and playing the oldest field sport in the world. It’s fast, fun and challenging. Think of soccer, mixed with baseball, a little hockey with football field goals for points. Sound complicated? It’s not and we’ll help prove it. We’ll teach you the rules, toss you some equipment to use, and maybe even buy you a beer after the day’s through. Drop us a line or stop by one of our open events. Check out the What is Hurling? section if you’re clueless about the sport.
History of the Club
The club as we know it started out in 2007 as a group of friends with a common interest. Since then the club has gone from strength to strength, marking new achievements both on and off the field every year. The club has grown from 4-5 enthusiasts to over 25 active regularly attending members and has spawned a sister club at the University of Pittsburgh. The current organisation overseeing the development of the club and the team, the "Pittsburgh Hurling Development Initiative" (PHDI) was founded in 2013 and is a 501(c)3 registered charitable organisation.
As a team our first major achievement on the field came in the 2011 Al O'Leary competition in Akron, a competition where we had begun as a team just making numbers and went on to become a force to be reckoned with, since our first victory in 2011. We went on to win the Midwest hurling championship from 2012 through 2015 & 2018 through 2021 and represented the Mid-West at the USGAA National Championships 2013 through 2015 & 2017 through 2021.
Club Values
Our club prides itself on fostering a love for the sport of hurling and teaching it to new players. We are a registered 501(c)3 organisation dedicated to "introduce, develop, and further the Irish sport of Hurling in Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh". We do this by developing an understanding of the basic skills of the Irish sport of hurling and by establishing a local facility for interested parties to play and hone those skills. In addition we've established a team to represent Pittsburgh and compete at local, regional, national and international tournaments.
The Pittsburgh hurling team is affectionately known as the Pittsburgh Pucas.
Are you familiar with the Legend of the Puca?
The Púca is a creature of Irish folklore. Considered to be bringers both of good and bad fortune, they could either help or hinder rural and marine communities. The creatures were said to be shape changers which could take the appearance of black horses, goats and rabbits. Old people used to say that the Púcas were very numerous long ago, were wicked-minded, black-looking, bad things that would come in the form of wild colts, with chains hanging about them. The púca has the power of human speech, and has been known to give advice and lead people away from harm. Though the Púca enjoys confusing and often terrifying humans, it is considered to be benevolent.
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'Though the presence of a Puca may call for caution, fear not for your life. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.'
- Chuck Magillicutty