#179 US soldiers take hurling into 30 million homes

Next Monday, Jan 3rd, 2011 could prove a memorable day for the sport of hurling and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) as the US National Guard soldiers of the Barley House Wolves hurling club from Concord, New Hampshire, appear on TV screens across America, around the world and via the Internet talking about their new-found passion for hurling.
The ‘Wolves story is truly unique in that they first discovered the ancient sport in 2005 while returning through Shannon Airport after a years deployment in Iraq. GaelicSportsCast reported the story last January on how the unit viewed hurling on an airport TV; liked what they saw and thought the game would be good for their unit. Since that time, while playing in the growing Junior C grade in the New Hampshire region, the ‘Wolves have become passionate about hurling and have competed at the US National Championships.
The Barley House Wolves recently peaked the interest of their colleagues in the military and were approached by the US TV channel, The Pentagon Channel (tPC) for an exclusive half hour special on the unit and their love for hurling.
The result of this is that next Monday will see the premier of the special ‘ Two Fields, One Team’ featured on the tPC’s programme, ‘RECON’. TV Time slot for US EST 07.30 am and will later be available on the Internet at www.pentagonchannel.mil featured in the videos for January, archived in RECON .
The Pentagon Channel is broadcast to US military units across the US, around the world, and can be also picked up by US cable subscribers with an estimated total audience of 30 million.
The opportunity for the sport of hurling to reach such a large audience on a scale never realised before is a very exciting prospect for the game and its governing body, the GAA.
GaelicSportsCast recently spoke to the Barley House Wolves Lieutenant Colonel, Ray Valas and First Sergeant, Lore Ford, about the upcoming TV premier, and also about their early December coaching session in Concord, NH with Cork 2010 hurling captain, Kieran Murphy.