On 17 July 2011 the Kuwait Chapter of the Barley House Wolves held the very first hurling match by US soldiers on Kuwaiti soil. The team pictured here split into green and a grey sides for the match.
Last September members of the Barley House Wolves Hurling team – a club founded in 2005 by US soldiers at Shannon airport when on route home after a 1 year tour of duty in Iraq – were redeployed to Kuwait and this time packed their hurls along with their rifles.
In Kuwait in-between missions, they kept their touch in on base with late night practice and soon new recruits joined the ranks.
Besides the difficulty of practicing on sand, they were eager to get a match going while there and after meeting the needs of their commanders and getting equipment shipped in, 12 members of the 197th Fires Brigade played the first ever hurling match by US soldiers on a US military base in Kuwait.
The match took place on July 17 in Arifjan and shortly after GaelicSportsCast spoke with Sargent First Class, Eddie Clements and colleague, and new recruit, Brandon Dodge about the experience and the many challenges they faced.
Listen here:
15:43The Barley House Wolves Kuwait Chapter, who recently returned safe and sound to the US, played their part last Saturday in helping the ‘Wolves claim the first ever Northeast Junior C Championship.
The ‘Wolves now look forward to new challenges at the North American GAA Finals this weekend in San Francisco.
