It’s a Thursday evening, and I’ve put on my tracksuit to join a group of nearly 30 fellow international students at the Dublin Institute of Technology, all motivated to learn the rules of the famous Gaelic games.
We get stuck right in – hurling is first on the agenda. It’s not long before I feel more comfortable with the Irish weather, and at ease with my fellow Irish sports novices, who hail from many different countries.
Even though controlling my hurley is not an easy task, I stay confident and carry on trying. We are all complete beginners, and that’s why we’re having a lot of fun.
We move on to Gaelic football, and after several tries, we are able to do our first hand pass and kicked pass, and to control the ball. I’ve also got a good grasp of the rules. I’m still a long way from scoring my first goal, but I’m convinced I’ll be learning more.
Hananja Monster, another DIT student, feels the same. “I want to learn Irish culture, and GAA is a part of it,” she says. “I like trying new stuff.”
Another advantage is getting more involved in the Erasmus community. Every year hundreds of students come from all over Europe to study in Ireland on the Erasmus exchange programme. Sport is one way to help these students get to know each other, and help with their integration.
When DIT asked Stephen Hoary to coach an Erasmus team in GAA, he did not hesitate, and he found several students willing to help him in coaching the new team in Ireland’s national games.
“It is a great opportunity for us Irish people to spread our culture all around the world,” says Hoary. “These kind of games are normally played only in Ireland, and in countries were Irish people have emigrated. So they bring to these students a good knowledge about Irish culture.”
He adds: “The students can learn more about Ireland, but also about all the other countries and cultures represented here. There is a huge amount of culture to share and sport is a good way to do it.”
When the final whistle rings out, I wonder where the time has gone. Like all of my fellow trainees, there is no question that of course I’ll be coming back. And we won’t only be training, but also watching matches together, and eventually we will play against teams from other universities.
Now I’m sure – Gaelic games with Erasmus students are great craic!
