A young man wearing cardinal red cuts between two black clad defenders, flicks his wrists and crashes the ball past the goalkeeper.  "Nice hustle, Tyler" comes the shout from the sideline.  The style could be from any of the hurling power houses in Ireland but the accents are unmistakably American.  The setting could not be mistaken for Ireland either --- tall palm trees, cloudless skies and - get this - a hurling pitch that needs to be irrigated, not drained.  California's drought contrasts sharply with Ireland's drizzle.
 
The red of Stanford University was competing with the black of St Joseph's Hurling Club on the Stanford campus, located just over thirty miles south of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Valley.  The Stanford Hurling Club was founded in 2008 by John Mulrow and Sam Svoboda, both Chicago-born but with Irish roots.  They contest a round robin championship each year, against teams from both UC Berkeley and UC Davis, in what must surely be one of the most academically qualified hurling competitions in the sport's long and storied past.

Although the Stanford team contains a few Irish born players, the majority are American students with no affiliation or links to Ireland beyond the game of hurling.  Among the squad are Tyler Marks, an undergraduate from Connecticut who studies European history, and Colin Roach, who hails from Texas and is studying for a Masters in Mechanical engineering.  They slot in alongside scholars from Ireland, such as James Merrick, a PhD candidate in Management Science and Engineering, and Gearoid O'Brien, a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering.  It would be remiss not to mention the dynamic coaching of Des Nolan, a Carlow man --- there's clearly more to hurling in Carlow than Mount Leinster Rangers.

Some of the students are sure to follow in the footsteps of so many of Stanford's alumni and become significant success stories in Silicon Valley and beyond, and the bonds that they are creating with their fellow hurlers have the potential for strong business relationships that could well benefit Ireland in the future.  Not only is the club creating business links, the success of the sport in the University is also a great advertisement for Irish culture and heritage on the campus.

The success of the Stanford Hurling team has directly spawned a resurgence in hurling in the San Francisco Bay Area.  St Joseph's Hurling club, initially founded in 1995 and counting such legends as Tipperary's Pat Fox amongst its past players, was disbanded in 2002 as the Irish population of Silicon Valley dwindled.  An upsurge in interest in hurling from the local community, spearheaded by the Stanford Hurling Club, resulted in the club being reformed in time for the 2012 hurling season.  

On the Sunday before St Patrick's Day, the Stanford Hurling club was delighted that Minister Jimmy Deenihan could take the time to participate in the presentation of new Stanford jerseys sponsored by Irish law firm Matheson, and new GAA goalposts sponsored by the St. Joseph's Hurling Club.  The presentation took place at Stanford's famous "Oval" in the afternoon, with the sun reflecting off the imposing Hoover Tower.  Soon after a photo shoot with the Minister, the game between Stanford and St. Joseph's was played, showing off some of the hurling skills of Stanford's finest students --- a testimony to the efforts of the club and the support of the University.
St Joseph's Hurling Club always welcomes new players of all abilities and ages. Whether you're relocating to California's Silicon Valley, or just visiting the San Francisco area for the summer on a J1, visit www.siliconvalleyhurling.com or email [email protected] for more details. Tweet

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