Dancing at Lacrosseroads

IA82_84 9/6/06 4:43 PM Page 82
Dancing at
Lacrosseroads
JOHN KERNAGHAN looks at the impressive development of the sport of lacrosse
in Ireland, a country normally known for Gaelic games, soccer and rugby.
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t was not so startling to see
the vivid green Ireland uniforms at the World Lacrosse
Championships in London,
Ontario, as it was to see the result,
a sixth-place finish in just two
years of life for the Irish Lacrosse
Foundation.
How did this unstructured toddler go
from an unranked, thrown-together
development team in 2002, to within a
couple of goals of fifth on the planet in
2006?
To hear head coach Richie Moran
tell it, the surge to a point where
Ireland rocked a shocked Germany 135 is a classic case of Irish-American
cooperation. Ireland finished 5-2 overall and won its division in the 32-team
global showdown two years after the
foundation was incorporated.
“To get this result was sensational
and thanks to the dedication of volunteers and players from both countries,”
gushed Moran as he stood in a sea of
green following the thorough victory.
“There was a lot of volunteer help
from the United States, people who
went over to Ireland and helped develop some players there for this.”
Moran, who guided Cornell
University’s lacrosse program across
30 seasons, fused 11 American citizens
of Irish parentage, four Americans
born in Ireland, and seven Irishmen
I
into a team that was the surprise of the
world championships, which are held
every four years.
“The game was almost nonexistent
in Ireland five years ago,” noted
Michael Conway, a Long Island,
New York native who has traveled
back and forth to Dublin working
with Michael Kennedy of the Dublin
Lacrosse Club. “They’re adding
teams, but it’s a slowly developing
thing. You can’t rush things.”
Said Kennedy: “We’ve come on in
leaps and bounds when you consider
we were seventh in the European
championships two years ago, when
Germany was a finalist, and now
we’ve beaten them here.”
There was also an unseen hand at
work, the inspirational No. 10 each
player wore on his helmet. It was to
honor Eamon McEneaney, a former
Cornell star who died on 9/11.
The hall-of-fame player led Cornell to
national championships in 1976 and
1977, and was a vice-president at Cantor
Fitzgerald, the financial firm wiped out
in the attack on the Twin Towers.
“Eamon was involved in our early
discussions about helping Ireland start
a lacrosse program and wanted to help
coach,” said New Yorker John
Cavanaugh, vice-president and medical director of the Irish Lacrosse
Foundation.
LEFT: The Irish team and officials at the recent World Lacrosse Championships held in London, Ontario.
RIGHT: Eric Timmreck readies himself for battle.
BELOW: Coach Richie Moran dispenses some home truths to the Irish team.
Photo: John Kernaghan
Photo: John Kernaghan
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Photo: John Kernaghan
Surely there was some magic in the air,
agreed Sean Bodie, a 21-year-old Boston
native who moved to Dublin at age 16.
“Hard to believe we could do this, considering where the sport was a few years ago
when I was looking for a place to play. All
I could find was some leagues in England.”
Then roaming the Internet one day, Bodie
saw a notice for the Dublin Lacrosse Club.
“I showed up expecting a lot of players but
there were just three of us to toss the ball
around in Phoenix Park. But soon enough
people got friends interested and we had 30
guys and could have some real scrimmages.”
John Kelly, a 23-year-old novice at the
attack position for Ireland, was one of the
early converts in Dublin. He liked the passion of the game, seeing some similarities
with hurling.
“I kind of stumbled into it but now, after
two years, I’m hooked. I like the idea of
having some input into a new sport.”
Kelly says lacrosse has some attractive
parallels to hurling but noted “there’s probably more pace to lacrosse because of the
rolling substitutions.”
There’s also more protection, with helmets, gloves and shoulder pads.
Even so, his parents were startled by the
aggressive nature of lacrosse when they flew
to London, Ontario, a university city about
halfway between Detroit and Toronto, to
watch their son play for the first time.
“They said, ‘Geez, it’s physical, isn’t it’?”
A highlight for him and the other Irish
players, which included another 11 from
the developmental squad, was a scrimmage
with the Iroquois Nation, a cross-border
North American team made up mostly of
native people from the Onondaga area near
Syracuse, New York, and Six Nations in
southern Ontario.
“They had our heads spinning, the way
they could pass the ball around,” said Kelly.
But Irish lacrosse had its own heady
moments leading up to the World’s,
stressed coach Moran.
“Last year using Irish players only, we
defeated Wales and Scotland to win the Celtic
Cup in Cardiff. That was unbelievable.”
It was also a touching moment for the
veteran coach.
“I saw young men win medals who had
never won medals before. It was important
for them to have that kind of success.”
Also, a young women’s Irish team
composed of players with just four
months experience won the European
Newcomer’s Cup last year, a hugely
impressive feat, considering that women’s
numbers are lower than men’s and centered on the solitary University of Dublin
lacrosse club.
“So, 2005 was a watershed year for us,”
explained Kennedy. “And with our success here we can take a lot of enthusiasm
back home to continue the work of getting
more teams.”
Photos: John Kernaghan
84 IRISH AMERICA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006
Photo: John Kernaghan
He noted that well-traveled Irish know
about the sport and many would like to try
it but there has been no infrastructure.
“There’s not even a shop in Ireland right
now where you can buy a lacrosse ball.”
Moran says that building up the game
in Ireland and gradually supplanting
American players with Irish-born talent
will take getting lacrosse into the primary
schools.
“It’s important that people in Ireland
understand we’re not asking hurling and
Gaelic football to move over. We’d love to
have some of those players on the margins
in those sports, people who aren’t playing
that much, to pick up a lacrosse stick.”
He says that to get past Japan and
Australia, the two teams which his team lost
to, Ireland needs to get quicker and bigger.
“We were down 8-2 to Japan and came
back to lose 11-9, but their quickness hurt
us. When we lined up against Australia
(which won 23-5) it was like men going
against a junior high school, there was a
considerable size difference.”
Australia, by the way, won the bronze
medal with a convincing win over the
Iroquois Nation, while Canada ended 28
years of American dominance in the sport
with a 15-10 victory over the U.S. for the
gold medal.
As a footnote, lacrosse is not entirely new
to Ireland. The Irish Lacrosse Foundation
points out it was played there in the 1800s
and in 1908 a team composed of Irish and
British players won the Olympic silver
medal, losing 14-10 to Canada.
Kennedy says the notion of Irishmen on
the Olympic podium in eight years, given the
arc of improvement, is not a far-fetched goal.
Indeed, in their center-field celebration
at the World’s, Moran drew the team
together and held his hands above him like
a steeple, asking the players to note the
college divisional ring on one hand and
championship ring on the other. IA
TOP RIGHT: A young student gets advice at a summer clinic
that is held annually in Co. Meath.
TOP LEFT: The coaching staff: Bob Deegan, John Cavanaugh,
Tom Prior, Tim Weir, Richie Moran (not pictured Tom Gill).
LEFT: John Snoden and Davy Brett bear down on the German
keeper during their 13-5 victory.