History was made at Stanford University last Saturday as Stanford took on their cross-bay rivals, University of California Berkeley, in the first ever game of hurling to be played between two American collegiate hurling teams. According to Eamonn Gormley, former officer of the North American County Board GAA, the Stanford team has been growing from its humble beginnings in 2006, and the Cal team only started in September 2008.  It looked like Stanford's more experienced line-up was going to run away with this game in the opening minutes as they quickly racked up three points, but Cal soon settled in and replied with a goal, setting the tone of a very balanced game that never saw more than three points between the sides.  The final score of Stanford 3-9 Cal 3-10 was a fair indicator of how the game went. Notable performances on the Stanford side came from Sam Svoboda, Ben Arevalo, club founder John Mulrow, and faculty member Eoin Buckley.  Cal were boosted by the outstanding efforts of Zach Streng, Dublin native Conor Molumby and graduate student, Limerick born Liam Reidy, but the real news of the day was the very fact that the game took place. The challenge game, refereed by well known San Francisco and NACB referee Declan McConn, was played in four quarters to allow coaches time to brief players.  All but three players on the field were American born, many of whom had never heard of hurling before September of last year. The game was organized by the newly-formed California Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association (CCGAA), an independent body that was set up in the San Francisco Bay area several weeks ago by Eamonn Gormley for the purpose of managing the growing collegiate hurling scene in the state.  The CCGAA is the official GAA body responsible for collegiate hurling in Northern California and has been given full backing by the GAA authorities in San Francisco and the assistance of the Western Division Games Development Administrator, Paul Bayly. "This game has an exciting future on US college campuses," said Gormley.  "We had a bigger non-playing crowd at this game than we get at some of our championship games in the city.  Inviting the American public to watch a game between a club called Naomh Padraig and a club called Na Fianna would give them a higher standard to look at, but it wouldn't mean anything to them.  Cal v Stanford; that means a lot to them as you could see from the enthusiastic support that came out today." One Cal supporter was very taken with the game.  "I'm Irish but I didn't know an awful lot about hurling, but I've learned a lot today," he said.  "It's a fun game, it's fast, the kids play hard on both teams, and I'm looking forward to the next game." Gormley acknowledged the contribution of the existing hurling clubs and GAA community in San Francisco in making this game happen.  Equipment and coaching time has been donated by many current and former hurlers who have played in the San Francisco championship.  Loaner jerseys were provided for Stanford by the Sean Treacy's football club, and Cal were able to borrow their jerseys from the San Francisco youth board while both teams wait for their own jerseys to arrive from Ireland.  Milwaukee born Dave Olson, NACB Hurling Development Officer, was instrumental in getting essential equipment shipped in, and Paul Bayly's support made it much easier to pull everything together. The staging of this historic event was the result of several months of dedication and hard work by a group of American-born students with a love for the game of hurling and a vision to spread the sport to other universities and eventually create an inter-collegiate hurling league. This revelation has not gone unnoticed by the North American County Board which currently is engaged in a hugely successful Gaelic Games Development Program partially funded by the GAA in Ireland and the Irish government. Given that the success of this program can be attributed in part to introduction of Gaelic Football in local schools in some cities around the country, it,Äôs likely that the CCGAA could benefit from certain aspects of the program.      The next game between these teams will be on February 21st, the first of a best-of-three championship.  In other developments, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles has a team of 15 players, and another team is not far behind at Cal Poly in San Louis Obispo. Gormley envisages having all four teams contest a state championship in the 2009/2010 academic year, and a national championship the following year that will include teams such as Purdue University in Indiana. Eamonn Kelly ,- PRO NACB Tweet

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