Irish Traffic Jams, the Cliffs of Moher, Galway Loughcrew, Bective Abbey, The Hill of Slane, Trim Castle, & The Hill of Tara

While the days in Ireland have come to an end, the visits to UCD, NA Fianna, Aviva Stadium, Leinster Rugby, Croke Park, and the Irish National Sports Center provided an excellent background and history on sport in Ireland. However, any trip to Ireland wouldn’t be complete without a visit or two to the Irish countryside. The previous two days have included such trips, a visit to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway on Monday and the Boyne Valley on Tuesday, which has stops at Loughcrew, Bective Abbey, The Hill of Slane, Trim Castle, and The Hill of Tara.

Although, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the two Irish traffic jams we hit on Tuesday (photos below).

More information on our other tour stops is below, but we’ll let the pictures tell you the story.

Loughcrew is possibly the finest example of a passage grave in Western Europe. The site dates to 3300 B.C., meaning it predates both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Hill of Slane has been associated with Christianity since the 5th century and was the location of the Pascal fire lit by St. Patrick on Easter Eve of the year 433 A.D. Trim Castle which is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and the largest remaining Norman castle in Europe. It is also where many of the scenes for the movie Braveheart were filmed. The Hill of Tara which is renowned as the seat of the high kings of Ireland. The importance of the Hill of Tara stretches back to the late Stone Age when a passage-tomb was constructed there.

For more information on the Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management program, please contact Asst. Professor Dr. Charles Campisi at ccampisi@bw.edu or visit https://www.bw.edu/academics/undergraduate/sport-management/.

Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management: Experiential Learning from Day One!

Na Fianna Gaelic Athletic Club

Na Fianna Gaelic Athletic Club

Purity in our hearts. Strength in our limbs. Action according to our words.

These words in Gaelic (Glaine in ár gcroí. Neart in ár nGeag. Beart de réir ár mbriathar.) serve as the motto for the Gaelic Athletic Club Na Fianna where the students spent their Saturday morning participating in traditional Gaelic games and activities.

Based in Glasnevin on the northside of Dublin, Na Fianna was founded in 1955 and is a major power in Dublin senior football circles, winning three county titles in a row from 1999-2001 and earning the Leinster championship in 1999.

At Na Fianna, the students started with a short presentation and video explaining the Gaelic games of football and hurling. While the students had learned about the games at Croke Park, the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, and at University of College Dublin, during the presentations and Q&A with Gaelic footballer Eamon Wallace, the nervous tension in the room was noticeable, as the students would now be putting their own skills to the test.

The activities began simply enough with the students practicing and playing small games of handball on an outdoor handball court. One-walled, two-walled, and three-walled games filled the first session of the day followed by a quick drink of water and a light snack. All of the students performed well in handball and left the session buoyed by the ease with which they adapted to the game and the simple rules and maneuvers.

After handball, the students were introduced to Gaelic Football. The instructors noted three key elements of the game that Americans, and others, often struggled with. Those were: 1) You CANNOT throw the ball, 2) You CANNOT pick the ball up directly off the ground, and; 3) You should NEVER stop and pivot on a plant foot like you do in basketball.

Needless to say, the Baldwin Wallace students regularly and spectacularly made these mistakes. Some struggles with the rules aside, the students greatly enjoyed the game and participated in a spirited match against one another with former BW faculty member and Irish national Dr. Alvy Styles leading her side to victory.

The post-game confidence wasn’t as high after Gaelic Football as it was after handball, but the students were still relatively confident in their athletic abilities as they had quickly mastered game techniques, but had failed only at truly mastering the rules of play. An acceptable mistake for any beginner trying to process the intricacies of a new sport.

The next athletic adventure would not be so kind. Again, after a quick drink of water and a light snack the students returned to the playing field. This time, they would take on the game of hurling. And without giving too much away, hurling won.

The basic skills of handball and Gaelic Football were fairly seamlessly adopted and performed by the students; however, in hurling, this was not the case. Gripping the hurling stick, which requires your dominant hand to be the low hand (opposite of baseball and softball), was a challenge for many of the players. This was complicated by the ideas of scooping the ball, balancing the ball, and striking the ball with swings from either side.

To be honest, the skills were nowhere near close to mastered before a game commenced. The hive mentality of the hurling game, reminded one of small children playing soccer and the students’ game was mostly played like a game of field hockey with occasional moments of skill demonstration by a few of the players. And while skill may have been absent from the game, fun was most definitely had.

The difficulty of the game left many students questioning their athletic ability, as one BW student-athlete noted, “I’ve never felt more unathletic than I do right now.” It was a sentiment shared by many.

With handball, Gaelic Football, and hurling out of the way, one final challenge awaited the students: Irish Dancing. Retreating from the playing fields to the banquet hall, the students learned a traditional Irish dance in a step-by-step process that afforded them the opportunity to build skills and confidence.

In the end, the Irish dancing performance by the students was an athletic feat performed by their appropriately moving feet. It was their best performance of the day, and while, far from perfect, it was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Sunday was a free day for the students and included a Hop On, Hop Off bus pass that allowed students to take advantage of all the city of Dublin has to offer and explore any avenues of the city they would like to see. Stops along the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour included: Trinity College, The National Library & Museum, The National Gallery, St. Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar, Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Phoenix Park, Four Courts, and the ever-popular Jameson Distillery and Guinness Brewery.

The next two days include a visit to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway on Monday and the Boyne Valley on Tuesday, which includes Loughcrew, Mellifont Abbey, The Hill of Slane, Trim Castle, and The Hill of Tara.

For more information on the Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management program, please contact Asst. Professor Dr. Charles Campisi at ccampisi@bw.edu or visit https://www.bw.edu/academics/undergraduate/sport-management/.

Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management: Experiential Learning from Day One!

Irish National Sports Campus, Aviva Stadium, & Leinster Rugby

One of the most exciting elements of the Global Sport Industry trip is the ability to attend an elite level match in another country. In 2012, the students attended the Heineken Cup Final between Leinster Rugby and Ulster Rugby, won by Leinster. This year, the students were again treated to the Leinster vs. Scarlets in the semi-finals of the PRO12 Rugby League at Leinster.

The result was different for the Leinster side, as RTE Sport noted, Leinster “were repeatedly undone by loose kicking and knocking on or conceding penalties when in Scarlets territory.” For those unfamiliar with rugby, the simple way to say that is sloppy play and a lack of execution.

While the 27-15 defeat for the home side was disappointing, the enthusiasm the students and Leinster fans had for the match more than made up for the lackluster result. Additionally, the match was the culmination of a day that included visits to and tours of the Irish National Sports Campus, Aviva Stadium, and Leinster Rugby, before the match.

The day began at the National Sports Campus, which is similar in scope to the United States Olympic Committee facilities in Colorado Springs. The National Sports Campus currently comprises: the National Aquatic Centre (swimming, diving & ToneZone gym); National Horse Sport Arena (show jumping & dressage); National Diving Training Centre (diving, gymnastics & trampolining); NSC Multisport Pitches (hockey, Gaelic games, soccer, rugby, and American football amongst others with both synthetic and turf pitches available); National Pentathlon Training Centre (shooting & fencing).

In addition, the Campus is home to 20 Irish National Governing Bodies (NGBs) at Irish Sport HQ, the headquarters of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Irish Institute of Sport.  Work is continuing on the development of the National Indoor Arena, with other facilities, including a National Cross-Country Track, also under development (http://www.nationalsportscampus.ie/).

The students visited all of the training sites on the 500 acre property, of which only 240 acres have been developed for usage and some additional acreage is leased to potato farmers to supplement funds used to support Sport Ireland.

Following their visit to the National Sport Campus, the students took to downtown Dublin for lunch before heading to Aviva Stadium.

Aviva is the home to both the Irish National Rugby and Soccer teams, hosts approximately 25 events a year, and holds nearly 52,000 spectators. Construction on the stadium was completed in 2010 after the old Lansdowne Road stadium, where Irish rugby and soccer teams used to play was demolished in 2007. In its short lifespan, Aviva has hosted some major events, including the 2011 Europa League Final, the inaugural Nations Cup, and the 2013 Heineken Cup Final. Additionally, it has been selected as a host site for the 2020 EURO Soccer Championship Group Stage games and hosts NCAA football games on a biennial basis, most recently the 2016 Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Georgia Tech and Boston College.

Aviva Stadium is also the oldest continuous international rugby pitch, hosting its first international match in 1878. And, as the students toured these storied grounds they visited the media center, the players’ locker room, and the medical center, which has an X-Ray Center, dental facilities, and a concussion diagnosis area.   

With the National Sports Campus and Aviva Stadium checked off, the students headed to the Royal Dublin Society to visit the grounds of Leinster Rugby and meet with Marcus Ó Buachalla, the team’s Communications Manager.

Ó Buachalla provided an excellent history of the Leinster rugby team and the relationship the team has with the Royal Dublin Society, where they play the majority of their home matches. In something that would be incomprehensible for most American sports fans to understand, the pitch on which the Leinster team plays the majority of their home matches is actually an equestrian facility for show horses.

While the students weren’t able to get as intensive as behind-the-scenes tour due to the teams, officials, and staff preparing for the evening’s game, Ó Buachalla did take them onto the pitch and into the Media Center, where he provided them with a detailed explanation of Leinster’s social media strategy and positioning. Of specific note during the presentation was his explanation of Leinster’s objectives when it comes to social media. The six main objectives are, to be: innovative, informative, accurate, engaging, stimulating, and commercially-focused. It provided a solid framework of what to look for as he explained recent activities the club had undertaken to increase and focus their social media presence.

Following Ó Buachalla’s presentation the students had time to enjoy dinner in the Leinster-area of Dublin before heading back for the game. The result of the game wasn’t what they had hoped for, but the result of the day was.

For more information on the Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management program, please contact Asst. Professor Dr. Charles Campisi at ccampisi@bw.edu or visit https://www.bw.edu/academics/undergraduate/sport-management/.

Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management: Experiential Learning from Day One!

GlobalSport - Ireland: Croke Park, Dublin Walking Tour, & University College Dublin

It was a long day for the Baldwin Wallace University Global Sport Adventurers as they traveled from Cleveland to Chicago to Dublin, Ireland, but spirits were high as the students who initially departed Cleveland at 2:45 p.m. on Tues., May 16^th arrived in Dublin at 7:45 a.m. on Wed., May 17^th.

Upon arriving the students were greeted by former BW Sport Management faculty member, Dublin native, and former member of the Irish national women’s soccer team Dr. Alvy Styles, who greeted all of the students and faculty warmly.

Styles, along with Declan, the group’s tour bus driver, quickly loaded the group for their visit to Croke Park, the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The GAA is Ireland's largest sporting and cultural organization and Croke Park is the stadium it calls home.

The GAA oversees Gaelic games such as Hurling, Gaelic Football, Handball and Rounders and works with sister organisations to promote Ladies Football and Camogie. It also assists in the promotion of Irish music, song, dance, and the Irish language as part of its objectives.

Additionally, while the inter-county All-Ireland Championships in hurling, football and camogie capture the attention of the Irish public every summer and Croke Park, the third largest stadium in all of Europe is packed with over 80,000 fans, the GAA players are all amateurs competing solely for local and regional pride.

While the first finals played at what is now Croke Park took place in March 1896, the site and stadium have undergone extensive evolutions over the past 120 years. Traditionally the home of the Gaelic Games, Croke Park has also played host to several international sports including rugby, soccer and American football in recent years and served as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics.

As the students learned about the history of Croke Park and the GAA, they visited the various elements of the stadium (field, locker room, suites, etc.) and received a tour that was robust with the keys to any great sports facility tour, facts, fandom, and feeling. The tour guide shared his own personal memories of experiences at the stadium and clued the students into some of the recent seminal moments in Croke Park History, notably Bloody Sunday, the national anthems during the Ireland vs. England Six Nations Rugby match in 2007, and the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championships (this is Gaelic Football, not American Football or Soccer), when the Dublin side won after a significant drought.

Following the visit to Croke Park, the students took a guided walking tour of Dublin, which was led by Dr. Gavin Finlay, who has a Ph.D. in Irish History. It was an exceptional tour that included visits to Trinity College, Old Parliament House, Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral. It helped the students understand the story of the city of Dublin from its Viking origins to the present post-Celtic Tiger era.

With Croke Park and a knowledge of the GAA and the city of Dublin marinating in their brains, Thursday, May 18^th was a day for the students to solidify their understanding of the intersection of Irish politics, sport, and identity. With the help of Dr. James Matthews, Dr. Seamus Kelly, Dr. Mike Cronin, Dr. Paul Rouse, and Eamon Wallace, a Gaelic football player for Ratoath GAA Club. The topics covered included Sport in Ireland, The Gaelic Athletic Association, Sport & Politics: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, and Gaelic Sport and Amateurism.

The presentations were informative for the students and provided interesting comparisons and contrasts between the American sport system and the Irish sport system. Most interesting to the students was the similarity of the Gaelic Athletic Association and the NCAA in the United States. The professionalization of the GAA was apparent in every facet of the organization except for the athletes, who were amateurs, like the NCAA.

With the presentations and questions and answer sessions wrapped up the students were free to enjoy the evening and anticipated their Friday, May 19^th adventures which include a visit to the Irish Sport Campus, which is similar to the United States Olympic Committee facilities in Colorado and Lake Placid, a tour of Aviva Stadium, which host the Irish national rugby and soccer teams, and a visit to Leinster Professional Rugby Club, and a PRO12 Rugby playoff game between Leinster and Scarlets.

For more information on the Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management program, please contact Asst. Professor Dr. Charles Campisi at ccampisi@bw.edu or visit https://www.bw.edu/academics/undergraduate/sport-management/.

Baldwin Wallace University Sport Management: Experiential Learning from Day One!