The Hounds are hosting Grit City Sevens! Come join us for a rollicking time watching men and women from Washington, Oregon and Montana compete in Hurling and Gaelic Football.
Location: Fort Steilacoom Park, in Lakewood. Event starts at 9 AM, games ongoing from 10-3.
April 6th kicked off the 2024 season with the Grit City Opener. Men’s Hounds won both their games! With the help of the Gaels, Hounds Camogs battled CRB for their first win of the season.
Everyday is Earth Day for the Hounds. This year we joined a volunteer group at Dickman Mill Park cleaning up trash along the beach. What’s your favorite piece of trash from the top 5 trash treasures!?
It is the delight of Hounds to teach new comers the curious sport of Hurling! Check out all the folks stretching their mind and body by learning and practicing Hurling!
It can be challenging to find the numbers to field a Camogie team. A few of the Grit City Hounds joined CRB in San Diego for the San Diego 7’s. While we didn’t win any of our matches, but Hounds and CRB put up a great fight playing up from our level B skills, to compete against two level A teams!
Fun in the sun at Magnuson Park, Seattle. The Hounds played rousing games, and while victory stayed just out of reach, they left it all on the field.
Road trip to Oregon anyone? The Hounds traveled to Eugene and battled the heat and teams from across the Northwest! San Francisco Camogies came up for some challenging games against CRB.
It’s a Hounds Tradition, but what’s it all about?! The Mini Golf Extravaganza takes place at Parkland Putters, an iconic mini golf course that has been locally owned and operated since the 1960’s. Hounds compete for the coveted Green Jacket granting the winner the title of Master and gaining possession of the Jacket for the remainder of the year. Over the year, the Jacket is decorated by the winner with various baubles and bedazzles.
For two years running, our esteemed member Chris Winslow has held the prize. This year, in a tremendous upset, he was unseated by the legendary Kevin Lisowski. What will next year hold? Will we see a new Champion rise?
Hounds channeled their Halloween Spirit with a smorgasbord of characters for the Annual Hurloween razzle dazzle!
It’s 2025 and a new season is on the horizon. While official match days have yet to be finalized, the New Year sparks the beginning of a season full of possibilities.
The Hounds are excited to teach you The Way of the Hurl. Join us on the Second Saturday of each month March through September at 9:30. We like to spread the love, check the Hounds Calendar (bottom of home page) for Rookie Day locations.
Stay tuned for more Hounds adventures. If you’d like to be more connected, jump over to the contact us page and we can send you an invite to join us on Discord.
Now that Labor Day has come and gone, the Tacoma Hounds are shifting gears for Fall 2019 – but don’t go thinking we’ve closed up shop completely. This week, our episode of the Grit City Podcast dropped and, in a few weeks, Indoor makes its return!
Last month, some Hounds sat down with Scott, Justin, and Jeff for the Grit City Podcast. We ran into the show-runners at the McKinley Hill Street Fair and things just got rolling from there. The episode is available for download or stream on their website as of 9/2. The live-stream recording is also available on their YouTube page. Be sure to check it out and give a listen! We had a super rad time and hope to do more with these guys in the future.
Next up on the Hounds’ Fall 2019 calendar is everyone’s favorite spin on Hurling: Indoor League! We’ll be down at the Tacoma Soccer Center once again to showcase the South Sound’s silkiest stickwork with the “freshest game on ‘grass’”. This time, however, we’ll be taking our talents center stage to the big field for 5 matches plus a special event.
If you’re interested in playing Indoor, be sure to reach out to us or join us at a Rookie Day session on September’s Saturdays to gain a bit of experience before tackling the turf. Spectators are more than welcome if that’s more your wheelhouse; the main field at TSC features mezzanine seating for an unparalleled view of the action.
Fall 2019’s Indoor League Schedule:
Every Saturday in October, 10am
(Pending TSC confirmation; Update Soon).
Hurloween Extravaganza – Costumed Indoor Match
10/26, 10am
The Tacoma Soccer Center is located at:
2610 E. Bay Street
Tacoma, WA 98421
You’ll notice in the Indoor Schedule that the Hound’s special Hurloween Extravaganza makes a reappearance for its second annual year. Whereas last year’s costumes were a free-for-all, the 2019 edition is themed. What theme you may ask? Why, none other than John Woo’s 1997 action epic Face/Off starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta. This year’s event will feature a team of various Nicholas Cage roles pitted against a team of various John Travolta roles. You’re definitely going to want to show up for this classic showdown unlike anything else in the Hurling world.
For the remainder of the off-season, we’ll be paring down our weekly activities to pick-up/hit-arounds on Saturdays at the usual practice time and location: 9am, Ford Middle School. These informal meetups are the perfect opportunity to grab a hands-on introduction to the fastest game on grass. During the week, you can find Hounds at Tacoma Strength, Tuesday and Thursday 730-9, keeping in shape for whatever challenges we tackle in 2020. Wednesday practices will resume next Spring.
On August 18th, 4 of the Tacoma Hounds sat down with Scott, Justin, and Jeff to record a can’t-miss episode for Grit City Podcast!
These guys release an episode every Monday highlighting the business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, artists, and unique characters that call Tacoma home. They love to sit down with Tacomans they feel personify the blue collar, hard work ethic people associate with “Grit”. It was an awesome experience!
Upon arrival, Justin let us inside the Union Club and we all headed downstairs to their studio for the session to get started. After a quick overview, we were ready to sit down to the mics and record what felt more like a hang-out than an interview. Unique characters themselves, Scott, Justin, and Jeff were on it from start to finish with a fun but professional mindset. As rookies to the podcast format, we felt very welcomed and witnessed them exemplify the gritty ethic they love to see in their guests. It was super rad to be a part of what they do and get a behind-the-scenes look at the podcast world.
The conversation started out with an overview and explanation of Hurling, made all-the-more enjoyable by the 3 host’s lack of familiarity. We love to introduce our passion to new people and the hosts were full of insightful questions. From rules to player mentality to our familial community to the Co-op’s activities, we covered the whole gamut. The episode wrapped up with some “Coaster Questions” – a unique format that hit us with a live, un-prepped Q&A round.
To listen and get a feel for the Tacoma Hounds organization and its people – and find out our favorite mythical animals – check out the episode when it drops on Sept. 2 for download. A recording of the live stream is also available on the Grit City Podcast youtube channel.
On Saturday, 8/17, the Tacoma Hounds’ “street team” was on the scene at the McKinley Hill Street Fair. The event was a super cool community event we were proud to be a part of.
Continue reading “McKinley Hill Street Fair: Hounds on the Scene”
Welcome to the first edition of Coach’s Corner with Hounds Manager & Tactician, Alex Whitney!
Ah. The good ole’ (?) composite stick. The perfect tool to send your errant strike even further away from your teammate. And quite possibly straight to the opposing side. I can almost hear the immediate remonstrations to the tune of “Oh the ash disease!!!”, “It’s too arid!”, or even worse still “But it hits sooooooo much further!” The arid argument notwithstanding, can anyone out there please tell me why you want to hit sliotars accidentally (I hope) past, or away from a teammate? When it comes to making your strikes true and your control supple, ash, as always, remains king.
Continue reading “Coach’s Corner: Composite Sticks are Trash; Here’s Why”
Maybe you’ve seen Hurling before and found yourself wondering “How the hell do they do that!?” Maybe you’re looking for a competitive sports team to join. Maybe you’re looking to make friends in a new area or try a new activity. Maybe you’re looking to roll deep with the freshest crew in T Town.
Continue reading “Class is in Session! Rookie Days are Back!”
Interested in trying out a new activity or simply a sports super fan? If you love sports, you’ll love Hurling and there are two exciting events in the month of April where you can catch the Tacoma Hounds playing some top-notch matches:
4/13/19 – The Annual Sean-nós Festival
The Evergreen State College in Olympia, 11:15am-12:30
4/17/19 – Indoor League Cup Final Match
Tacoma Soccer Center, 730pm – 830pm
Every year, the Irish Cultural Society of the Pacific Northwest hosts the Sean-nós Festival at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. The festival primarily celebrates and promotes three aspects of traditional Irish culture: sean-nós singing, sean-nós dancing, and the Irish language – otherwise known as “Gaeilge”. This year’s festival will be held form April 12th-14th, mostly in the campus’ Communications Building.
“Sean-nós” (pronounced “shan-nos”) literally means “old style.” It refers to the Irish language songs, poetry, and dances that were popular during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although songs and steps are passed down from teacher to student and between artists, each performance is unique and personal to the performer.
The Tacoma Hounds will be building on last year’s appearance as Featured Guest Instructors for 2019, with an expanded exhibition scrimmage and accompanying, hands-on demo for any interested participants. This session will occur at the soccer field near the Communications Building, from 11:15am to 12:30 (please see image below). Please wear clothing and footwear that will be comfortable while moving and suitable for grass; water is recommended in general, but the hands-on demo will not feature strenuous activity.
The Unicorn Wranglers, the Trashfires, and the Salty Pretzels’ efforts to win the Indoor League Cup all come to a head on April 17th during this spring’s final Wednesday Night Lights showdown. The Unicorn Wranglers have already punched their ticket to the turf for the title match, but who will join them?
There’s still time to find out who else makes the title card, as the Trashfires and Unicorn Wranglers throw down tonight (4/3) before one last match pits the Trashfires against the Salty Pretzels (4/10). It’ll all come down to the final week of the regular season, but a Trashfires win tonight really turns up the heat on the Pretzels. Will the Trashfires overbake the Pretzels? Or will the Pretzels’ dough rise to the occasion and come out of the Indoor oven golden-brown?
The Tacoma Soccer Center provides the perfect venue to be right on top of the action, with elevated seating above the field and glass that brings you rink-side, right up to the players. Every match this season has featured electrifying play resulting in over a score per minute. Check out some of last season’s highlight reels while this spring’s are still cookin’!
If you can’t get enough Hurling action like the rest of us, keep an eye out for information about our upcoming Rookie Day Series starting later this month!
On March 9th, the “freshest game on ‘grass’” returns for more insane Indoor Hurling with the Tacoma Hounds! The draft is complete, the jerseys are ordered, and everyone’s eyein’ that single-digit-day countdown to the best show in T-Town.
Continue reading “Back to Ballin’ on E. Bay St.”