Sean O'Leary Hayes on what it's like playing hurling in the US

MIDLETON defender Seán O’Leary Hayes has had a superb 2023 campaign, with his performances standing out throughout their run in the Premier Senior Hurling Championship, but this year brought much more than just a good championship run for the 24-year-old.

After stepping away from the Cork panel, Seán made the most of the year as he spent two periods abroad, which he feels put a different perspective on things in life. “I went to America over the summer, and before that I went to Amsterdam for a while,” Seán begins.

“I missed the league for Midleton and the first game of championship. I came back from Amsterdam and played like two games, and then I went to America.

“Physically, I would always try to stay on top of my fitness some bit, but I was playing hurling over in America so when I came back, it wasn’t like I was totally after taking a break from it.

“I was still some bit in good shape, but it definitely took a bit of adjusting. I played with the Intermediates at the start, and that helped.

“Once you get over the first championship game with Midleton, then you're back into the flow of things.” Going to the States to play GAA is something that a lot of players do, and it’s something O’Leary Hayes had been eyeing up for quite a while.

It was unreal, it was always something I wanted to do – just go to America for a summer in general.

“I met Liam O’Shea one day and we were talking, and it just came up. We're both in the same year in college, most people were done and working our age, so it was kind of our last chance to give it a go and he said it to me, and I said ‘yeah, I’ll go’, because I wanted to anyway.

“So, we just kind of got into contact with a few clubs over there and I ended up being with Westmeath New York and it was unreal, it was class. The lads there were great, especially Tom Nugent, the president of the club, and our coach, Mike Stones.” 

For a man with inter-county experience and Munster titles at U20 and Minor level, it’s hard not to wonder – what’s the difference in skill like between hurling in New York and Cork?

“There's definitely a difference, but it's surprisingly not that easy either,” he says. “It’s on the astroturf and in Gaelic Park, so it's really fast paced, especially when you're in the fullback line.

“The shape goes all over the place because it's a strange set up. Teams would try and isolate people inside on the astro, and then there's the sanctioned players who were brought over. Nearly every game, you were man-marking them anyway.

“You're basically marking another sanctioned player, so the standard isn't actually that bad,” Seán explains. “I suppose the spread over the team maybe, obviously the standard isn't as it would be in Midleton.

“We got to the semi-final. It would have been nice to win it because like they brought us over and we were hoping to win it, but it was still good. You meet different fellas as well, fellas living over there. It was great playing with them, and it was a really good thing that I’m glad I did.”