They had a new team and needed a name. Something memorable. Something that tells a story.
They considered Solons and Senators, baseball names from the city’s past. But this team doesn’t play baseball.
This is a hurling team, ready to master an Irish game contested on soccer pitches with sticks and a ball and no gloves.
Part lacrosse, part baseball, part football, part golf. Rough and tumble and exhaustive and exhilarating. The world’s fastest field sport not involving horses.
The name they chose is Kavanagh’s. Pronounced like it reads, silent g. The name arrives with serendipity and Irish luck.
One player heard about an old Irish priest who made South Sacramento his domain for 65 years. The priest ran a parish, orphanage and school on Franklin Boulevard. He became a legend for his relentless, godly work. Parishioners worshiped him. Diocesan leaders were jealous of his influence.
Significant to this story and despite his success at St. Rose parish and St. Patrick School, the old priest never never forgot what he did in Ireland. He was a hurler, a Gaelic champion of the ash wood stick they call a hurley.
His name was Monsignor Edward Joseph Kavanagh. When he left County Kilkenny in 1948 and came to Franklin Boulevard, he brought two hurleys. When he died in 2018, age 93, I think the hurleys remained at St. Rose parish. But I can’t confirm that.
All I know is when the new hurling team started up last year and needed a name, the players picked a beautiful one, a salute to the most famous and beloved priest in Sacramento history.
“The feeling was when we chose the name Kavanagh’s, we were getting tied to the community,” team member Sean Anayah says. “A lot of our guys grew up in Land Park and South Sac. One of them heard about a priest who’d been an All-Ireland hurling player. That was Father Kavanagh.”
For Americans still struggling to grasp soccer, hurling is a distant, chaotic fury poured across an emerald field.
Players catch the ball and carry it, but only four steps. They strike the ball with the hurley. They kick the ball or slap it. There are goalposts and collisions. No pads. Players wear helmets.
“Some of our guys played lacrosse and hockey,” Anayah says. “Being a golfer helps too.”
The league has six teams, four in San Francisco, one in San Jose, plus the Kavanagh’s. The pitch is on Treasure Island. The season just ended, but community relations never stop.
True to their name, the Kavanagh’s spread a love of sports and community. Being Irish or Catholic is irrelevant. Monsignor Kavanagh would understand.
He taught orphans to box at St. Patrick. He loved football, especially the 49ers. He finished Sunday Mass in 49 minutes when the 49ers played.
On Franklin Boulevard, declining enrollment closed St. Patrick School this year. The local diocese is in bankruptcy over lawsuits involving predatory priests.
Glory be to Monsignor Kavanagh. He finally has people talking about hurling.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
