Sitting in to learn the game’s basics in coach class

In the basement of a Yonkers pub, aspiring hurling coaches from the New York area gathered around coffee cups and notepads early last Saturday morning.

Shane McClearn was over from Galway, busying himself over his laptop and coaching charts as we waited patiently to forget everything we thought we knew.

His trip, the third of its kind, was reinforcing the growing ties between Connacht GAA and the increasingly connected New York County Board.