Azalea Cup 2016

For the tournament's 5th installment, we invited more teams and players from across the southeast. In addition to Augusta teaming up with its newly formed spinoff club from Athens, GA, a full squad from Atlanta and a combined team from Charleston and Greenville participated. Unlike past tournaments, the morning was bitterly cold, but the sun warmed up the fields nicely as the day wore on. During the opening ceremonies, Augusta-based traditional Irish music group De Ceadaoin performed the Irish and American national anthems as well as a few other traditional pieces. Though the tournament was scheduled to have four teams participating, Greenville had a few last-minute cancellations, forcing them to combine with Charleston to form a South Carolina squad and turning the tournament into a three-team round robin event. The Charleston/Greenville team's experience proved too much for Augusta in the opening match of the tournament. In the second match, Charleston/Greenville pulled out a close win over Atlanta to claim the cup. In the third and final match, Augusta fell to another experienced team from Atlanta. But in the tournament's true measure of success, there were seven on the Augusta squad and three from Charleston playing in their first ever hurling matches, making for 10 brand new hurlers on the day. Below are the scores and some photos from the tournament.

Scores from Azalea Cup 2016

Charleston/Greenville 7-9 (30)
Augusta 1-3 (6)
Charleston/Greenville 5-6 (21)
Atlanta 4-5 (17)
Atlanta                        5-5 (20)
Augusta 3-2 (11)