Gary Thomas, who turns 70 later this month, has found a love of hurling late in life with the Social Slashers, a group of social hurlers based around the greater Downpatrick area.
By John Harrington
Growing up in Bangor, County Down in the 1960s, Gary Thomas didn’t have the opportunity to play Gaelic games.
Bangor is a predominantly Protestant town and, though Thomas had some Catholic friends, he himself is what he describes as ‘of the other persuasion’.
He’d go to watch his Catholic friends play Gaelic football and would think to himself what a great game it was, but the segregated school system and society in general meant he felt like it was never an option for him.
Instead, Thomas played soccer, and he was very good at it too. He was signed as a schoolboy by one of the leading Irish League clubs, Glentoran, and from there went on to play for several years with his home-town club, Bangor FC.
Sometimes second-chances come around in life, even if you must wait a while for them, and that has been the case for Thomas.
When he and his partner Patricia moved to the village of Saul in County Down a few years ago, the advice from the locals they chatted to was that if they really wanted to plug in to their new community’s current they should get involved in sompe way with the local GAA club.
By now Thomas was in his late sixties but still a fit man. When his soccer career ended he took up weightlifting and it stood him in good stead for decades.
After some enquiries he discovered that Social Slashers, a social hurling team drawing players from the greater Downpatrick area, had just been set up. Though he had never swung a hurley in his life he figured age should be no barrier to finally taking that leap, even if there were some nerves when he rocked up for his first session.
“Obviously, I was apprehensive because you don't want to make a tit of yourself, and that's exactly what I did in the first few occasions,” says Thomas with a chuckle. “I spent more time on my back rolling about than I did on my feet.
“Getting able to get down and raise the ball I found slightly awkward in the first month or two until I got my fitness levels up again and got my balance right. My balance was a wee bit off initially but is much better now.
“I had to learn to calm down a bit as well. I had to learn how to get the ball up and into my hand, take a few steps and lash it somewhere but I was trying to do everything much too rushed.
“People were telling me to take my time, nobody's going to barge you or charge into you, we all know you don't play so take it easy. And once your confidence gets up a wee bit you start to pick it up. I started practicing a wee bit in the garden against the wall and I did a few other bits and pieces and eventually picked it up.
“I've got to say, since then on, I've been going hard at it and I thoroughly enjoy it.”
The Social Slashers pictured before a blitz. Gary Thomas is pictured in the front row, second from the left.
Thomas hasn’t just enjoyed it, according to Social Slashers founder, Shay Deegan, he’s become the glue of the group because he’s not just a great guy, his dedication to his new-found sporting love is an inspiration to others.
He turns 70 later this month and is their oldest member, but, no matter what the weather, Thomas is one of the first to their Monday evening social hurling sessions.
The opportunity to play Gaelic games has come later in life than would have liked, and it’s been such a positive experience that he can’t help but be dismayed by the fact that sport is still commonly segregated along religious lines in the Northern Ireland.
He’s experienced at first hand the power of inclusivity through sport, and would love if everybody had an easy pathway to playing Gaelic games regardless of their background.
“It would be brilliant,” says Thomas. “To me that's what breaking down barriers that have been left by the legacy of The Troubles and all of that nonsense is all about.
“If wish I had had the opportunity to play Gaelic games in my school when I was young because I had a number of really good Catholic friends down in Bangor and they introduced me to Gaelic games.
“I used to go and watch them play Gaelic football and I would think to myself what a great game this is. A round ball that you could kick and pick with your hands and run about. What's not to like?
“But it was never going to happen in our school unfortunately and even the education system to this day doesn't let that happen which is part of the problem.
“It's 2024 and we still largely have a segregated education system. That has to change.
“You look at East Belfast, they're a classic example. They're doing really well but are having all sorts of issues with numpties and idiots in their community who rail against them and try to stop them and do all kinds of nonsense.
Action from a juvenile match between St. Patrick's, Saul and East Belfast GAA at last weekend's blitz.
“Hopefully they get pushed to the side because, at the end of the day, that's the only way I feel that this country will ever move forward - by looking at initiatives like East Belfast and by bringing mixed games into various schools and communities.
“Even the Irish language act, get that up and going. I have no difficulty with that. I'm actually trying to get a few people together because I know there's a little Irish language class in the town back home and I'm thinking seriously about going there and taking a few lessons.
“Simply because it has taken me this long to really understand and realise that it's my native language as well. So why I shouldn't I have the opportunity to learn it as well as English, an opportunity that was denied to me as a child.
“There's no reason why if the politicians have any wit they would be able to get together and try to roll these things out, but that's just a personal rant!"
The Social Slashers provide a great social as well as sporting outlet for its membership,
As a natural sportsperson, Thomas has relished the opportunity to learn and play one as skilful as hurling.
But for both him and Patricia, the greatest joy that has come with Gaelic games has been the community ethos that infuses it.
“That's the real heart of it,” says Thomas. “We were so heartened when we came down here that when we saw the sense of community in the wee local club up in Saul and how it all got people interacting and the amount of kids that would come to games.
“Even on an windy or wet Friday night going up there to watch the senior team play and the amount of people there and the kids running about, shouting, yelling and kicking or pucking a ball about, it was great to see.
“You think to yourself, that's what it's all about. You don't have to necessarily participate but it's all part of the community and you should be proud to say I'm from wherever it is you're from because your wee club is there and when you go out on the field or go to watch a match you don't just represent your family, but also your community.
“To me, that's what it's about and that's the way it should be. That's the thing I think I lacked when I was younger and played soccer.
“It seemed to be that when you play soccer you don't have that community aspect. If you played for a wee team but there was a better team in the next town you went and played for them if you were lucky and got better and better and better.
“You didn't stay in your local community. Soccer doesn't seem to lend itself to that but Gaelic games obviously always has done and I think that's the key to it all.”
Thomas and all his friends who play with the Social Slashers benefit from the experience both physically and mentally, but they’ve also made a point of giving back.
The Social Slashers are now registered as a charity which allows them to raise money to purchase hurling equipment which they then donate to local schools.
They also go in to local schools to coach hurling, and many of their members are heavily involved in St Patrick's, Saul GAC’s vibrant juvenile hurling and camogie academy.
“We get the benefit out of it so we give back to the community for their benefit and the benefit of the wider area,” says Thomas.
“We do events, fundraisers and various and other things. Hurling is very sparse on the ground where we are. It's much stronger across the lough in the lower Ards where it's very strong.
“We're just trying to do our small bit to get it started around here and hopefully when I'm long gone in 20- or 30-years’ time we might have a half-decent team.”
Former GAA National Hurling Development Manager, Martin Fogarty, and Down Senior Hurling team manager, Ronan Sheehan, pictured with Saul GAA hurling coaches including Gary Thomas, back rown fourth from the left.
At its best the GAA isn’t just a sporting organisation, it’s a community one where everyone pulls together for a common good.
Gary Thomas was welcomed with open arms by Saul GAC and the Social Slashers and he’s given back with the same enthusiasm.
“We couldn't have fallen on our feet any better,” he says. “It's a great wee spot with great people. A great community spirit which to me is the whole key.
“The bonus to me is that I get to run about and tell people I hurl. I hurl with a bunch of decent people who really enjoy it for what it is. The social aspect is brilliant.
“The community aspect is brilliant. The giving back aspect is also brilliant. It's a win-win and who could argue against that.”
For more information on the Social Slashers, go here - https://www.facebook.com/socialslashers/
