Club camogie players across the country who have spoken to the Irish Times support the protest launched last weekend by intercounty squads who want to change the rule requiring all players to wear skorts.
After a week of controversy, the Camogie Association announced on Thursday morning that the matter will to be voted on at a Special Congress on May 22nd. If the motion is successful, players would have the option to wear either shorts or skorts from May 24th.
Kilmacud Crokes player Patrice Delaney is among the large majority of club players who believe it’s time for them to be given what they have long wanted – choice.
“I’ve been playing since a very young age, so I’ve grown up playing in the skort, but I’ve always trained in shorts. Everyone trains in shorts,” said the 33-year-old, who started playing with her home club Kinnitty in Co Offaly as a young child.
“I always feel like you’re pulling (the skort) down. They’re awkward, the sizing is completely different, and if it’s your time of the month it’s just not comfortable whatsoever,” she adds.
Fear of exposure is one of the most common issues raised by players in the debate over skorts, a fear which is often increased by the now-commonplace presence of cameras at games.
A free-taker with her club Inagh-Kilnamona, Clare Hehir says watching clips of herself preparing to take frees has made her aware of how often she feels she must readjust her skort during games, while images taken during games are another concern for players.
“It’s the pictures that are the problem,” says Hehir, who has captained Clare at intercounty level. “There have been some horrendous pictures of me, and you just skip past, like: ‘no, I don’t want to see that again.’
“You might look at the skort and think the length of them is fine, but it’s actually the undershorts that are the problem, they’re so much smaller under it. If you fall over, your first thing is to fix the skirt part over your shorts, because those shorts are so short.”
Hehir admits she is “on the fence a bit personally” over whether skorts should be axed, but the 26-year-old adds: “I’m 100 per cent that there should be a choice.
“I was talking to a few girls about it and they said they didn’t feel too strongly about it, they’re kind of indifferent to it, but we will hold our hand up and do whatever is needed if it means it will give choice across the board.”
“Some players have different opinions, but I think it’s rare that you’d find someone who wants to keep the skorts,” says Emily McCabe (24), who plays with Drumraney in Co Westmeath.
“I think it’s outdated and it’s time for change, and if so many girls are saying that they feel uncomfortable then I do think shorts should be introduced.
“It’s kind of baffling,” McCabe adds. “How many players are speaking out, you see the statistics, so why not just change the rule? Tradition is the main argument. How does that take precedence over player welfare?”
On whether the issue highlights a disconnect between delegates (who at last year’s Congress voted down proposals to amend the rule on skorts) and players, Delaney points to compelling numbers collected by the Gaelic Players Association on the matter.
“I think it’s time for the Camogie Association to step up and listen to its players. They’re not playing the sport, the players are playing the sport. Eighty-three per cent of players want a choice over whether they wear shorts or a skort, and this small change would have a massive impact across the board.
“I have no doubt it (the change) would increase participation, it would reduce girls dropping out of sport, the girls would feel more comfortable, especially younger girls, especially when they’re starting out.”
“We’re so sick of it at this point,” says Delaney’s Kilmacud clubmate, 22-year-old Hannah Reynolds. “No one can get their head around why the association is so stubborn about this.”
Although the players say it is encouraging to see how much support the protest has gained, Reynolds notes the issue doesn’t paint their sport in a positive light.
“It’s probably the most that camogie has been in the media in years, and it’s about skorts. It’s good that it’s being talked about, and hopefully something is finally going to be done, but it’s disappointing that this is how we’re talking about camogie.”
This row has reared its head many times before, but there’s a sense among club players that the vote later this month could result in the long-awaited breakthrough.
“I would be hopeful,” says Hehir. “I know speaking of past experiences you’d wonder why you’d be hopeful, but I just think with the support this is getting this time I really would be hopeful there will be change.”
