The Dublin and Kilkenny senior camogie teams made their stance at the game
Camogie captain Aisling Maher has opened up about the importance of taking a stand against the ongoing skort debate.
The sport has made headlines recently as female players have spoken out against the rule that they can only wear skorts and not shorts.
At the recent Leinster camogie semi-final, both teams, Dublin and Kilkenny, made their stance by wearing shorts for the game.
The issue has been at the centre of many heated debates, but Aisling Maher is standing her ground when it comes to the issue.
Her spoke to Aisling Maher, Dublin camogie captain, about the rule.
Maher pointed out that if they can ‘get the uniform right,’ the drop-off in the sport from the ages 12-16 may decrease.
“I know for me personally the amount of parents that have reached out to me on social media who have young girls saying you know ‘she loves camogie but she hates the skort’ and ‘she wants to go playing football because she can wear the shorts but she doesn’t want to have to play in the skort so she doesn’t like camogie as much’ or ‘she’s not enjoying it as much.’ It’s important for them to see us taking this stand,” she added.
Teammate, Sinéad Wylde added: “We should be making the game as welcoming and as free as possible for everyone.
“Even in schools these days, you’re allowed to wear trousers, the airlines are letting you wear trousers, like there’s no other facet of our lives really where you’re told to wear a skirt because you’re a girl.”
The players were told to change into skorts or the game would be called off, however, they made the message clearer than ever: players want the choice.
A special congress is set to vote on whether players should have the choice to wear shorts on May 22nd.
The pressure is mounting on camogie’s governing bodies to finally listen to the players.
If the rule is passed, which the camogie president is confident of, it will be effective almost immediately.
While the players welcome the special congress, Wylde highlighted that last time such a vote took place, the voice of the players wasn’t represented, and there’s no guarantee this time will be any different.
“The cohort that are voting are definitely not players so they don’t have that lived experience of what it feels like to put on a skort and the discomfort that we as players kind of go through a week in week out.
“They don’t really have that lived experience, so they’re kind of just voting on opinions and tradition and everything other than what it feels like to be a player in a skort,” she continued.
Dublin captain Maher added: “We welcome the news that seeing the special congress we hope that it will result in the motion passing but if it doesn’t I think as players we’re going to feel we’re back to where we started and we’re back to being in a position where we’re being forced to wear something that we don’t want to wear and I don’t see a situation where championship proceeds with all players participate in fully in skorts.
“So, I would imagine it’ll send us back to the beginning of the cycle of back to more protests.”
The special congress vote on the matter will take place on May 22nd in Croke Park.
