The photos from last week’s Leinster Championship camogie semi-final between Dublin and Kilkenny are both striking and unremarkable. Both teams lining out together, helmets on, gumshields in, hurls in hand, ready to go. Captains Aisling Maher of Dublin and Katie Power of Kilkenny go in for the coin toss.
The issue with the photos is, of course, that the players are wearing shorts and not the mandatory skorts. They may be opposing teams, but on this issue, they’re at one – in contrast with the delegates at the Camogie Association Congress in 2024 which rejected separate motions to replace the skort (64 per cent against), or to supplement the skort with an option for shorts (55 per cent against).
In a recent GPA Report, 83 per cent of intercounty players expressed a preference for shorts over skorts. This prompted Dublin and Kilkenny to get in touch before last weekend’s semi-final. They had had enough. They agreed that they would compete against each other but were united on one front: anyone who wished to should wear shorts. Anyone who wanted to wear a skort could. The fact that no one did is a clear indication of how players feel about the skort.
It is hard to imagine what transpired next. The players had put in a lot to reach the semi-final, travelling to training, matches and ultimately to St Peregrine’s GAA Club in Coolmine, Co Dublin, for the game. They were hydrated, fed, rested, and raring to go. Surely, they must have thought, if we all wear shorts they’ll let us play? But no. Referee Ray Kelly told them that either they change or the game would be forfeited. His job is to follow the rules, and he, rightfully, isn’t the main subject of anyone’s ire.
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The captains relayed the message to their team-mates. The best case scenario was being allowed to wear shorts, the worst was cancelling the match, and so they settled for the middle ground, playing as they have always done, in the skorts. The game went on and Kilkenny emerged victorious, but the point had been made: players were not happy.
As is generally the case when a “women in sports” issue arises, the incident receives far more attention than the game itself. This is fast becoming camogie’s version of Irish women’s football team in 2017, who felt they had to threaten to strike until their issues with the FAI were resolved. Different facts, same question: is this what it takes for players to be heard from their governing body? A body that purports to represent their interests but doesn’t give them a seat at the decision-making table.
The Camogie Association had been keeping schtum, holding tight and hoping the storm would pass over and public attention would drift elsewhere.
That didn’t happen. On Thursday, it was announced that a Special Congress had been scheduled for May 22nd. Delegates will once again be asked to vote on the issue, which is a sharp U-turn from their “ongoing commitment to reviewing the skorts to be more comfortable” but still a long way from simply amending the rule on shorts – especially considering the same delegates are being asked to vote again just over a year on. The players can only hope and campaign, both publicly and privately, that the delegates will choose to vote differently this time.
The landscape is different now from how it was in April 2024. There is more attention on the issue and the players’ voices are coming through loud and clear. Even if the vote remains the same, it’s difficult to see the skort situation continuing. Dublin Camogie has instructed its referees to allow games to continue even if players wear shorts.
This weekend, the baton was passed from Dublin and Kilkenny to Cork and Waterford, who let it be known that they were considering allowing the Munster Championship Camogie final to be forfeited. On Friday night the Munster Council announced that they had called off the match to avoid confrontation. This was a nuclear option for the two teams. The opportunity for the association to be seen as progressive and willing to listen is long gone. Whatever happens now, it will be seen as succumbing to public pressure rather than valuing their own players’ voices.
Some people seem to be deliberately missing the point. There are voices complaining that the Dublin and Kilkenny players didn’t forfeit the match. Or that their daughter likes wearing a skort. Or that the players should have waited until 2027 when the Congress meets again. Or pointing out that men wear three-piece suits in snooker.
But there’s no rational reason for forcing the players into skorts. And there seems to be no right way for the players to ask for the option of shorts. This shouldn’t be a “women’s issue”, but it has morphed into one: the skort is, we’re told, a marker of femininity, a garment originally valued for its “modesty” (despite players’ protests that they are anything but).
Research repeatedly and consistently reports that girls’ participation in sport drops off a cliff when they reach their teens. Forcing compliance with a skort – too short, too exposing, not fit for purpose – seems to drive girls toward that cliff, giving them more of an impetus to be concerned about periods, body image and feeling uncomfortable.
It is also a distraction from bigger dilemmas. Integration of the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association is scheduled for 2027. Camogie, and women’s sport in general, has bigger fish to fry.
When shorts do eventually become officially part of the game – hopefully within weeks – the difference to anyone but the players themselves will be barely perceptible. It won’t be a victory for equality or for women’s sports, just for common sense.
*This article was amended after the Munster Council decision to postpone Saturday’s camogie final
Louise Lawless is a freelance journalist
