Camogie Association appears unmoved by senior players' skort protest

The Camogie Association appears unmoved by Saturday's protest staged by the senior Dublin and Kilkenny teams against the rule that players must wear skorts.

“We note the recent research published by the GPA [Gaelic Players Association]," the Camogie Association said in a statement to The42.ie on Monday.

"Player welfare is at the heart of everything we do across the Camogie Association.

“A democratic vote at Congress 2024 determined that the rules governing our playing wear should not change.

“Ard Chomhairle established a working group to examine issues around the comfort, fit, design and overall performance of playing wear.

“As part of this process, a wide range of national and international manufactured skorts have been sourced. Testing of these skorts for comfort, fit and design, will begin in mid-May and will include adult and Juvenile players from Club and County teams, as well as referees.

“Once testing is completed, the working group will prepare recommendations for Ard Chomhairle consideration.

“The Camogie Association remains committed to respecting the democratic process in all decisions that affect all of our members.

“Voting delegates at Congress represent all the members of the Association, including players and parents of players across the country.”

On Saturday, the senior Dublin and Kilkenny camogie teams coordinated ahead of their Leinster semi-final to wear shorts to their match at St. Peregrine’s GAA club in Blanchardstown.

As per the Camogie Association's official playing rules, players must wear a "skirt / skort / divided skirt" during matches. 

If the rule is not complied with, a referee will first caution the player(s) for dissent. If the player(s) continue to not comply, the referee of the match can dismiss them from play.

On Saturday, the two senior camogie teams were cautioned by referee Ray Kelly, but they ultimately opted to switch into skorts in order to play.

Kilkenny won the match 4-11 to Dublin’s 2-12, which was staged at St Peregrine’s GAA club in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

After the match, Dublin captain Aisling Maher wrote on social media: "Career low for me today when 60+ players ready to play a championship game in shorts are told their match will be abandoned if every player doesn't change into skorts.

"I love this game but I am sick of being forced to wear a skort that is uncomfortable and unfit for purpose.

"How are female players still having to push for permission to wear shorts while they compete at the highest level of their sport.

"In no other facet of my life does someone dictate that I have to wear something resembling a skirt because I am a girl.

"Why is it happening in my sport?"

Maher added that recent research from the Gaelic Player Association (GPA), the player representative body for inter-county Gaelic games of which she is a co-chair, showed that 83% of Camogie players want to have the option to wear shorts.

"And yet we are still being told before throw in that our game will be abandoned if every girl doesn’t change into a skort," Maher wrote.

"It’s 2025, society has changed and our game needs to catch up."

Indeed, the skort protest came just two days after the GPA published the findings of its Annual Player Survey, which recorded responses from 650 inter-county camogie players. 

83% of players surveyed would prefer to wear shorts, or believe that players should have the option to choose, the GPA found. 70% reported discomfort while wearing shorts. 65% expressed concern about exposure in media content, affecting their mental state. 49% said they had experienced anxiety around period leaks. 

The official GPA position is that "players should have the choice to wear Skorts or Shorts on the basis of player welfare," and that "player welfare should be prioritised over established norms & traditions in decision making."

Players remain open to collaborative dialogue on this issue with the Camogie Association, GAA, Sport Ireland, and other sporting bodies, the GPA said.

However, at the annual Camogie Association Congress in April 2024, a motion on players being able to wear shorts failed to pass.

"Great Britain proposed the inclusion of shorts as part of the playing uniform within Rule 6," the Association said afterward.

"There was in-depth discussion at Congress on the topic, with many counties providing insightful feedback from surveys completed by their younger and senior players.

"The motion resulted in 45% of the delegates voting in favour and 55% against."

The Association added: "Motion 56 was proposed by Tipperary to replace the ‘skirt/skort/divided skirt’ entirely with ‘shorts’ as part of the playing uniform. The motion did not pass with a 64% vote against.

"The next time delegates can vote on the playing uniform will be at Congress in 2027."