The Kilkenny and Wexford senior camogie panels, as well as the Carlow and Laois intermediate camogie panels, issued a joint statement on Wednesday, May 14 amidst the Gaelic sport's ongoing skort controversy.
"This weekend, following months of training and preparation, we are scheduled to go head-to-head for Leinster titles," the teams said in a statement issued via the Gaelic Players Association, the player representative body for inter-county Gaelic games, on Wednesday.
"Today, we come together, united, to make an almost impossible choice because camogie authorities refuse to do so.
"We will be togged out in shorts at Netwatch Cullen Park [in Co Carlow] on Saturday and we want our choice to be respected.
"However, if the current outdated rule is enforced, we will change into skorts, solely to ensure the games are not abandoned. We will play the games under protest.
"As part of this protest, we do not consent to any photography or video to be taken of the matches themselves, should we be forced to wear skorts.
"We call on the Leinster Council to ensure this is enforced, and we ask both the media and supporters to respect our position.
"We have made this decision based on the belief and trust that players will be listened to and heard. We expect camogie delegates will vote for choice at Special Congress on May 22nd and that no further protest will be necessary.
"We stand steadfastly with our fellow players in demanding that choice.
"We will not be making any further comment until after the weekend."
Camogie's skort protests
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.
At the annual Camogie Association Congress in April 2024, a motion on players being able to wear shorts failed to pass.
Still, the rule remains deeply unpopular with players. On May 1, 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.
Two days after the GPA published its findings, the Dublin and Kilkenny senior camogie teams coordinated a skort protest for their Leinster semi-final.
When the two teams took the pitch wearing shorts instead of skorts, they were cautioned by referee Ray Kelly.
Faced with the possibility of the match being abandoned, the two teams ultimately decided to both change into skorts, and the match went ahead.
The protest made headlines and has given way to similar protests - and also put considerable pressure on the Camogie Association.
While the Association initially said it was standing by the decisions made at its Congress last year, the body confirmed on May 8 that it will hold a Special Congress at Dublin's Croke Park on May 22 to "consider motion(s) to provide all players with the choice to wear skorts or shorts while playing camogie."
If the motion(s) pass, the new rules could come into effect as early as May 24, the Association said.
Despite this, the skort protests continue.
Wednesday's statement from the Leinster teams comes exactly a week after the Cork and Waterford senior camogie panels said they would be staging at skort protest at their Munster final on Saturday, May 10.
However, the night before the match, Munster Camogie announced that it was deferring the final after 'reviewing the situation.'
According to RTÉ News, a statement issued by The Communications Clinic on behalf of Munster Council chairperson Christine Ryan said: "As the current camogie rules of play are still in place and the players have indicated they would not be prepared to play the game in skorts, the decision has been made to defer the game in the best interests of all players and officials involved.
"The details of the rescheduled fixture will be released in due course."
In a joint statement issued via the GPA on the day when their match was scheduled to be played, the Cork and Waterford senior camogie panels said they were "bitterly disappointed" with the deferral.