Most supporters at Saturday’s double-header of Leinster camogie finals in Carlow were wearing shorts and, frankly, a swimsuit or two on the terrace wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow, given the sizzling heat.
Every player from all four teams wore shorts too during their warm-ups and, in the case of senior finalists Kilkenny and Wexford, also for the post-match presentation ceremony, to hammer home their ongoing protest about playing gear.
But the games could only go ahead after they changed, before throw-in, into skorts, the contentious mandatory playing gear which has caused such an embarrassing ruckus for the Camogie Association.
The variance in comfort caused by two different consonants has caused such a rift between camogie’s players and administrators that the latter has been forced to call a Special Congress in Croke Park on Thursday to look at now giving players a choice of what they wear in matches.
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An equivalent row in hurling would surely have attracted an army of hawkers to Cullen Park, waving T-shirts depicting Frs Ted & Dougal in their ‘Down with this sort of thing!’ mode.
The critical mass of support for men’s sport always spells ching-ching whenever a controversy or a milestone occurs.
If it was men playing, not women, there’d also have been enough interest to warrant live TV and a panel of former greats dissecting how such a new-look Kilkenny team had survived a Wexford comeback to win their seventh senior provincial title in-a-row and wondering what that might mean when camogie’s All-Ireland series starts next weekend.
Even if a fraction of those rushing to be outraged on social media recently were willing to pay more than idle lip service to women’s sport then the stand would not have been just a quarter full.
Tickets were only €8 and those in attendance would happily have paid three times that for the pleasure of watching Carlow’s sensational long-range free-taker Eleanor Treacy (1-6, all from placed balls) break Laois hearts at the death or the savage tussle between Kilkenny’s Ciara Phelan and Wexford’s Joanne Dillon.
But not even the unwanted skorts sideshow could swell camogie’s usual crowd or coffers.
The organisers were forewarned of the players’ intentions and their protest was handled with dignity on both sides.
Both winning captains made a quick diplomatic mention of the unwanted distraction in their acceptance speeches but a quick straw poll afterwards indicated that players now feel they’re being properly heard.
“I’m delighted we got to play the match and win but, personally, I’ve found the whole thing super stressful and overwhelming,” Kilkenny captain Katie Power said.
“It’s not about skorts versus shorts, it’s just about having the choice,” she emphasised. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I’m fairly confident now that common sense will prevail. Nobody wants the negativity or the drama of the last few weeks. We just want to concentrate on the game and promoting it in the best manner.”
“At the end of the day we just want to play camogie,” Wexford senior captain Laura Dempsey added. “Girls need to have a choice. We have full faith in the Camogie Association that they will make the right decision at Special Congress and we’re hoping this is the last day that we will have to make a protest.”
Niamh Canavan, still high after captaining Carlow to intermediate glory, their biggest silverware since winning the All-Ireland Junior title in 2016, said: “We were all on the same page today and hopefully that’s the end of it now and it doesn’t distract us any more.”
The contradiction in the status quo was starkly underlined by the happy-headed horde of under-10s playing in the half-time games.
Some wore skorts and others wore shorts because that’s what they’re most comfortable wearing. They have that choice until they compete in official Camogie Association competitions in their early teens.
To give their heroes and role models that very same choice now is simply a no-brainer.
