Women Gaelic games players suffer injuries in silence due to fear and lack of support, research finds

Fears of being dropped, letting their team down or being seen as weak are among the reasons women Gaelic games players opt to conceal injuries, according to new research.

The study of intercounty camogie and women’s Gaelic football players found that concern over being sidelined or dropped from the panel were factors in whether players chose to disclose injuries to management, as were worries about how they might be perceived by others in the team setting.

The research’s lead author, chartered physiotherapist and PhD student at University of Limerick Marese Gilhooly, explains that while various factors can contribute to whether players feel empowered to report injuries, it can often come down to their standing in the set-up.

“A big part of it is the player experience,” she says. “That might be linked to their years of playing intercounty level – they might be more sure of their place on the team and they mightn’t have such fear of being deselected, or risking losing favour with management, whereas younger players mightn’t have the confidence or have built up that experience that they feel that they can report [injuries].”

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The research focuses on the players’ perceptions of injuries and how those perceptions might lead them to suffer in silence rather than flag what’s ailing them.

“One player said she didn’t want to be perceived as a ‘drama queen’,” Gilhooly says, while others said they may not report injuries they felt weren’t serious enough so as not to “waste people’s time”, as one player quoted in the study said.

However, related research conducted by Gilhooly and her colleagues surveying athlete support personnel (ASP – “individuals in coaching, management and allied health and performance related practice”) found they did not share many of the sentiments expressed by players.

Of the 42 ASP surveyed, 66 per cent disagreed with the statement “managers view players as weak for reporting injuries”. Forty-three per cent disagreed that players report all injuries.

Gilhooly, who is an assistant lecturer at TUS Athlone, says the findings from the two studies highlight a disconnect between players and ASP.

The responses from the ASP also noted the pitfalls of players concealing injuries, with one participant commenting: “Players need to realise they aren’t doing themselves or the team any favours”.

Gilhooly explains: “It’s a double-edged sword. They don’t want to let the team down, however they’re letting both themselves and the team down perhaps by performing through injury or symptoms in the long-term.”

External barriers to reporting were also cited both by players and ASP, chief among them access to medical personnel.

In the ASP responses, 93 per cent said they believe players are more likely to report injuries when immediate access to medical personnel [team doctors or physiotherapists] is available, which was backed up by the player responses.

However, even in elite intercounty set-ups, those resources are often not available, or not consistently so, Gilhooly says.

“I often feel that women are nearly tougher, in a good way and in a bad way. They will put up with an awful lot more, they’re not used to being supported,” one of the ASP respondents told the researchers. Another added: “At club level it’s really poor. You have one person on the sideline at club level with a physio bag and he or she is the manager, the coach, the S&C [strength and conditioning specialist] and physio. It’s just not good enough. The clubs and county boards need to do better to support females.”

The latter comment is important, Gilhooly says, as a lack of support is probably a contributing factor to intercounty players’ reluctance to report injuries.

“If players haven’t the support at club level, they aren’t used to how to access it, how to relay [concerns] to people. Often if they did have it, they didn’t know how to make use of it, but often they didn’t have it, or it wasn’t consistent,” she adds.

Gilhooly notes many players detailed how regular access to medical professionals was not a given at intercounty level, adding that even with the adoption of player charters, “there’s still inconsistencies about what is local, feasible and economically able to be put in place”.

“Gaelic games are amateur sports, but [intercounty] players dedicate such time and commitment that it does equal professional standard,” Gilhooly says. “They’re expected to perform like elite athletes but they’re not necessarily getting the resources or personnel to support them as elite athletes.”

Within the team setting, Gilhooly says “it really comes down to culture”, and, in addition to having the necessary resources in place, encouraging open communication between players and ASP can achieve “a more honest middle ground” in which players feel empowered to speak up.