A historic moment for camogie but why did it take this long for choice to prevail?
“HE’S COMING….”
The words we had been waiting for all evening had finally arrived. It was followed quickly by the sound of footsteps in the distance becoming gradually louder.
In the room, there was a flicker of needless movement. A tap of a laptop key or another look at a phone to make sure a camera was facing the right way. Anything to feel a bit more ready. But, of course, we were already locked into position.
Everyone had two of everything to cover both outcomes. Two drafts ready to be published. Two different messages to post on X.
Motion passed. Or motion defeated. No to shorts. Yes to shorts.
Which way would Caeser’s thumb point? Surely, a marginal win either way, we thought.
And then Camogie Association President Brian Molloy began to speak. White smoke from the camogie conclave.
An overwhelming yes to shorts and skorts together, he said. A 98% yes, if you please. In the end, it was all so simple and yet, it poses a pertinent question: why did it take this long for choice to prevail?
“Was their much debate?” one journalist asked after he delivered the outcome of the Camogie Association Special Congress.
“No,” came Molloy’s response. “There was no need for a debate,” he added later.
An almost unanimous decision to empower players with the right to choose between skorts and shorts, and finally draw the curtain on a difficult few weeks for everyone involved in camogie.
It comes just in time for the commencement of the All-Ireland camogie championship this weekend. Preparing for battle is the only burden players will carry. Playing under protest is no longer something they have to consider. Hearing about matches being postponed on the eve of throw-in is no longer something they have to fear.
And while this was ultimately a night of celebration for camogie, one must also reflect on the misery players have endured to bring about this result.
They are the ones who launched this movement.
They are the ones who emerged on pitches in shorts to make the public aware of their cause. They are the ones who either refused outright to play in skorts or would only agree wear skorts but without consenting to photography or video clips of their games.
They are the ones who have been asked by media for interviews about their feelings on the matter, or for updates on what form of protest their team is planning for an upcoming game.
Essentially, they are the ones left picking up the tab.
Some provincial finals have been cancelled due to the protests, and there is no indication for when those games will be refixed. It will be difficult to find a free date with the All-Ireland championships now taking over the calendar.
Many will feel this matter should have been resolved last year when two motions on skorts were put before the Camogie Congress. However, both were defeated. From that disappointment, a raging desire for change emerged.
And yet, just one year on from that Congress, any sense of division on this matter has all but been severed. Only around three people out of 133 delegates voted to prevent the inclusion of shorts in the sport’s playing attire.
Since the media was not permitted to attend Special Congress, we can only rely on the president’s description of how the delegates came to this decision. They began, he says, by having some food and interacting with each other. He added that it was clear that the delegates had engaged with their players before attending Special Congress to vote.
“It’s been really difficult for the volunteers,” Molloy said while commenting on the challenging period that has preceded this historic moment. “It’s been really difficult for the players. Players just want to play camogie.
“I think the message that goes out to players is we will react, we will engage, we will work. If you talk to us we will work with you but we will do it within our rules. We can only do it within our rules.
“We cannot set aside rules just because people want us to. I’d like to see other associations that could point to turning around a rule change as quick as we have done here.”
Throughout his address, he referred to how the Camogie Association responded to the outcry for choice and change within the sport.
“We didn’t have you waiting too long,” he added. “It was a fairly quick congress.”
That may be true in the context of tonight. But on a broader scale, the players have waited too long for this.
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