Skorts

[Mannatan]

Ive just seen a lot of Irish women make videos about this issue on tiktok

. Skorts are the tiny skirts that women have to wear when they play camogie in ireland. its mandatory to wear them

A lot of women are protesting that they dont want to wear skorts when they play camogie, as they are uncomfortable and too revealing

One county team asked could they stop wearing them. It was refused by the county board.

There are loads of videos online where women are saying that skorts are uncomfortable, and that they dont want to play a sport in a mini skirt.

Why on earth arent they being listened to by the GAA/county boards?

'Whiff of the Taliban' is completely unjustified.. and minimises what the Taliban really does to women.

The current president of the Camogie Association happens to be a man, but the majority of the management and admin team are women. And obviously all the playing membership are women - I don't know if any men who identify as women have ever tried to play camogie.

I'm assuming that the delegates who voted against shorts were almost all women.

The Camogie Association has traditionally been fiercely independent from the other Gaelic games codes, but they are all joining together in 2027 and presumably there'll be a joint decision on what women wear to play by then.

Camogie predates women's Gaelic football by 70 years - the first camogie match was in 1904 - and adopted the same kit as worn by women hockey players.

Camogie players used to wear gym-slips and later divided skirts.
When women's Gaelic football started in the 1970s, skirts were totally unsuitable for the movements involved in football, so shorts were the obvious choice,

When women's hockey adopted the skort, camogie followed suit.
Hockey players in the UK are now allowed wear skirts, shorts or skorts as they wish - individually: various members of the same team can wear their choice of kit.

I'm sure this current controversy will be sorted soon by player-power.

Yes agree it is going to get sorted very soon. Most gaa clubs (in Dublin anyway) have already informed players they can choose

The Camogie Association has called a special congress meeting to he held in two weeks to deal with this issue.

I think Cork and Waterford coming out saying they will not play this coming weekend if they're not allowed to wear shorts has focused the Camogie Association to deal with this and not keep kicking the can down the road.

Isn't it interesting how much media attention is being given to what camogie players should wear, and how little attention is given to the campaign to keep women's Gaelic sports women only?

Surveys going out to all registered camogie players today from underage up. Very impressed with how quick they have moved with this. Credit where credit is due

It’s amazing how much media coverage and how positive/supportive the coverage of the female players’ arguments has been. But when it comes to LGFA letting males play in women’s Gaelic football this topic is largely absent from public discussion. The various women players and parents’ groups are being ignored by both Irish media and the LGFA.

I’m very glad the Camogie players are being listened to and I’d like the same to happen for the female Gaelic football players too.

Maybe start a new thread about that as that is a different issue

Start a new thread if you like, but there's space here for discussion of other burning issues in women's sport, and media attitudes to them.

Threads don't have to stick that rigidly to whatever is in the title, there's freedom to express related thoughts.

Some threads have incredible - and often quite humorous - derails into all kinds of esoteric stuff, but I don't think mentioning the media's treatment of women's sport is a derail on this thread.

But if you want to start a new thread, go ahead, I look forward to joining in that discussion too.

I certainly won't be starting a new thread. I said that you should start a new thread as you are the ONLY person on this thread who is talking about that other issue.

So start a new thread on it.

This thread was set up to discuss the skorts issue, which is a big issue this year.

That's OK, don't start another thread if you don't want to - as you wish.

But
[a] I'm NOT the only person talking about 'that other issue'

[b] even if I was - what's the harm? Is it such a big deal if somebody brings up a closely-related issue?

[c] Why do you want to control what we talk about here so rigidly? It's a discussion space.

I am also intrigued about the skorts question - and really want to understand why women wear skirts anyway - and especially for sport - it is weird.

I have a 19 year old and she has always steadfastly refused to wear dresses (except on very rare occasions.. - when she started playing sport, she was given some skorts that an older player had grown out of - she refused and carried on wearing her shorts. She plays football now and it's not an issue, but there are regular conversations about white shorts - thankfully her coach listens to the players and the sponsored white kit, was with drawn and never mentioned again!!

and yes.... I think it is telling that while these players feel that they can speak out about skorts and will be heard (eventually!!), the Gaelic players do not feel that they will get the same reception if they speak out about male bodies in female sport..

I mentioned this aspect above also. Solidarity sisters 😊

I think Skorts appeared in Camogie, because Camogie is similiar to hockey, and women used to play hockey in skirts in the UK.

However they have had a choice since 2023 to wear what they want in hockey.

Surely the main focus should be keeping young girls in sport. If they want the option to wear shorts that that should be respected.

most LGFA teams now play in black shorts instead of white as this is shown to keep more girls playing sport.

listen to the girls who play.

It is disgraceful. I have a little girl in GAA and it’s putting me right off her keeping going with it.
I was forced to do PE in a skirt with matching knickers underneath and it was horrible.
That was twenty odd years ago. I can’t believe this is happening in this day and age.

I’m happy to discuss various aspects of women’s Gaelic sports here on a thread about women’s Gaelic sports.

It is a very old-fashioned attitude to players’ uniforms by the governing body of Camogie. I think players should be given a choice and if the governing body are worried about players starting to looking dissimilar on the pitch then they can make official alternate uniform choices available to the players.

This will be sorted long before your little girl will need to wear one. They aren't required to wear one until u13 and even then a ref would never pull up a child that isn't so only really an issue as they get to minor stage but congress meeting on this at the end of the month all girls registered to play camogie from go games up have been surveyed on it so I would say choice will be given. They said if the decision is for choice it will be implemented from May 25th. Choice is important my dd likes the skort and will probably continuing wearing it

It’s the principle that is off putting to me. I’m not sure if I want her to have any part of an organisation that has rules like this. My husband feels the same.

Your loss. The GAA is a fantastic organisation of course it has it's issues what big organisation doesn't but it is very inclusive community, run by amazing local volunteers and has brought belonging to me and my family. My dh is English and has been a massive part of our club since my eldest joined, welcomed with open arms, it has brought him amazing friendships and connections as he adjusted to living in a new country.
I don't think it is a bad reflection on an association when, after a high profile protest, they have acted straight away. All female camogie registered players surveyed (over 100,000 registered players) within days of the protest and they will decide on that vote within a couple of weeks. It is a grassroots organisation change comes from within.

I coach a juvenile team and the main reasons they are there is 1. for fun and to be with their friends, 2. for the love of the sport and win matches. They all love it we have huge numbers of female players in our club.

I’m aware of the positive things about being part of the local GAA.
We’ve been members for years. My husband coaches.
I think it does reflect badly on them that it was an issue in the first place.
There are many reasons I would encourage my daughter to keep going with GAA. It has been a very positive experience up until now. This is a negative that I find disappointing and off putting.

The Camogie Association is a different organisation from the GAA but will be part of it from 2027.

This is a negative that I find disappointing and off putting.

Fair enough but as I said change comes from within and as a female coach with both Gaelic football and camogie I will definitely use my voice to advocate for the close to 100 girls I am currently coaching who will be the future of the sport

If Skorts were the best clothing for this sport, why don’t men wear them for Hurling, or Hockey?

Waterford and Cork coming together to protest about this in the final on Saturday, is brilliant. That’s the only way to deal with this kind of nonsense.

On the plus side, maybe they will find a new set of fans watching, In wonder how many people outside Ireland following this story had heard of Camogie before?

My DD plays camogie and I think the key factor here is that girls rarely wear skorts for training. That is very telling. When they have the choice they choose not to wear them and when they have no choice they wear them.