Swedish club not skirting around shorts issue as they back Irish camogie players
The Irish sport hit the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons with players, tired of a rule outlawing the wearing of shorts, ramping up protests, ultimately leading to the late postponement of Saturday's Munster final.
Camogie is the female version of hurling, a ball sport played with wooden sticks, often likened to a mix between lacrosse and hockey, with a little rugby thrown in because of its physicality.
Wherever you go in the world, from Uganda to Vietnam, you are likely to find people playing Ireland's national sports. Sweden is no different, and Irishwoman Michelle Cotter set up the hurling and camogie teams at Stockholm Gaels.
'The goal was to do something over here to show the players back home that their impact is reaching much further than the island of Ireland,' Cotter told Reuters.
The Camogie Association of Ireland's rules state that playing gear must include skirt, skort or divided skirt, but a recent survey showed that 83 percent of players want the choice to include shorts.
The Stockholm club, which includes not only Irish players and local Swedes but women from Australia, Austria, the US, Britain, France and Spain, took things back to even before the days of skorts, when players wore skirts down to their ankles.
The first set of camogie rules, drawn up in 1903, stated skirts should be worn no more than six inches from the ground and, while things have improved, two motions to introduce shorts were defeated at last year's Camogie Association congress.
'Given none of us even own skorts, we togged out for training in skirts and dresses,' Cotter, who also coaches and plays on the team, said. 'It felt every bit as ridiculous as it looked.'
There is still hope for change following all the media attention and controversy of the past week, after the association agreed to hold a special congress on May 22 to vote again on a motion to allow the wearing of shorts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
15 hours ago
- Arab News
Duplantis defies gravity again, sets pole vault world record for 13th time
BUDAPEST: Sweden's Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record with a clearance of 6.29 meters at the Hungarian Grand Prix meeting in Budapest on Tuesday, the 13th time he has set a new world mark as he continues to defy gravity. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The double-Olympic champion maintained his tradition of improving on his previous record by one centimeter, with his second attempt at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial overhauling the mark he set in Stockholm in June. Duplantis had looked a little off his best form, missing his first attempt at 6.11 and, after Greece's Emmanouil Karalis retired having failed twice at the same height, the Swede had the bar raised to make his usual world record attempt. The 25-year-old twice world champion was unsuccessful on his first try and while he rattled the bar slightly on his second effort, Duplantis looked up almost in disbelief to see he had again reached a new height in the discipline he dominates. 'I love Hungary very much. The track is very good, I love the crowd, I would like to return, thank you,' Duplantis said. Duplantis, who won his second world title in the same stadium in 2023, ran straight to the crowd to celebrate with his partner Desire Inglander and his family. On Monday, Duplantis missed most of the press conference ahead of the Budapest meeting, apologizing when he turned up late, saying he had a lot of work to do on his time management. 'I think I'll have to make up for it tomorrow with a big leap,' Duplantis said. He duly stayed true to his word to the delight of the Budapest crowd, and has now soared 15 centimeters higher than Sergey Bubka, who Duplantis once described as 'mythological'. The American-born Duplantis first broke the world record in 2020 in Poland, with his leap of 6.17 surpassing by one centimeter the previous record set by Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie six years earlier. Lavillenie had beaten Bubka's best jump of 6.14, which had stood for almost 20 years, but Duplantis has taken the sport to another level and on Saturday competes at the Silesia Diamond League, where he also broke the world record last year.
Arab News
18-07-2025
- Arab News
Hampton the hero as England triumph in crazy shootout
ZURICH: England secured their spot in the Euro 2025 semifinals on Thursday after a wild penalty shootout that stretched to 14 players, saw more misses than goals and ended when teenager Smilla Holmberg fired Sweden's seventh attempt over the bar. England had come from 2-0 down to force extra time but no further goals led to one of the most extraordinary shootouts ever seen at a major tournament. It went on for so long that it seems incredible that the final score was only 3-2. England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton turned out to be the unlikely hero having been thrust into the spotlight in her first major tournament after the experienced Mary Earps announced her international retirement just weeks before the tournament. The 24-year-old Hampton, playing with a bloodied nose stuffed with gauze after taking a hit to the face minutes earlier, made two diving saves in the shootout, but she was also aided by a Sweden team that missed three — two of them sailing miles over the bar. Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning goal in England's 2022 final victory over Germany, were on target but Sweden keeper Jennifer Falk saved poorly-struck attempts from Lauren James, Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton. With the incredulous crowd wondering if anyone would score, Lucy Bronze limped up to the spot minutes after she had been on her back strapping her own thigh while England's physios were busy elsewhere. Having seen a succession of weakly-hit penalties saved, Bronze removed the strapping before stepping up to slam her attempt home with unstoppable power. 'I just felt a little bit tight at the end of the game and I thought I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going, but I thought (the bandage) is going to hinder me in a penalty,' Bronze said. 'I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty, so I didn't take it off. And then it was my penalty, I thought 'I need to take this off because I'm going to absolutely smack it'.' That left 18-year-old Holmberg needing to score for Sweden but she blazed over the crossbar to end the incredible contest. 'Stressful. Stressful watching, stressful playing,' said Hampton. 'Every time I saved one I was thinking 'please just put it in so we have a bit of a cushion'. Their keeper then just went and saved the next one and I was thinking 'oh goodness, here we go.' 'Me and nosebleeds never go well. Me and the doctor have had some great history in the past with having to go to hospital and stuff so as soon as he came over he was thinking 'not again'. 'I think I was better in the game when I had one nostril than when I was completely fine! Just happy and relieved now.'
Al Arabiya
17-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
England beats Sweden on penalties to reach Euro 2025 semifinals after dramatic comeback
Defending champion England beat Sweden on penalties Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Women's European Championship after staging a remarkable late recovery from two goals down to draw 2-2. The shootout featured some terrible penalties before England triumphed 3-2 with 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg missing the last one after Lucy Bronze had powerfully dispatched hers for the Lionesses. England had been trailing almost from the start and was 2-0 down with 12 minutes remaining before goals from Bronze and teenage substitute Michelle Agyemang took the match to extra time. It is the first time in the history of the Women's Euros that a team has fought back from two goals down in a knockout match. England will face Italy in the semifinal in Geneva on Tuesday. Sweden had topped its group with maximum points after three wins including a memorable 4-1 victory over Germany last time out and it started where it left off in Zurich. England appeared on the back foot from the off and as they tried to play it out from the back a pass rebounded off Filippa Angeldahl and came to Stina Blackstenius who teed up a completely unmarked Kosovare Asllani to slot into the bottom left corner. The goal was timed at 1 minute 46 seconds. Sweden was finding space on the right flank and exploited it again to double its lead. Blackstenius raced onto Julia Zigiotti Olme's pass and held off Jess Carter as she surged into the area and calmly dispatched the ball into the far bottom corner. England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton pulled off fine saves to deny Fridolina Rolfö and Blackstenius and keep England in the game. Chloe Kelly was brought on in the 78th minute and she had an immediate impact as she whipped in a cross from the left for Bronze to head in at the back post. And another precise cross two minutes later was nodded down for fellow substitute Agyemang to head in the equalizer. It was the 19-year-old's second goal for England on her third appearance. There were few real chances in extra time meaning that penalties would be needed to separate the sides. Both Sweden and England had won their last penalty shootouts in the round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup. Four players from each team missed their spot kicks before Bronze scored hers and Holmberg blazed over.
