‘Those two weeks felt like two months': Kilkenny captain Katie Power reveals overwhelming toll of skorts protest

Irish Times

6 days ago

Katie Power admits the reaction to the Kilkenny-Dublin skorts protest was, at times, overwhelming.
The
Kilkenny
captain and her
Dublin
counterpart Aisling Maher emerged as the embodiment of the campaign following an Irish Times photograph of the pair wearing shorts prior to their Leinster semi-final.
The momentum gained from that initial stance ultimately led to last Thursday's Special Congress, at which
98 per cent of delegates supported a motion to provide players with a choice
of wearing shorts or skorts.
Power was happy with the outcome but admits the level of attention generated by the protest was difficult to manage.
READ MORE
'I won't tell you a lie, I found those few weeks tough going,' she said at the launch of the 2025 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Championships. 'Overwhelmed, I suppose, with everything that came with it.
'I 100 per cent didn't expect what happened to happen. We were just making the protest, obviously to voice our opinions, but I definitely wasn't aware of what was going to come afterwards.
'The two weeks after that were tough mentally – very draining. My phone was just absolutely blowing up, but for the better.
'It was only after the match that it kind of dawned on me that I was in for the toss and that was the picture that was going to go out.
Kilkenny captain Katie Power and Dublin counterpart Aisling Maher, both wearing shorts, are addressed by referee Ray Kelly before the Leinster semi-final. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
'I'm happy that we decided to do it, but obviously what came in the aftermath was huge. It's done with now and looking back, it was great to have done it for the future of camogie and the younger girls. It's great now, but those two weeks were tough going, they felt like two months.'
Power, who is entering her 18th season with Kilkenny, works as a personal trainer. She had to be up at 5am last Friday morning, which meant she was tucked up in bed as delegates were voting at Special Congress the night before.
'I didn't even look at the phone until the next morning,' she said. 'I was in bed, I was working early. I was [able to sleep]; I was nervous about it at the beginning, but in the few days beforehand there was too much about it for the motion not to pass.'
Of the eight players present at Croke Park on Monday for the launch of the 2025 championships, seven wore shorts. Armagh's Nicola Woods wore a skort and the defender pointed out that nearly all her teammates togged out in skorts for last weekend's championship clash against Roscommon.
I have an uncle in America and he was on the phone to my mother wondering if we were wearing shorts or skorts at the weekend
—
Méabh Cahalane
'Personally, I prefer shorts even though I'm wearing a skort here today,' said Woods. 'I think everybody just wanted players to have a choice.
'Unlike probably many counties, a lot of the Armagh girls are keen to keep the skort. For our game on Saturday, I think I was the only one on the team who wore the shorts.'
Cork captain Méabh Cahalane also supported the campaign for players to have a choice. The late postponement of the Munster final between Cork and Waterford denied Cahalane the opportunity of leading her team to a possible provincial title earlier this month.
[
Camogie president targets filling Croke Park for All-Ireland final
Opens in new window
]
[
Nicky English: Improving Galway will be serious opposition in Leinster final but nervous Cork continue to struggle
Opens in new window
]
There remains uncertainty around when the Munster final will be refixed because there is very little space in the calendar with the All-Ireland series now ongoing. However, Cahalane is pleased a resolution was found on the skorts-shorts issue.
'It obviously got huge coverage both on social media and in the news, it travelled fast and travelled wide,' she said.
'I have an uncle in America and he was on the phone to my mother wondering if we were wearing shorts or skorts at the weekend. I suppose it got huge coverage and hopefully now camogie, the game, will get the same coverage.
'Getting the result that a choice would be introduced, we were just delighted.'