Shorts permitted in camogie after overwhelming majority vote at Special Congress
CAMOGIE PLAYERS WILL be permitted to wear shorts in matches going forward after a motion passed at Special Congress this evening in Croke Park.
The motion — which needed a two-thirds majority in order to be passed — succeeded after receiving an overwhelming 98% of the votes from delegates.
Camogie Association President Brian Molloy announced the result, which means every player will now have the option of wearing shorts instead of compulsory skorts.
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'We are pleased to announce that delegates have voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of giving players greater choice in their playing attire,' said Molloy on a landmark day in the history of the association.
'From midnight tonight, each individual player will have the option to wear skorts or shorts – adding choice while maintaining the professionalism and uniformity of our team kits in both colour and design.
'I want to sincerely thank our incredible volunteers for their ongoing support over the last few weeks, and to our delegates for voting on behalf of over 120,000 members, including 94,000 playing members.
'As the All-Ireland championships begin this weekend, we ask everyone to support their teams, drive higher attendances at all upcoming games, and help us fill Croke Park for the finals on August 10th.'
Players have campaigned vigorously for change in recent weeks and have staged protests by wearing shorts on matchdays. Some matches have been cancelled as a result while others were played out as normal after teams completed their warm-ups in shorts and changed back into skorts before throw-in.
Motions concerning skorts went before Camogie Congress last year but were defeated. The matter was not intended to be heard at Congress again until 2027 but following a wave of public pressure, the Camogie Association announced a Special Congress for today to address the issue of skorts.
The Gaelic Players' Association released a statement shortly after the result was announced at Croke Park.
'We welcome the result of this evening's vote for choice at the Camogie Association Special Congress.
'The GPA would like to put on the record our admiration for camogie players across Ireland and beyond, both at inter-county and club level, who made their voices heard to ensure this outcome.
'To our own membership who have led the campaign for choice, we salute your willingness to stand up for both yourselves, and future generations of camogie players.
'We thank the delegates who listened to players' call for choice.
'The last few weeks have once again shown the necessity of putting players at the heart of decision making within Gaelic games.'
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
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