'Archaic' camogie shorts ban needs changing now, says Irish lawmaker

Straits Times

06-05-2025

A rule banning women from wearing shorts while playing camogie, which led to recent protests, has been described as archaic by Alan Kelly, a member of Ireland's parliament, while also highlighting mental health issues in women's sport.
The Irish sport hit the headlines last weekend when the Dublin and Kilkenny teams protested the rule by entering the pitch wearing shorts, and were forced to change into skorts or the game would be abandoned.
The rules regarding playing gear for camogie, the women's equivalent of hurling, state that it must include skirt, skort -- a pair of shorts with an overlapping fabric panel which resembles a skirt covering the front -- or divided skirt.
"This is absolutely archaic, it's ridiculous," Kelly told Reuters.
"If one player leaves camogie because of this issue, it is one too many, so they really need to sort this out. Ultimately, the players should be listened to and they shouldn't have to put up with this in 2025."
Two motions to allow shorts were defeated last year at the Camogie Association of Ireland Congress, and Saturday's protest came after the results of a survey by the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) were published last week.
The GPA surveyed 650 inter-county players, with 83% saying they would prefer to wear shorts or believe players should have the option to choose and 70% reporting discomfort while wearing skorts.
"Player welfare is at the heart of everything we do across the Camogie Association," it said in a statement when asked by Reuters to comment on the issue.
"A democratic vote at Congress 2024 determined that the rules governing our playing wear should not change."
Also in the GPA survey, 65% expressed concerns over exposure in media content affecting their mental health while 49% had experienced anxiety over period leaks.
Other sports have sought to address the issue of period anxiety, with many women's soccer teams as well as Ireland's women's rugby team changing the colour of their shorts.
Wimbledon bowed to pressure and relaxed their all-white dress code for female tennis players, allowing them to wear dark undershorts.
When it comes to women's concerns over media exposure, in beach volleyball, female athletes were required to wear bikinis until the International Volleyball Federation relaxed the rules in 2012 to allow shorts and tank tops.
In 2021, Norway's beach handball team was fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms during a European championship match, sparking a global backlash which led to a rule change by the sport's governing body.
Back in Ireland, on Monday another team, Laois, lined out for a match wearing shorts, before they too were forced to change into skorts. Another challenge to the rule cannot be put forward until 2027.
Kelly, also head of the sports committee of Ireland's parliament, says this, along with the association's statement, is unacceptable, and expects more protests to follow.
"They cannot wait until 2027 to deal with this, it has to be done before next weekend, I believe that all organisations should protest and I will support them," he said.
"I have spoken to committee members about calling in the association to explain themselves if this is not dealt with, but hopefully, it won't come to that." REUTERS
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