12-05-2025
There can be a happy ending to the skorts vs shorts row
So, the countdown is now on. On Thursday week, 22 May, in Croke Park, with a throw-in time of 7.30pm, the Camogie Association will hold its Special Congress where the biggest crisis it has faced in its long and proud history may be put to bed.... or will it?
The skorts controversy has garnered so much attention that if they sold tickets on Ticketmaster to this Congress, it would have the potential to be a sellout.
A vote will be held on the introduction of a rule to allow players the option to wear skorts or shorts. If passed, it will go into effect almost immediately.
Never before has the camogie world found itself in newspaper headlines, radio bulletins and the Six One and Nine News on RTÉ One for such an extended period of time, and for all the wrong reasons.
In terms of PR, it has not been a good week at all for the Camogie Association. This was not helped by a total absence of leaders from the camogie world being out in the papers or any broadcast media for a number of days.
But for camogie leaders not to comment initially was perhaps unadvisable given this crisis was growing rather than dying.
To put out the fire, it is sometimes genuinely better to say something, so you are seen to be doing something, that way you control the message, rather than say nothing at all.
Consequently, the empty space was easily filled by others. The lesson to be learned here for the association is straightforward - communication is a key factor in any crisis.
spoke to RTÉ's This Week programme with Justin McCarthy.
Mr Molloy is a volunteer and clearly was trying his very best to find a solution within the parameters of the rules laid down in the association. I was actually delighted to hear him during what was a very fair but robust conversation. Finally, the people had heard directly from the Camogie Association after a week of drama. And Brian did well after a tough week to try and explain events.
He told the programme that his personal preference was to afford the players the option of wearing shorts. However, he said he was not in a position to unilaterally alter the existing rules.
Mr Molloy reminded listeners that rules are set by the Camogie Association members in congress and not by the president, with his role ensuring that the decisions taken in congress are honoured.
But where were others within the association itself? From my perspective, it seemed to be all left to Mr Molloy. I'm sure it was a very difficult week for him, trying to solve problems and bring people internally along with him in the best interests of the association.
The Camogie Association suggested two proposals during the week to the players.
The first proposal was to bring forward a Motion to next year's Congress, which would be supported by the Ard Chomhairle, the national governing body of the Camogie Association, to allow the choice to wear skorts or shorts, but that got short shrift. The players were not waiting for a year to pass.
The second proposal was to hold the Special Congress on 22 May, which was welcomed. However, this didn't dilute the Cork and Waterford players' resolve, and they said they were going to continue their protest by refusing to wear skorts for the Munster final, scheduled for last Saturday in the Ragg, near Thurles.
The players stood steadfastly together through it all, which would lead me to believe that there could be other potential issues at play, which may or may not appear down the road.
It was now a stalemate. Derogation was another option in the ether, but according to what I was told, that could not happen as it was not covered by the rule book.
So essentially, that meant it was not possible to relax the rule regarding what the players wore, not even under special circumstances.
However, the Dublin Camogie Board, who I think have shown real leadership in all of this, informed their referees in the middle of this crisis that they didn't want games cancelled or postponed over the issue and that it was all about getting the players playing the games.
So, their solution was simple - let the players play in their shorts and have the referees take note of what teams wore skorts or shorts and include it in their report back to the board. Games went ahead as planned – a pragmatic response I would suggest.
Yet that would not be allowed for the Munster final or for any other games between now and 22 May because it is not mentioned in the rule book.
I understand that fully – rules are rules – but when one section of your association sees sense, then why not make it universal until the Special Congress? It's not too much to ask I would say.
Once the Cork and Waterford players announced on Thursday that they were sticking to their guns and were going to wear their shorts for the Munster final, the spotlight reverted to the Camogie Association, and, primarily, the Munster Camogie Association branch.
Would they allow the match to go ahead, following Dublin's internal pathway by just getting referees to note the offending parties for wearing shorts? Or would they defer the game until after the Special Congress?
If it was the latter, then this decision should have been made on Thursday night or Friday morning at the latest to allow everybody involved - players, mentors, officials and families - to plan for the weekend.
Instead, the decision to postpone the game arrived at around 8.30pm on Friday night, about 16 hours before the game was due to be played in the Ragg. This was totally unacceptable to everyone and now people are rightly incensed.
The drama continued all day Saturday with all media outlets covering the late decision and the negative reactions from the players, former players and politicians. If there was a lesson on how not to do it, then this was it.
So where are we now? Thanks to being assigned to commentate on the wonderful and historic Leinster football final between Louth and Meath on RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday was the first day in over a week where I wasn't reporting on the skorts versus shorts controversy. That's a long time for any story to keep giving.
The focus might be off now this week, but the spotlight will fall again on the Camogie Association in ten days' time when they meet in Croke Park.
In all my conversations with people last week, not one person said to me they wanted to get rid of skorts. Not at all. They just want a choice.
The delegates have the choice to vote on one motion…to give their players the choice of wearing skorts or shorts.
There can be a happy ending here but if the motion is defeated and doesn't get the two-thirds majority needed to change the existing rule, I feel I will be back reporting on the skorts versus shorts issue for considerable time, as the players are focused and determined to achieve what they set out to do.
