Back in May, the skort debacle propelled Camogie into the national limelight. It sparked significant public debate and drew publicity that the sport hasn’t gotten in years, maybe ever.
As a Camogie coach, the solution to me was immediately clear; allow players to choose between shorts and skorts. Choice is key. It prioritises players’ comfort and performance. Once the Ard Chomhairle of the Camogie Association (belatedly) came to this sensible conclusion, the media buzz died down, as did the public discourse.
Now, once again, there is little interest in Camogie. This leaves the players and volunteers to fight the same battles they were fighting back in April and for years prior to the skort issue. These battles are tough, and they are numerous.
Firstly, Camogie is underfunded and under resourced. Insufficient investment in facilities is chronic. I am not talking about fancy gym equipment and sport psychologists; I mean investment in very basic facilities needed by any team.
When I was coaching Kilkenny senior camogie, we constantly had to travel to the South East Technological University’s to train on their pitch, which we paid for the use of. There was no pitch with flood lighting available in Kilkenny for our senior camogie team to train on. The lack of basic investment in training facilities is hindering the game’s development to a far greater extent that the skorts ever did. But, unlike the skorts, no one rings Live line about it.
Where is the public outcry about the lack of access to high-quality pitches, lighting and other essential infrastructure? No one is posting on social media about it. No one is expressing outrage that top-class facilities and training venues that are reserved for hurlers.
Next, there is a lack of media attention. In comparison to other sports, especially men's hurling and football, camogie is barely visible. If senior inter-county camogie got the amount press attention throughout the championship that it got during the skort debacle (which is just about as much as the senior hurling championship gets every year) imagine what it could do for the game!
More consistent media coverage would increase public interest and drive sponsorship opportunities for teams. Regular live broadcasting of camogie would grow the fanbase, leading to higher viewing numbers, which in turn leads to higher advertising revenue for the broadcaster. It is a win – win. But it is also a chicken and egg situation in that the current sporadic broadcasting of camogie matches makes it difficult to expand the fan base, which then makes it difficult to argue for increased coverage.
I note that An Coimisiún na Meán’s Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy commits to the promotion of women’s sports. Since the publication of the strategy, there has been an obvious increase in the number of women’s rugby and soccer matches broadcast live on Irish TV. There has not yet been a major increase in coverage of camogie. I hope this changes.
The final and greatest battle we are facing is the public’s apathy. On 6th July, Kilkenny and Tipperary played a cracker of a quarter-final in Croke Park. While the final score didn’t go our way (Kilkenny 0-19 – Tipp 1-22), the match result was not my main takeaway. Instead, it was the appalling attendance numbers.
60,000 fans turned up to watch the same two hurling teams battle it out in croker later that day. It is incomprehensible that fans travelling to Croke Park to watch the Kilkenny vs Tipperary hurling semi would not turn up 90 minutes earlier to watch the two same senior camogie teams play their quarter final.
So many people were up in arms about the skort issue yet how many of them would turn up to support their county team or their local club? Based on the scenes in Croke Park last month, we can conclude not many.
Attendance at matches is vital. It shows players that they are valued. We expect girls and women to represent their parish and county but don’t feel the need to cheer them on. If people don’t feel valued, they walk away, and we can’t be surprised that they do. I see this in Kilkenny I’m sure that other coaches across the country see it too.
What Camogie needs is for us to be passionate, not performative. Our broadcasters should offer consistent live coverage of camogie games and when they do, we need to watch it. We need investment and support from clubs and county boards. We need the public to turn up to support our teams.
If you weighed into the skorts debate or posted a message of support for the players on social media, why not do so again but this time back a team, give them a shout-out before the final. Better yet, buy a ticket to a match and actually use it!
Support your team, support the players and support the sport.
ENDS
Notes: Peter Chap Cleere is a Fianna Fail TD for Carlow Kilkenny. He is a member of the Oireachtas Committee on sport. He is a two-time senior All Ireland winner with Kilkenny as a player in 06 & 07. He was also manager of Kilkenny Senior Camogie (24) and Carlow Senior Camogie (23). He is heavily involved in camogie in his own local club Blacks & Whites in Kilkenny. He has 4 daughters, all of whom play camogie.