The Cork senior camogie team is expected to wear shorts this Saturday afternoon in the Munster final in Tipperary.
Currently under Camogie Association rules, skorts must be worn to play games and shorts are not allowed.
However, controversy has broken out over the wearing of skorts, with camogie players saying they are uncomfortable.
Recent research published by the Gaelic Players Association showed 70pc of inter-county players deem skorts uncomfortable, and 83pc seeking the right to choose between wearing skorts and shorts.
Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack said she is wearing shorts today in the Seanad in solidarity with camogie players.
“I’m wearing shorts today in solidarity with the camogie players around Ireland. Laois camogie players will be coming up today to Leinster House and I will be raising this in the Seanad,” she said.
She pointed to the survey and said the Camogie Association should now take this on board.
“We’re calling on the Irish camogie association to take this on board, 2027, 2026 is too far away. We need to change the rules for them now,” she said.
She said she would “100pc” encourage players to wear shorts this weekend as a form of protest.
“No camogie player around the country goes to training in a skort, they all wear shorts when they’re training, so why should they be forced to wear a skort?
“It’s really down to the camogie association, it’s not down to the players. They’re asking for this since 1969 and it’s going on a very, very long time,” she said at Leinster House.
Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn also said camogie players should wear shorts at the Munster final.
“We should be supporting them and we should be moving with the times, and if the players dictate that this is more comfortable, this is what they feel better in, we should be accommodate that,” she said.
He said players should have the right to speak up and not feel “segregated or silenced”.
His party colleague TD Michael Collins said “camogie players need to be respected” and said the change the players are seeking is “very simplistic”.
Cork senior camogie player Ashling Thompson said her team are prepared to forfeit the upcoming Munster final if players are not allowed to wear shorts during the match.
The six-time All-Ireland winner has said the Cork team will wear shorts when they come head-to-head with Waterford in Tipperary this weekend.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Ms Thompson said players will refuse to wear skorts, even if it means abandoning the game.
She said she hopes Waterford will follow suit, but that her team are prepared to give up the Munster title in order to protest the rule against wearing shorts.
“I think what we’re going to do is wear shorts and if we’re asked to return to the dressing room, we won’t. If that means abandoning the game and handing over the Munster title to Waterford, that’s what we’ll do. We’re just hoping Waterford follow suit,” she said.
“It’s not about us versus the Association. It’s about standing up for what’s right and creating something that will effect, in a good way, younger athletes down the line, when they do get to represent, not only in their counties, but their clubs too, that they will have a choice.
“Maybe this might be the push that that everybody needs to get over the line in this decision.”
She said players are “just asking to be heard” and to “have a choice in what we want to wear and how we represent our counties and our clubs”.
“It’s about respect, comfort, modernising a game that we all love,” she said.
Ms Thompson said players should be involved in the evolution of the sport, adding that they are “not trying to make this fight” but to give players a choice.
She said she would not be happy if a vote on the issue was brought back before Congress next year, adding: “We’re really not being heard if we have to wait, and it almost feels like a punishment if we have to wait until next year.”
Ms Thompson said it would “of course” be difficult for her side to have to forfeit the Munster final over the skorts issue, but players will take a stand “looking at the bigger picture”.
“I said recently you’ve probably only three chances of winning silverware throughout the season, and for some teams like it might be the only silverware they ever get in their career so of course, it’ll have a huge impact. But I think, again, we’re looking at the bigger picture and what it means for the younger players and the younger generation coming through,” she said.
She said camogie is at a “high point” and it is “really disappointing” for the game to be in “a negative light” over the issue of skorts.
“It’s extremely disappointing that it has come to this, especially on such an occasion as being a Munster final,” she said.
“As Cork players, we’re very proud in terms of how we carry ourselves and how we wear that jersey, but how we can influence the younger generation is the biggest thing for Cork and probably why we’re successful in terms of tradition and generation. So, that’s really the main focus for us and if it means giving up that title, that’s what we’ll do.”
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