RELIEVED that the skorts issue has finally been resolved, Cork captain Méabh Cahalane insists that players weren’t asking for too much in this saga: they just want the choice to choose between skorts and shorts.
In the end, it took 20 minutes at the Camogie Association’s Special Congress at Croke Park on Thursday night for the skorts saga to finally come to an end. A motion proposing the choice of skorts or shorts was passed by 98 percent of the 133 voting delegates.
Prior to that, weeks of negative headlines on TV, radio and in print, along with the cancellation of a Munster senior final between Cork and Waterford on the eve of the game, painted the Camogie Association in a negative light.
Relief was the overriding emotion from the Cork senior management and players when asked for their views on a skorts issue, and captain Cahalane is hopeful the postponed provincial final can be refixed in the near future.
‘The Munster final was a game that we really prepared for and something that we really wanted to play,’ Cahalane told The Southern Star.
‘Waterford are up there with the top teams in the country. They are the teams that you want to be testing yourself against. It was hugely disappointing that we couldn’t play a game that we had prepared so well for.
‘We have to move on from it now. We are into the All-Ireland series and the vote was fairly convincing last Thursday so we’re just happy to drive on.
‘I’m sure we’ll hear what is going to happen with the Munster final in the coming weeks.’
Breaking down the vote into its simplest terms, Cahalane believes inter-county and non-county players weren’t asking for too much when it came to the choice of a skort or shorts.
‘It was down to the players, and they’re the people that you want to be making the decisions for our game,’ Cahalane explained.
‘The players play in what’s comfortable for them. The game has gone to such a high level now. What players are looking for isn’t too out of the way. To tog out in a pair of shorts, something that we train in night in and night out, I don’t think was a big ask. Thankfully, the vote went the way that I suppose the majority of players in the country wanted it to go. It was great to see the majority of players in shorts today.
‘I’m sure if they wanted to wear a skort, the choice was theirs. I think it’s (choice) the best decision for everyone.’
Cork manager Ger Manley backed his players throughout the saga and is glad common sense prevailed.
‘It didn’t disrupt us (management) too much at all, even if missing out on a Munster final was a bit disappointing,’ he said.
‘The GPA was involved and the girls had their views on it and I will always back the girls whenever it comes down to it.
‘Common sense prevailed in the end. It’s done and dusted now apart from the Munster final and where to fit it in.’
