Irish sporting authorities are now having a serious debate about one of the most anachronistic and misogynistic (though not necessarily in that order) rules in all of athletics. Later this week, a dumbass mandate that camogie players must play in a skirt might finally be tossed. And just in time, give or take a century!
The no-shorts rule (skorts are permitted) has long been on the books of the Camogie Association, one of the primary sanctioning bodies of the Irish sport, which is essentially hurling played by women. There are slight variations in the playing rules between the two games–more contact is allowed in hurling, for example—but none of the differences are as glaring as the disparate dress codes. Hell, the fact that the sports have different names seems as much a symptom of the Irish sporting realm’s gender-based dysfunction as any.
Athletic regulators could no longer, well, skirt the issue once last week's scheduled game between Cork and Waterford, both camogie powerhouses, was postponed because players from each side declared their intention to play in shorts. In announcing the postponement, the association cited a meeting of a special congress on May 22 at which the future of the absurd dress code will be put up for a vote. A players union, the Gaelic Players Association, which represents the amateur athletes who play hurling and camogie, quickly asked the Irish federal government to intervene and order "an immediate, interim relaxation of the rule" allowing players to wear shorts if they so chose. Advocates for the players said every survey showed overwhelming support for doing away with the dress code, not just for equality but also for safety and performance reasons.
Not to compare a skirt mandate to the Magdalene Laundries or the barring of married women from holding civil service jobs, but it is true that for all of Ireland’s wondrousness, the place has a history with bizarre, cruel, and blatantly anti-female policies being pushed by the Catholic Church and federal government. In this case, Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s minister of sport, declined to act before the congress can take up the dress code.
The women didn’t abide by the antiquated dress code quietly, however. For Saturday’s Leinster provincial final between Kilkenny and Wexford, two of the sport’s historic hotbeds, players from both teams took to the field in shorts. But the referee said the match would not be played unless the women abided by the no-shorts rule. The players did go back to the locker room and change clothes, but they played under protest and issued a statement making clear they thought the rule was rubbish: "As part of this protest, we do not consent to any photography or video to be taken of the matches themselves, should we be forced to wear skorts," the statement read. "We call on the Leinster Council to ensure this is enforced and we ask both the media and supporters to respect our position."
The latest episode of The Saturday Game, a highlights show broadcast on the government-owned RTÉ network, featured segments on the Wexford-Offaly hurling matchup and the Kilkenny vs. Wexford camogie game. The segments were hardly equal. After showing extensive video replays and breaking down the Xs and Os of the thrilling hurling matchup, in which Wexford used two injury time scores to pull out a win, host Damian Lawlor touched on the camogie final with brevity. He referenced the protest and upcoming congress, and told viewers that there would be no highlights shown.
"We can tell you," Lawlor said, "that Kilkenny won."
