Roscommon camogie player calls for choice between skorts and shorts

Roscommon junior camogie goalkeeper, Michaela Fallon, has highlighted that players should have the choice to wear shorts and skorts.

Following a thrilling Connacht senior football final on Sunday week last, the main GAA discourse in the days that followed didn’t revolve around Mayo spurning a golden opportunity for a provincial crown nor Galway doing just enough to book a ticket in the Group of Death.

Nor was the primary focus on a predictable Munster final, the build-up to the Ulster and Leinster finals or the fixture details being revealed for the opening game of the Sam Maguire Cup.

Instead, the debate over whether camogie players should be allowed to choose between wearing shorts and skorts dominated the airwaves.

It has been a recurring point of discussion but after Kilkenny and Dublin opted to wear shorts ahead of their Leinster senior camogie semi-final before being told to change, the debate has gone into overdrive.

The GPA surveyed 650 intercounty players, with 83 per cent saying they would prefer to wear shorts or believe players should have the option to choose. Seventy per cent reported discomfort while wearing skorts.

Michaela Fallon references that GPA report. For her, the solution to the problem is simple — give players the choice.

“We are very much in line with what all the other teams and players have come out and said. In fairness some people do like the skorts or have no problem with them, but it is just down to having the choice.

“At the end of the day, the GPA report stated that a large number of players find the skorts uncomfortable, so the only way of addressing that is to give them the option to wear shorts.

“This is just my opinion but if the option comes in, then you will see very quickly what players’ preference is. It is only my own belief that shorts will become the norm, and people won’t bother with the skorts after a while,” she said.

The Oran goalkeeper also stated that the Roscommon players are prepared to take a stance on the issue.

“We have no provincial championship game like the rest of the teams have where they are coming out saying they would wear shorts. We don’t have that opportunity, but we agreed that if we have any challenge matches between now and our first championship match on the 24th (of May) that we will wear shorts all together, even the players who like skorts, because we believe everyone should have a choice,” Fallon noted.

In a piece published by The Irish Times, Clare camogie player Clare Hehir stated that undershorts, which are a part of the skort, can make players conscious of photographers or cameras present at games.

Fallon believes that skorts can lead some players to be wary and be conscious of cameras during games.

“It is all an element of it. To be fair, it is probably more relevant at the higher leagues and matches that might be on television. They are probably a bit more conscious of it than we would be.

“It is definitely an aspect of it, and it is something players would be looking out for, even if there was a photographer at the game and you could end up looking back on photos. It is something that players are conscious of.

“Players will hope a bad picture wasn’t taken of them when their skort was hanging up or anything like that. They are just not fit for purpose in that way. With the different movements that you make, it is just not practical,” stated Fallon.

The Roscommon goalkeeper, who spoke to the Roscommon Herald before the last-minute cancellation of Saturday's Munster senior camogie final, believes that the Camogie Association has made the correct decision in calling a Special Congress for May 22nd to vote on the issue, stating that the players’ needs must be the primary factor when this issue is voted upon.

“This isn’t a new issue to camogie. This is something players have been talking about for years. I understand there are rules around congress voting and I can see why Brian Molloy might have been reluctant to call a special congress because he could be seen to be going against what was voted last year.

“To be fair, I feel they (the Camogie Association) have moved fairly quickly on it and they are listening to players now. Despite it going to Congress last year, the campaign feels stronger this time around so hopefully the delegates voting at the Special Congress will listen to players, which, going forward, is huge.

“When it comes down to something like this, something that affects girls on the pitch, players should be listened to and players should have the only voice,” she concluded.