THE CAMOGIE ASSOCIATION has defended its decision to cancel the All-Ireland minor championship, while many continue to express outrage at the situation.
A statement on Monday from the Camogie Association regarding fixture and format plans for 2020 revealed that the All-Ireland minor championship has been cancelled. Instead, it will played out within the provinces.
The opening two rounds of the competition were played earlier this year before it was brought to a halt in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The All-Ireland senior and U16 championships will go ahead this year and are set to run from October to December.
A spokesperson for the Camogie Association told to The42 that a “limited timeframe” available in 2020 and the “crossover between minor teams and adult intercounty teams” were factors behind the decision to cancel the All-Ireland minor championship.
Many are arguing that it is unfair to finish this competition at the provincial stage, and a petition has been launched to have it reinstated.
Carrying the title “To let Minor camogie teams play there Minor camogie championship 2020,” the petition has 1,827 signatures at time of publication.
Some high-profile GAA figures have also expressed their outrage at the situation online, including Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy and Ashling Thompson.
The 2020 Tesco All Ireland Minor Championships have been cancelled yet the U16 & Liberty Insurance All Ireland Championships will both take place October - December. The minors have been left to settle with only a provincial championship. What is the reasoning behind this?
— Ashling Thompson (@AshlingThompson) June 24, 2020
If you can spare a minute get behind this and back the girls 👇🏻 we all deserve to play! https://t.co/GOu2U0P0Oh
— Brian Carroll (@BrianCarroll13) June 25, 2020
The full statement from the Camogie Association reads:
“Unfortunately due to the disruptions to this year’s calendar as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic the difficult decision was ultimately made to cancel the All-Ireland stages of the 2020 minor championships – provincial minor championships however will take place.
“In light of the challenges posed by Covid-19 the focus of the Association has been to firstly return our game to activity at club level, at all ages, which will take place from now until mid-October as outlined in the ‘Safe Return to Gaelic Games’ roadmap.
“This will allow all members of the Association to have the opportunity to participate in the game this year once it is safe for them to do so.
“The focus at a national level has been to provide a programme of games to all members, across all levels of the Association as best as possible in 2020. This has required many competitions to be altered and unfortunately several competitions cannot to be completed in 2020.
Given the limited timeframe in which to run competitions at all levels in the remainder of 2020 it is not possible to run this year’s All-Ireland minor championships outside of provincial level particularly given the crossover of many minor teams with adult intercounty teams which would also be occurring during the intercounty window.
“The minor championships will still take place at a provincial level to facilitate a programme of games to this age group.
“We appreciate that the cancellation of many competitions this year is of great disappointment to those involved however due to these unprecedented times many such difficult decisions have had to be made so as to maximise the opportunities for all members of the Association to participate in camogie in the remainder of 2020.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
