CAMOGIE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Brian Molloy has hailed the outcome of the Special Congress vote on shorts as a “fantastic victory for choice.”
From midnight tonight, camogie players will be permitted to wear shorts instead of compulsory skorts after a motion passed by an overwhelming majority of 98% at Special Congress in Croke Park. 133 delegates voted at Special Congress, with only 2% voting against the motion.
Molloy also said that this outcome is a “victory for the association” and a “historic day” while also emphasising that players may still continue to wear skorts if that is their preference.
“It’s a fantastic victory for choice,” he said in his address to the media after announcing the result of the vote. “It’s a fantastic victory for the players and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to attract more players who maybe don’t like playing in skorts and I’ve always recognised that. I think it’s a victory for the Camogie Association really and I think it’s a brilliant result.
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“The key piece was that we’re not getting rid of skorts. Tens of thousands of girls around the country enjoy playing camogie in skorts and tens of thousands of girls around the country would prefer to wear shorts and that was what we’ve now enabled.”
The media were not permitted to attend Special Congress, and were situated in a different part of Croke Park where the result of the vote was announced by President Molloy. The voting commenced at around 7.30pm and he addressed the media just after 8pm to deliver the news.
When asked why media were not allowed to be present with the delegates during the voting process, Molloy explained that the Camogie congresses “have never had cameras in our congresses so it’s not something we do.”
He also commended the association for their quick response time since the controversy around skorts started in recent weeks as teams held protests on match days.
After the Camogie Association announced that Special Congress would be taking place, they opted not to implement a derogation of the rules around wearing skorts for matches. Some games were cancelled due to players expressing their intent to wear shorts while other matches were played out as normal, but only after teams completed their warm-ups in shorts before changing into skorts for throw-in.
Camogie players will now have the choice of wearing shorts or skorts. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“Absolutely, no,” he began when responding about the derogation of rule.
“So a derogation of rule being used in that manner would be overturning a democratic decision of congress. The delegates are representative of those members and they come forward to congress and they have spoken to their members and they make decisions on the rules.
“I made it clear that my own personal view was that girls and the players should be allowed the choice but I can’t make that decision. I may be the president but I don’t run the Camogie Association rules myself.”
When asked by The 42 if he admired the players who have campaigned for the right to choose over the last few weeks, he replied:
“I have huge respect for all of the members of the Camogie Association and indeed all the Gaelic Games Association because, like me, they have a job, they’re in college and they’re trying to whether it be train and prepare for major games or whether it be try to run a club or try to run a county or try to run a province or operate at a national level.
“They are the ones who fed the message back to the delegates saying this is what we want and clearly the message was a resounding, ‘yes we want choice.’”
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Molloy also touched on last year’s Camogie Congress, where two motions concerning skorts were defeated. One suggested including shorts in the playing gear, 55% of delegates voting against it. The other proposed replacing the ‘skirt/skort/divided skirt’ entirely with ‘shorts’ with 64% voting against it.
“Last year’s motions were team specific as distinct from individual,” he explained, “So the way we have done it an individual player can wake up in the morning and she can pick up her team skort and she can go out and play and then the following week she can pick up her team short and walk out and play in her shorts.”
Molloy was also asked about the Munster senior final between Cork and Waterford which was one of the high profile games that was called off amidst the ongoing protests. He said he did not know when that game will be refixed as it is a separate competition before adding “I fully support the decision that was made with regards to deferral of that game.”
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Camogie president hails 'fantastic victory for choice' as shorts added to sport's attire
CAMOGIE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Brian Molloy has hailed the outcome of the Special Congress vote on shorts as a “fantastic victory for choice.”
From midnight tonight, camogie players will be permitted to wear shorts instead of compulsory skorts after a motion passed by an overwhelming majority of 98% at Special Congress in Croke Park. 133 delegates voted at Special Congress, with only 2% voting against the motion.
Molloy also said that this outcome is a “victory for the association” and a “historic day” while also emphasising that players may still continue to wear skorts if that is their preference.
“It’s a fantastic victory for choice,” he said in his address to the media after announcing the result of the vote. “It’s a fantastic victory for the players and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to attract more players who maybe don’t like playing in skorts and I’ve always recognised that. I think it’s a victory for the Camogie Association really and I think it’s a brilliant result.
“The key piece was that we’re not getting rid of skorts. Tens of thousands of girls around the country enjoy playing camogie in skorts and tens of thousands of girls around the country would prefer to wear shorts and that was what we’ve now enabled.”
The media were not permitted to attend Special Congress, and were situated in a different part of Croke Park where the result of the vote was announced by President Molloy. The voting commenced at around 7.30pm and he addressed the media just after 8pm to deliver the news.
When asked why media were not allowed to be present with the delegates during the voting process, Molloy explained that the Camogie congresses “have never had cameras in our congresses so it’s not something we do.”
He also commended the association for their quick response time since the controversy around skorts started in recent weeks as teams held protests on match days.
After the Camogie Association announced that Special Congress would be taking place, they opted not to implement a derogation of the rules around wearing skorts for matches. Some games were cancelled due to players expressing their intent to wear shorts while other matches were played out as normal, but only after teams completed their warm-ups in shorts before changing into skorts for throw-in.
“Absolutely, no,” he began when responding about the derogation of rule.
“So a derogation of rule being used in that manner would be overturning a democratic decision of congress. The delegates are representative of those members and they come forward to congress and they have spoken to their members and they make decisions on the rules.
“I made it clear that my own personal view was that girls and the players should be allowed the choice but I can’t make that decision. I may be the president but I don’t run the Camogie Association rules myself.”
When asked by The 42 if he admired the players who have campaigned for the right to choose over the last few weeks, he replied:
“I have huge respect for all of the members of the Camogie Association and indeed all the Gaelic Games Association because, like me, they have a job, they’re in college and they’re trying to whether it be train and prepare for major games or whether it be try to run a club or try to run a county or try to run a province or operate at a national level.
“They are the ones who fed the message back to the delegates saying this is what we want and clearly the message was a resounding, ‘yes we want choice.’”
Molloy also touched on last year’s Camogie Congress, where two motions concerning skorts were defeated. One suggested including shorts in the playing gear, 55% of delegates voting against it. The other proposed replacing the ‘skirt/skort/divided skirt’ entirely with ‘shorts’ with 64% voting against it.
“Last year’s motions were team specific as distinct from individual,” he explained, “So the way we have done it an individual player can wake up in the morning and she can pick up her team skort and she can go out and play and then the following week she can pick up her team short and walk out and play in her shorts.”
Molloy was also asked about the Munster senior final between Cork and Waterford which was one of the high profile games that was called off amidst the ongoing protests. He said he did not know when that game will be refixed as it is a separate competition before adding “I fully support the decision that was made with regards to deferral of that game.”
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