THE CAVAN LADIES have hit out at their county board over issues relating to treatment of the players, and claim that a squad charter covering important areas has not been honoured.
Team captain Neasa Byrd, along with teammates Lauren McVeety and Aishling Sheridan, spoke about their frustrations with the county board in an extensive interview on the ‘We Are Cavan’ podcast this week. They revealed that strike action had “crossed their minds” and expressed worry that their management team could leave if the problems are not resolved.
Cavan are currently in fourth spot in Division 2, and are due to play Tyrone this weekend.
Byrd stressed that speaking out was a “last resort” step for the team but that they felt it was necessary in order to help Cavan Ladies progress.
She explained that their issues relate to gear, expenses and player welfare. A charter was agreed with the county board at the outset of the year covering six areas which include: physical support, performance support, facilities, nutrition, expenses and gear.
“On 15 January,” she begins, “we signed this squad charter along with the county board, and we were promised that such provisions would be put in place, that all efforts were being made to make the inter-county experience an enjoyable and professional one. But unfortunately, here we are now, nearly at the end of the national league and our contract has been broken.”
Byrd added that there are 20 members of the Cavan LGFA squad living in Dublin this year, with only one of those players working full-time while the rest are studying. A request was submitted to the county board for the girls who are travelling from Dublin for training on Tuesday nights should receive expenses.
“One week,” she continued, “girls received €30 for driving down, which was four cars. The next week, one car drove down and they got €30, but since that, we’ve received nothing more. Girls are constantly driving down the road, not getting a penny. Without those girls are training, we simply have no training midweek.
“On Tuesday last, our manager Gerry Moane paid for a bus to bring the girls from Dublin to training out of his own pocket. We’ve learnt this week that other members of the management team have been giving girls something [money] to fill their cars with diesel. There’s just no other way to get them down the road because girls can’t financially deal with that burden.”
The players have been advised by the GPA to discuss the matter with their county board, but the group feel the problem has “gone past that.”
All three players on the podcast added that the squad has offered to organise a fundraiser to help cover these costs but claim that the county board refused that request without offering an explanation.
Sheridan, who is also an AFLW player with the Collingwood club, added:
“I would love for them [county board] to put themselves in our shoes and imagine driving down from Dublin. You’re back at 12am at night and back in college the next morning. You might be in placement somewhere. What way would they want to be treated? I feel like they’re not doing that. We didn’t want this to happen this year. There was a charter put in place and we had everything planned out. And it’s like we signed it for no reason. It’s not good enough.”
On issues relating to gear, the three players claimed that the squad has only received one pair of socks and shorts so far this year. For some players, this is their first time on a Cavan squad, meaning this is the only playing gear they have at the moment. One other player, who recently joined the squad, has allegedly been informed that there will be no gear for her this year.
“We’ve heard comments back saying, ‘Cavan Ladies are all worried about their gear,’” said Lauren McVeety, who is a sister of Cavan footballer Dara.
Thanks @Damienpdonohoe for letting us share our side of the story . We really didn’t want to speak out like this but felt we were left with no other choice. https://t.co/Ry91l94Ed6
— Aishling Sheridan (@AishlingSherdo) March 21, 2023
“We really aren’t. When you have new players coming in and they’re coming in in they’re club gear for challenge games, we look like a disjointed squad. We played against Down and they ran out in complete uniform and we looked like an amateur outfit.”
When asked what they want next, they suggested at the possibility of not fielding for their last league game but emphasised that they hope it doesn’t come to that:
“I think we should look at the men,” said McVeety, “their relationship with the county board, how they’re supported. It’s easy to look at as a comparison of what we get to the men, and we are not looking for equality [with the men] because that’s unrealistic. But we’re looking for the bare minimum to allow us to perform and turn up to training and not think about things like gear, money, expenses, having a full squad at training and being able to give a full account of ourselves.
“Equality is down the line.”
When asked specifically if strike action had been considered, they responded:
“It crossed our minds. Our management could possibly walk [away] either which we don’t want. We would rather strike and keep our management than for them to walk away. Without them, we would have way less than what we have now. It’s gotten to the stage where it has to be spoken about. This has to be solved for future years.”
The42 has contacted Cavan LGFA for comment but has not received a response at time of publication.
Listen to the full interview here
We Are Cavan / SoundCloud
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