LIMERICK DUAL STAR Róisín Ambrose has expressed her disappointment at the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s [LGFA] decision to reject a motion calling for official recognition and support of the dual player concept.
The Dublin motion which was defeated at LGFA Congress at the weekend, read:
“The Ladies Gaelic Football Association recognises and supports the concept of a dual player, as defined, and will encourage all of its units to support and facilitate its playing members of all ages, who wish to do so, to play both Ladies Football and Camogie.”
Treaty camogie and football ace Ambrose was one of many to share her dissatisfaction on social media after delegates predominately voted against the proposal, and shared her thoughts with The42 this afternoon.
“Ultimately, for me, I’m just disappointed to see it, especially with the year that’s in it,” Ambrose said, with a nod to the 20×20 campaign.
“My manager actually sent me on the motion during the week, I read it and sent back, ‘Oh my God, that would be unreal. No more deciding what to go to, and what to say.’
Then, the WGPA had the survey. I saw the result: 97% in favour of it. I was actually shocked at that because I didn’t think so many players would be in favour of it. I was like, ‘Okay, if the players are in favour of it, whatever the players think, should go.’
“I don’t know what I was doing on Saturday but I came out, and just saw it [the result] all over Twitter. I was actually so disappointed. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I actually can’t believe it. The year that’s in it, 2020, for something like that to be defeated, ugh… it’s just annoying.
97% of players supporting this motion and still no change 🤯 Dual player becoming harder and harder every year😢 Will the Ladies football and camogie associations ever see eye to eye?? @WomensGPA @20x20_ie https://t.co/pNdcOeNLju
— Róisín Ambrose (@RoisinAmbrose) March 7, 2020
“You’re training five or six nights a week, putting in hard work through the winter and then to see that happen, it’s just heartbreaking really.”
LGFA President Marie Hickey has since rejected suggestions that the Association is against the dual player concept afterwards, adding that the majority of the discussion on the motion at Congress “was on the wording of the motion, and the definition of ‘dual.’”
“Players play other sports outside of camogie and ladies football, and the word ‘facilitate’ means that you have to make it happen, but it’s not always possible,” Hickey said. “We fully support dual players, but it was down to the wording of the motion.
“It’s also my belief that our rules sufficiently cover the dual player as it is, and we will continue to work together to ensure that this is the case into the future.”
With Camogie Association President Kathleen Woods, CEO Sinéad McNulty, and Women’s GPA chairperson Maria Kinsella — representing Carlow — all present at Congress, the LGFA say that “the overwhelming feeling on the ground was that there is excellent collaboration between the two bodies on dual players, and that will remain the case.”
Helen O'Rourke: "To make one or two changes for one or two players has a massive knock-on effect. We are doing our best to recognise the role of the dual player but it's not always possible to cater (for them). We will continue to work closely together."
— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) March 6, 2020
But Ambrose doesn’t see it that way: “Will the Ladies Football and Camogie Associations ever see eye to eye,” as she asked on Twitter.
“I don’t see really what the big deal is with not being able to pass it,” the 20-year-old continued in conversation with The42 today. “Communication is everything.
“I don’t see why the Camogie and Ladies Football associations can’t just come together… not even for county players for clashes, just for club players. On my club teams, we all play both. There shouldn’t be clashes at club level either, it’s just not fair on the girls.
No player should ever have to pick between what sport they’re going to have to play. If they want to play it, they should be allowed play it and there shouldn’t be a clash.
“I didn’t either [see the issue with the wording] to be honest,” she added. “Facilitate and support, those are the words that they used.
“The main things I got out of that was the fixtures, that there wouldn’t be clashes or whatever. I don’t really see how difficult it would be to make that feasible to be honest.
Camogie and ladies football are like sisters in sport. They should be hand-in-hand, inter-linked and working together to promote the two games. They’re just so similar to each other, they’re sisters like.
While Hannah Looney described the result as “disappointing” on Twitter, and Libby Coppinger told the Irish Examiner that it was a “backward step,” the Cork duo were just off the back of another dual decision at the weekend.
They opted to line out for the camogie team against Kilkenny and miss the footballers’ loss to Donegal, and there’s another clash in two weeks’ time as the pair focus on the big ball code in their crunch Division 1 clash with Galway and miss the camogie fixture against Clare.
The Rebels are well-documented in that regard, but Ambrose has encountered several decisions so far in 2020 with Limerick.
“Believe it or not, we had three camogie league matches this year and all three of them clashed with a football match,” she explained. “One day we were playing Derry in football in Martinstown, I played 20 minutes of that — thank God we were winning — and I literally bombed in the road to the Gaelic Grounds for our camogie match against Tipp.
“Now I wasn’t starting but I came on in the second half. I made the two matches so I can’t really complain, but there shouldn’t be two matches on the same day. I shouldn’t be playing two matches.
When I saw there were three clashes, I was just like, ‘Why do I even bother like? Will they ever communicate — the football and the camogie?’
“You’re putting in all the hard shifts at training, it’s even hard for the managers to come to a decision what I go to. I feel like I’m leaving down the players at whatever match I don’t go to. You just feel bad about it then in general.”
And Ambrose, who plays her club football with Old Mill and her camogie with Newcastle West, shared her love for both codes, and her worry that one may have to give way in the future.
No one’s forcing me to play both codes, I play it because I love it and I couldn’t see myself playing anything else but it just looks like I’m being forced to pick one.
“Not even at county, at club level, there’s loads of players trying to do both of them. For me this year, I’m trying to play with two county teams, two club teams, and my college teams. Ashbourne and O’Connor Cup, but I’m so lucky that they have it perfected in UL, what we go to.
“There’d never be a clash in the college fixtures anyway in the first place, but even training-wise we’d be told to stick to one for the week. There’s no big deal and the girls understand that as well.
“But yeah, it’s tough,” the PE and Irish teacher said, in conclusion.
(When contacted for comment by The42, the Camogie Association declined the opportunity.)
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