Aisling Maher: 'A lot of other female sports around us are doing a lot better' | 1 News Day, breaking news, sport, business, politics, Science & Health

Dublin Camogie captain Aisling Maher fears the financial costs facing players in camogie and ladies’ football will see players leave the game.

Maher’s comments come as a protest by the senior intercounty players in ladies’ football and camogie continues, as they aim to raise awareness of player welfare.

Last weekend saw players join together in solidarity during the national anthem prior to throw in by wearing T-shirts with the slogan #Unitedforequality. The recent protests have also been backed by the captains of the men’s intercounty football and hurling sides.

A vote last year for a step towards integration of the GAA, LGFA and the Camogie Association was seen as a step forward in welfare issues, but players feel change has been slow in a chaotic year for female players in football and camogie.

Speaking to breakingnews.ie, Maher says the lack of clarity around when integration may happen has been a factor in finishing the season in protest.

“The GAA own pretty much all the GAA pitches and stadiums, and definitely all the high pitches across the country, Camogie and LGFA have no access to the grounds. If we were to amalgamate the associations to just one, then that would give players better access to pitches.

“What has become clear so far, that the process of integration is going to be long, it’s going to be slow, and it’s going to be complicated. What that basically means, is that for female players, we won’t see any improvement in our playing conditions until that integration process is complete.

“If we were to amalgamate the three organisations to just one, then that would give players better access to better pitches, as well as better access other resources.

“That integration process could take three years, could take five could take five years, could take 10 years. We could see players between now and then, come in, have an inter-county career, retire, and still see none of the improvements for amalgamation with the GAA.

“The nature of the protest now is to raise awareness and put out that message that we are not going to accept sitting around for an indefinite period and just wait until integration is complete before we see an improvement in our circumstances.

Expenses

The cost-of-living crisis has seen the entire country affected, with the impact felt across ladies’ football and camogie.

Earlier this season, Cavan ladies’ footballers went on strike over a dispute with the county board over player expenses, while the Kildare camogie team pulled out of the championship completely.

It was hoped during the integration process ladies’ football and camogie players would be entitled to a minimum standard charter like in the men’s game, which helps to the financial burden on players.

However, as Maher came to find out alongside the other intercounty captains, this was not a view shared by the organisations in a time when everyone is financially affected.

As a result, the Dubliner fears this could see talented players depart from the game due to their socio-economic background.

“We went to the three organisations and said can we have a conversation as three representative bodies about how we can implement this, basically to ensure we didn’t have girls sitting around for five or 10 years waiting for the higher ups to decide what their structure was going to look like.

“The LGFA didn’t respond to it at all, and both the Camogie and GAA came back and said they weren’t interested in a conversation on the female charter until after integration had happened, which is a bit of a kick in the face when you are looking at it and saying I’m probably going to be retired by the time integration happens.

“That level of disengagement and disrespect really is what’s most frustrating about this.

“It costs me a fortune to play for my county every year, and I’m one of the lucky ones. If I go to training, I’m sure there’s going to be a physio there, and nine times out of 10, we are on a good enough pitch.

“If you are good enough to be playing senior inter-county and representing your county at that level, you should not be worried about being physically injured, and being financially out of pocket as a result of it.

Losing players to other sports

This year will be remembered as a historic one for women’s sport in Ireland, as the women’s national soccer team play in their first ever World Cup.

However, for ladies’ football and camogie, 2023 will likely be remembered as the year when a protest was needed to highlight the shortcomings that still exist in women’s sport.

As a result, Maher fears they could lose women to other sports in the country, with rising costs making the sport out of reach for talented players.

“The women’s national team are off to Australia, the women’s rugby team had similar protests a while ago and are starting to bring in semi-pro contracts, there is a lot of other female sports around us doing a lot better, and we will lose young athletes to other sports that are better supporting their females if we don’t improve our playing circumstances.

“The whole ethos of the GAA is supposed to be community based, and it’s for everybody, it’s one of the things I like about the GAA. It’s not exclusionary to young kids if they are coming from a harder socio-economic background where they don’t have the same financial resources as other kids.

“One of the best things about the GAA is that it’s supposed to be community based and everyone can take part in it, and yet we have a situation where the best players in the country are struggling to represent their counties because of the cost of it.

“If we are all going to be one organisation soon, as we should be, then the three organisations need to take responsibility together and come up with solutions together.”

Sourse: breakingnews.ie

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