Delegates should survey members before voting - GPA chief Tom Parsons
GPA CHIEF EXECUTIVE Tom Parsons says one of the lesson from the skorts controversy is that delegates “make decisions at Congress” and they “should be surveying their members” before voting.
Parsons added: “And what was different this time was, they did that, and a raft of counties publicly stated the results of their consultation.”
Camogie players are now allowed to wear shorts in matches after a motion passed at Special Congress last night at Croke Park.
The motion — which needed a two-thirds majority in order to be passed — succeeded after receiving an overwhelming 98% of the votes from delegates.
A motion before the 2024 Camogie Congress to allow players to wear shorts fell well short of the 66% support required to pass as just 45% voted in favour.
“In Congress, every decision is a blind vote,” said Parsons. “And over the years, these very important motions have come up. And, you know, players don’t know how their county voted. They don’t publicly say how they voted. And is it good enough that delegates might make a decision on preference, or might not have had the time to consult and might make a decision on the day?
“I really do think we need transparency on how counties vote because it will keep them accountable to their members, their delegates.”
Parsons acknowledged the efforts from delegates to be present for the vote last night, and praised them for taking on board players’ wishes.
“The delegates had to drive all over the country yesterday, to press a button and vote,” he said. “That was a big sacrifice on the delegates who had to do that. Thank you to them for actually listening to the players.”
The GPA CEO said certain policy, though, should not be left for Congress.
“There’s decisions that should be made in rule. And then there’s decisions that’s about human rights and athletes’ rights. If there’s any decisions that, or any elements of the game that impact player welfare, for example, and there’s policy that says this is the duty of care for players to provide this level of care, that shouldn’t come down to a rule or a constitution.
“That should be an obligation on the governing body to protect the rights of players. We’ve got this very ancient Constitution and Congress and Central Councils. It’s great to protect tradition but we have to move with the times and not everything should be a vote.
“Not everything should have to wait for Congress to be voted on. When we put out that report (on skorts) and we actually put research behind how players are feeling mentally, the anxiety it causes, it was like a rocket.”
Parsons added: “Fair play to camogie players for standing tall. For taking this fight on. And this is really all on them. The GPA are just proud. And I’m proud just to have their backs really, in all of it. They put themselves in a very vulnerable position.
“You know, there’s enough pressures on very young women to be playing at this level, and then to be under the public eye as such to make change.
“We have players who have ultimately sacrificed a Munster Championship which will hopefully be replayed.”
Media pundit and four-time All-Ireland winner with Wexford, Ursula Jacob, said the result shows the delegates canvassed players this time.
“98% last night versus 45% last year just shows that when delegates went back to clubs and asked the players, the result speaks for itself,” Jacob said.
She said the result comes with “a huge sense of relief”.
Jacob added: “Really proud of the players for standing strong the last number of weeks. It hasn’t been easy and it’s been far from ideal with preparation for championship. But I think in the long run, it’s been really worth it.
“The players’ voice was the driving force behind it all. It was fantastic to see such a resounding result last night. It was an accurate reflection of how the players have been feeling.
“It’ll have a huge impact on the modern game but also for future players coming into the game. It’s just removing that barrier or the reason why certain girls decided to give up. Anything to remove barriers is a positive.”
Jacob said some players will likely continue to wear skorts. “If they feel good about wearing the skorts, they shouldn’t be criticised for that either.”
Jacob hopes the sport will make headlines for more positive reasons in the coming weeks, and that the public who have followed this debate will consider attending games as the season moves up a gear.
“It’s a frustration that the camogie has been thrown into such a negative light in the last number of weeks,” she said.
“I just hope now we can move on and move forward and talk about the game for all the right reasons. We have a fantastic championship to look forward to and now more than ever, we need to get the support for those girls out on the pitch.”
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