Eimear Ryan: Let's hope the GPA is as tigerish with basic expenses for female players
4 March 2022; Players from all across Ireland were at the announcement of scholarship funding of close to 800,000 provided to inter-county players through the Gaelic Players Association. Pictured is Cavan ladies footballer Aisling Gilsenan during the announcement event at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Dublin Airport in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
It’s been a week full of faux pas in the world of women’s sports – or rather, faux pas against women’s sports. International Women’s Day should be an easy enough one for sporting organisations: an opportunity to spotlight the women in their ranks and garner plenty of goodwill at the same time. Some sporting bodies, however, didn’t quite understand the assignment, with both the FA and the All Blacks coming under fire for their IWD social media output – the FA for a lack of diversity, and the All Blacks for forgetting all about the Black Ferns and instead posting in praise of the male players’ wives, girlfriends and female support staff. Not that those women don’t deserve praise, but when a sporting body has clearly forgotten about its female wing, it becomes more than a little awkward.
Then, at the Critics Choice Awards last Sunday, a gaffe came from an unexpected source. Film director Jane Campion, currently enjoying reams of goodwill and Oscar buzz for her film , decided to undermine two of the most unquestionably great female athletes of all time: Venus and Serena Williams. The tennis legends were there in support of King Richard, the Will Smith vehicle about their coming of age under the guidance of their father, when they were unexpectedly dragged into Campion’s acceptance speech for best director: "Venus and Serena, you’re such marvels," she said. "However, you don’t play against the guys, like I have to." Venus’s frozen are-you-kidding-me grin is already an internet classic.
It’s clear from the way Campion delivered the line that she thought she was being funny, and to be fair to her, she has already apologised. The tone deafness of the remarks, however, is all the more unbelievable given that King Richard brilliantly depicts the double-edged sword of sexism and racism that the Williams sisters have had to navigate in their sport since they were children. It serves as a reminder that even those who should be natural allies to female trailblazers in sport – such as female trailblazers in the arts – can sometimes disappoint us, choosing to compete instead of support.
And then there’s the worry about being left out of the conversation altogether. While Tom Parsons and the GPA have been exemplary allies to female players since the merger with the WGPA, it is more than a little surreal listening to the GAA-GPA row over expenses currently taking up much of the airwaves. From the perspective of a camogie player or ladies footballer, many of whom still don’t receive any travel expenses, it’s bemusing to hear the GAA taken to task for only covering four sessions’ worth of mileage a week. The phrase ‘champagne problems’ comes to mind: it’s hard to relate.
It was only when Covid hit that inter-county ladies footballers became entitled to travel expenses – 50c per mile, compared to the 65c that the lads get. While gender equality in government grants for GAA players was finally achieved last year, travel expenses remain a contentious issue and many players still have to absorb huge costs to play. Nine-time All-Ireland medallist Aoife Murray revealed in a 2020 interview that she had calculated her unpaid expenses over the course of her career as Cork keeper, and the total was north of €50,000. A decent year’s salary – and all for the privilege of representing her county.
To be fair to the GPA’s position, the GAA’s citing of player welfare as its reason for the cap is more than a little cynical. (It’s so convenient when looking after players means parting with less money!) But it does raise a wider point that merits its own discussion: should amateur athletes be asked to commit to more than four sessions per week? Even with the split season, it’s still a ferocious commitment on top of full-time work; anything more is professional territory. There should be a meaningful way to protect players’ time and bodies and hold county boards to account, and maybe there’s an opportunity for the GPA here to secure better conditions for their players in the long run. One can only hope that they will be as tigerish in securing basic expenses for their female players as they are in pursuit of that elusive fifth expensed session.
Women should not have to pay to play elite sport; and when it comes to professional codes, they should be able to make a living wage. That’s why there have recently been calls from former FA Women’s Super League players to impose a minimum salary of £30,000 for players in the league going forward. Currently the FA imposes a salary cap on the WSL, whereby clubs can only spend up to 40 per cent of turnover on salaries, but no minimum salary exists – unlike in the States, where the minimum salary is $35,000 and where many talented UK and Ireland players end up plying their trade.
Recent reporting by showed that salaries across the top 12 women’s clubs range from as little as £20,000 per annum to £250,000 at the top, with one agent bemoaning the loss of young soccer talent to – well, careers where their time is valued. (That we talk of male Premier League players’ earnings in terms of per week rather than per annum tells you all you need to know about that particular gulf.)
The structural inequalities don’t end there. It recently emerged that only 40% of schools in the UK offer girls soccer as an extracurricular activity, with only 63% offering it in PE. As Ian Wright wrote recently in : "we are failing an entire generation of girls … if we have a successful Euros with the Lionesses and the Monday after girls still can’t play then what is it all for? All the campaigns, all the TV coverage and beautiful montages, but girls are still denied the option of playing our national sport."
Most girls who love soccer will never play professionally; GAA players, both male and female, will probably never have the chance to go pro at all. The least we can do is ensure that they’re not out of pocket.
