Is the camogie skort on its last legs?

How the new camogie shorts would look if voted in at annual Congress.

The future of the much-maligned camogie skort will be put to a vote at this weekend’s Camogie Congress.

There are four separate motions on the Camogie Association’s Congress clár regarding the future wearing of the skort and whether to discontinue its use in favour of shorts, or to provide the option to wear one or the other.

The motions from Meath and Great Britain want shorts added to the list of approved playing gear alongside skorts, whereas Kerry and Tipperary are proposing that skorts be removed from the list and replaced by shorts.

The rule as it stands is that players must wear a “skirt/skort/divided skirt”. 

Refusal to comply results in a yellow card, leading to a red card if the dissent continues.

As part of their ‘Shorts not Skorts’ campaign launched last year, the Thomas McCurtains club in London conducted a survey of 240 camogie players and found that 82% of respondents preferred to wear shorts rather than skorts when playing.

Ashling Thompson of Cork celebrates after her side's victory Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Championship Premier Senior Final match between Waterford and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach, Sportsfile

Meanwhile, 75% believed that the skort does not reflect current societal standards relating to clothing and sporting apparel.

Kilkenny defender Michelle Teehan last year expressed her support for a switch to shorts.

“I am definitely in favour it. It is something I don’t see why we are still in skorts,” said the All-Ireland winner. 

“I myself personally would be a lot more comfortable in shorts. Even when you fall to the ground, shorts are a lot more comfortable. 

"It is probably just a traditional thing at the minute, but I am definitely in favour.”

Former Galway camogie player and three-time All-Ireland club winner with Sarsfields Clodagh McGrath, speaking last October, was another critical of the camogie skort.

“If they took a vote of every player in Ireland, I would say there’d be 99% of players (wanting change),” McGrath said. 

“If you go down to the training pitch, players are wearing shorts to training. They’re not comfortable, the skorts, it’s such an archaic [thing], it’s so outdated.”