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They are called skorts – a portmanteau of shorts and skirts – and the Irish camogie players who are obliged to wear them have had enough.
Players from Dublin and Kilkenny instead wore forbidden shorts before a provincial game on Saturday, in a coordinated protest that has won support from politicians and commentators who say the dress rules for the female-only sport are archaic.
The players say skorts are uncomfortable and deter girls and women from taking up camogie, a female version of the Gaelic game of hurling, but the sport’s ruling body insists upon the garment, which is considered more feminine than shorts.
Niamh Gannon, the captain of Dublin’s camogie team, told RTÉ: “Players have spoken out about the effect this has had on their mental health, just in terms of not being comfortable or confident seeing pictures after games of themselves in skorts.
“And there are young girls, who have said that they’ve stopped playing camogie because they don’t feel comfortable. In no other area in our lives are we told that we have to wear something that resembles a skirt.”
After years of complaints about rule 6(b) of the sport’s code, which says players must wear a “skirt/skort/divided skirt”, Dublin and Kilkenny players turned up at their provincial Leinster semi-final in shorts. After the referee threatened to abandon the game, they changed into skorts. But the protest has ignited wider calls for the Camogie Association of Ireland to drop the rule.
Simon Harris, Ireland’s tánaiste, said on X: “Rules forcing camogie players to wear skorts while playing are archaic. Players have made their views clearly known.”
Alan Kelly, the chair of the Irish parliament’s sports committee, said he would like to invite the Camogie Association to address the issue before the committee. He said: “It’s bananas that in today’s day and age there are rules forcing our camogie players to wear skorts rather than their preferred choice of clothing when playing matches.
“We can’t continue to ignore this. No sportsperson should have to tog out in gear that’s unsuitable and uncomfortable.”
The hybrid garment comprises an overlapping fabric panel over tight, compressor-type shorts, giving the impression of a skirt. In a recent Gaelic Players Association (GPA) survey, 70% of respondents cited “discomfort” while wearing skorts and 83% wished to have a choice between shorts and skorts.
Aisling Maher, a co-chair of the GPA, said she loved the game but skorts were unfit for purpose. “In no other facet of my life does someone dictate that I have to wear something resembling a skirt because I am a girl. Why is it happening in my sport?” she said.
Camogie players at London’s Gaelic Games Association club Thomas McCurtains launched a Shorts Not Skorts campaign in 2023. But a majority of delegates at the Camogie Association of Ireland’s annual congress last year rejected two motions to amend the rule.
In a statement on Sunday, the association said a democratic vote had retained the rule and a working group was examining playing wear. It said: “A wide range of national and international manufactured skorts have been sourced. Testing of these skorts for comfort, fit and design will begin in mid-May and will include adult and juvenile players from club and county teams, as well as referees.”
