Dublin camogie player on driving visibility of women in GAA

Huge strides have been made in driving the visibility of women’s GAA, but still more needs to be done.

Niamh Comerford, 23, has spoken about the importance of camogie and football players realising and championing their roles as aspirational sporting heroes for young girls.

Speaking to EVOKE at the launch of the launch of Harvey Norman’s new GAA sponsorships, Niamh said: ‘Thinking back to when I was a young girl looking up to the senior team, they are an inspiration.

‘I’m aware that some might be looking up to our team. We are the inspiration for the younger ones, so I’m aware of that.’

‘I like to try to include everyone [at club level] and try to foster that involvement, and try to keep girls in the sport, especially around the ages of 14, 15, 16 when the drop-off happens,’ Niamh, who plays for Kilmacud Crokes at club level, continued.

‘It’s about making sure it’s fun, it’s competitive, it’s enjoyable,’ she said.

In terms of the further changes that need to happen to continue driving visibility of camogie and ladies football, Niamh admitted: ‘It’s about getting bums on seats at matches.’

‘It spurs us on, it spurs the younger generation on, seeing young girls do well, so attendance and coverage [of the sport] helps in a lot of areas. For the future generations coming up, being able to see that is a huge part of it.’

Niamh was introduced to GAA at a young age, when she was around four or five years old, and dabbled in both camogie and football before deciding her grá for camogie was stronger.

The 23-year-old said her parents fostered the love of the game in all their children; Her brother and sisters used to play for Kilmacud Crokes as well.

They loved ‘every sport under the sun, to be honest,’ Niamh told EVOKE, adding that they were also competitive swimmers for a time.

Niamh spoke to EVOKE at the launch of Harvey Norman new GAA sponsorships. The brand is expanding its GAA Partnership portfolio, and now is the official sponsor of GAA Hawk-Eye, Official Stats Sponsor for the Men’s Senior Football and Hurling Championship and also the Camogie Association Stats Sponsor.