Dublin Camogie star speaks up after skort protest backfires

Dublin Camogie star Emma O’Byrne has hit out at The Camogie Association after being involved in a protest against the controversial skort uniform rule, which ended up backfiring.

Both Kilkenny and Dublin’s senior camogie teams put rivalry aside on Saturday as they faces each other in the Leinster senior semi-final.

The ladies banded together, deciding to leave their regulatory skorts in the dressing room in favour of GAA shorts.

The Kilkenny side wore black shorts, while the Dublin ladies sported a navy pair, as they prepared to face each other on the pitch at St Peregrine’s GAA club in Blanchardstown.

However, their efforts were in vain, as referee Ray Kelly told the teams that they would have to get changed into skorts or the match would be abandoned, which the ladies ended up doing.

Dublin camogie player Emma called out the rulemakers after the match in a clip that she posted to social media. She sat in her car as she spoke to the camera, saying, ‘we are tired’ of having to wear skorts.

She highlighted the reason why her teammates don’t want to wear skorts anymore. ‘For anyone who doesn’t know, skorts are basically a skirt that we have to wear with shorts underneath and they’re massively uncomfortable.’

‘I’d say for about 30% of a game that I play, I’m constantly thinking about how my skort looks, pulling it down, constantly thinking about if my skort is okay or just being in general discomfort when it comes to wearing a skort.’

Emma explained that this isn’t the first time camogie players have voiced their disdain for the clothing item.

‘We’ve been crying out for this for ages, so we decided to take action, as opposed to talking about it, because realistically, that’s how things kind of get done,’ she explained. ‘Still, there’s been no movement from the Camogie Association on this matter.’

‘It’s honestly just really heartbreaking, especially for us as camogie players who are trying to grow the game and trying to get more people involved and more girls to play. But when we’re being forced to wear something like a skort, it’s just really hard to encourage people to play.’

‘I just feel like the more we talk about it, the more we bring awareness to this issue for change, the better.’

@emmaohhburn We are tired. #skorts ♬ original sound – Emma O’Byrne

‘The fact that even action itself wasn’t good enough, says a lot about the stubbornness of The Camogie Association’s stance on the skorts and you can say what you want about the history of camogie, the skort is a part of the history, I totally understand that, but at the end of the day, we want to play a sport at the highest level without distraction.’

‘We shouldn’t have to be forced to wear something, even if it were a choice, it would be better than being forced to wear something that’s so uncomfortable.’

‘It’s just really disheartening, but hopefully things will change, but we need to all act on it as players if we want something to happen.’