Tipperary News

Tipperary's Caoimhe Maher says she does not see the benefit to Skorts

Tipperary's Caoimhe Maher says she does not see the benefit to Skorts
REPRO FREE ***PRESS RELEASE NO REPRODUCTION FEE*** EDITORIAL USE ONLYVery Camogie League Division 1A, Pairc Ui Rinn, Cork 9/3/2024 Cork vs Tipperary Tipperary's Caoimhe MaherMandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Tipperary Camogie vice-captain Caoimhe Maher said she does not see the advantage to camogie players wearing skorts instead of shorts.

Two motions were defeated earlier this month to change the rule that compels players to wear a skort and wear shorts, but both were defeated.

Tipperary’s motion wanted to remove the wording “skirt/skort/divided skirt” completely and replace it instead with “shorts” as the attire of choice, but it was defeated – with 64 percent of delegates voting against it.

Speaking on the decision, Maher said like many players, she does not see the benefit of wearing skorts, and highlighted the difficulties it brings during games.

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"It is not ideal to have to wear them", said Maher.

"There is no one as far as I am aware who is wearing a skort on any day that they don't have to. For anyone who watched the game last week, you can see they are not the most comfortable thing for us to be wearing.

"Most of us anytime playing when there is a break in play, we are spending our time adjusting them so. It is obviously disappointing that the motion wasn't carried through, particularly because the actual players have made it quite clear they would be in favour of it.

"It is hard to see the justification for keeping them and what we are getting out of it. It is a very different game to when they were first introduced, you are going hell for leather with another girl. The last thing you want to be doing is being worried about your stork coming up over your hip."

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The move to give players the option to wear shorts was a major talking point heading into last weekend's league finals, as Tipperary ended their long wait for a league title when they defeated Galway in the Very 1A National League final.

After a difficult start to the campaign, Tipperary rallied to claim their first piece of silverware for the season.

While Maher says the drought for a national title was not discussed with the team, she admits it was "satisfying" to leave Croke Park with silverware.

"It feels really good, to be honest, it is not something we are used to feeling. It was really, really enjoyable, satisfying I would say. We put a lot into the league.

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"As we went on through the league, and got closer and closer to the end line, we just focused on the next step that was ahead of us the whole time.

"I would say we were pretty comfortable in that position. We done a lot of work on our own confidence as a team, and a lot of work on realising that we deserve to be in those kind of positions and that when we are actually there, we deserve to be there based on merit.

"We as a group have spent a lot of time there or there about for the last few years. Apart from the Munster final last year, none of us have any silverware really with Tipp at adult level.

"The real goal of Saturday was to cement to ourselves that we deserve to be there. The more comfortable we are being in those positions on those days, the more chance we have coming out on the right side."

In the last 12 months, Tipperary have ended their wait for silverware in the league and Munster championship, and will now turn their attention to capturing an All-Ireland title.

While Tipperary have shown they can compete against the best in the country, Maher is keen not to look too far into the future.

"There is not too many players playing in inter-county Camogie setup who's goal isn't to win the All-Ireland. It would certainly be nice if we could get there too, but we are under no illusions that there is an awful lot of work to be done.

"There is still an awful lot of other teams who are exceptional, exceptional teams. Yeah, grand we won a league final, but we have nothing won yet when it comes to championship. We are aware of that."

By Michael Bolton

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