Skortsgate: Skirting with the truth of sexism in women’s sport

Archaic traditions are forcing female players to go to extreme lengths just to have their voices heard.

A controversy is currently sweeping through Irish sport, centred on camogie — the all-women’s version of hurling, and a core pillar of Ireland’s national Gaelic Games alongside men’s and women’s Gaelic football.

It’s an issue that has simmered beneath the surface for decades, but recent frustrations has seen it finally explode into the mainstream and put the players at loggerheads with the archaic, tone-dead organisation that oversees the sport.

It has seen the suspension of games this past weekend, including some major finals, as players protest and rally behind each other in the first concerted effort of its kind to overturn an apparel policy that for some reason the organisation sees fit to stubbornly push forward with, despite the overwhelming support for reform.

At the heart of their demonstration is a simple, reasonable request: the option to wear shorts.

Current policy mandates that players wear a “skort” — a hybrid of skirt and undershorts — a garment many have long described as uncomfortable, impractical, and anxiety-inducing, particularly on a playing field where performance should be the priority.

Imagine running around a field in an impractical garment not engineered for sport, exposing more than you might like, in a rule not enforced by performance standards but by outdated tradition. This has been the reality for camogie players across Ireland.

So when Kilkenny and Dublin players donned shorts for their Leinster semi-final matchup a couple of weeks ago, the referee, he himself in a pair of shorts, refused to let action proceed until the players changed into skorts.

They relented and the match went ahead, but the moment lit a fuse. Public support swelled immediately and the conversation found its way into national media and political discourse.

Sadly, it’s yet another reminder of the deep-rooted sexism that continues to plague women’s sport — a world where minor, reasonable requests often require major, exhausting battles.

Which leads to moments like this where players are forced to resort to outright protestation for what on the surface seems like a small and insignificant change, a change which isn’t effecting the rulebook or actual gameplay, when their voices simply aren’t being heard.

Similar to the Irish women’s football team who threatened to go on strike in 2017, accusing the football association of failing to offer the team appropriate support, citing scenarios where they had to change in public toilets and share team branded tracksuits with the underage teams.

Only when they went public in front of the media in an open press conference did change start to develop, eventually leading to the steady improvements in the standards of women’s football in Ireland today, with plenty of work yet to be done.

Likewise, we’ve seen female athletes worldwide have to fight for a move away from the use of white shorts in an effort to support players on their menstruation cycles. In beach volleyball, teams have been fined for wearing alternatives to bikinis.

Always the same fight: basic dignity and choice.

A reform to the uniform policy which would allow the option of shorts was put forward for change during a congress meeting last year, with a survey by the Gaelic Players Association showing 83% of players were in favour of having the option. Bizarrely, the motion was denied — with 55% of delegates voting against the proposal to add shorts as acceptable attire.

It was a devastating blow to active players, favouring a decision that has seen girls leave the sport in their droves over being forced to comply with the uniform. At the time, another motion would not have been allowed until 2027.

Last week, ahead of Saturday’s Munster Camogie Final, Cork captain Ashling Thompson announced that both her team, Cork, and their opponents Waterford would be wearing shorts at the game, and would refuse to play should they be asked to play to change.

"We're just asking to be heard and to have a choice in what we want to wear and how we represent our counties and our clubs.”

Late on Friday night, the organisation released a paltry statement saying the match was to be cancelled until further notice. In doing so, they didn’t just dismiss the players — they disrespected the coaches, families, and fans who had prepared for that game.

In 2025, the fact that we are still debating what women wear on a playing field — and punishing them for pushing back — is shameful. It speaks to a lack of respect, empathy, and modern understanding within the very organisations entrusted with growing the game.

This isn’t just about uniform policy. It’s about autonomy, respect, and the right of women to fashion the sport they love and partake in. When athletes feel unheard on basic matters such as uniforms, what hope is there for meaningful reform on issues like funding, facilities, or visibility?

There is, at least, a glimmer of hope with the association calling a Special Congress for the 22nd of May, where a motion to resolve the controversy will be put to a vote. Anything other than a successful passing of the motion will be diabolical and set the sport back years.

But why it has come to this, to the chagrin of so many, simply highlights the sexism female athletes face and the battles they have to fight, to the distraction and impairment of their actual roles as players competing in a sport.

The skort debate is a symptom. The real issue is the persistent sexism that forces female athletes to fight not just for fairness, but for the right to play on their own terms.