The Camogie Association is to focus on expanding into urban areas and amongst teenagers. This will be the main thrust of the Association’s Director General Joan O’Flynn when she addresses the sports Annual Congress at Croke Park this weekend.
Increasing the number of people who regularly attend Camogie games remains a major challenge for the Association and O’Flynn will highlight research which shows some of the barriers that have to be overcome.
“In 2014 the Camogie Association commissioned market research on what actual and prospective fans think of Camogie and what motivates them or stops them from attending games.,” said O’Flynn speaking to Sport for Business ahead of the Congress.
“94% had a good awareness of the Liberty Insurance All Ireland series but less than half of those had attended a senior Inter County match. We need to reach beyond the ceiling of only going to matches where you have a personal involvement with the team and encourage those who are involved in the sport to become more likely to support their county sides and see the sport at its highest level.”
“The entertainment, skill level, enjoyment and social aspects of Camogie were recurring themes in the research findings with the overwhelming majority admiring the skill of the games.”
“Convenience of fixtures, access to matches and lack of ‘hype’ were reported as the biggest barriers to attendance at inter-county games for Camogie club and inter-county hurling supporters.”
“From time to time, availability of playing grounds is harder to secure until shortly before a fixture. This severely impedes the capacity to promote the fixture concerned and can also impact negatively on pre-match preparation.”
“This is a key area we need to work on with County Boards.”
In terms of growing the player as opposed to the spectator base there will be a clear focus on urban areas where the density of player involvement and clubs is less.
“The majority of the national population is urban-based and there are several urban areas throughout the country that warrant a more intensive Camogie development focus.”
“For example, there is a clear trend where Dublin and the Leinster counties adjacent to the M50 have experienced significant population growth and have the greatest population density.”
“This has yet to follow through in terms of playing though with only 5% of young girls aged 13-17 in Dublin and the surrounding catchment are registered as Camogie players.”
“We are clearly under-reaching to the players of tomorrow’s All Ireland county teams.”
“Looking to Ulster, of the 26 GAA clubs in Belfast, just four have Camogie. There is only one Camogie club in the entire Derry city catchment.”
