The AIB Camogie Club All Ireland Finals took place at Croke Park yesterday with Milford from Cork winning the senior title for the third time in four years.
Before the games though the Camogie Association took the chance to launch a new four year development plan, based on a consultation with stakeholders that included clubs, players, commercial partners, officials and other interested parties. Sport for Business was once of those groups to participate.
The result is ‘Our Sport, Our Future’, a plan that focuses on four key themes.
Promoting the game better so that players are seen as role models and matches as ‘must see events’ within first the Camogie community and then the wider sporting population will be very important.
Focussing on the development of commercial partnerships that will help to promote the sport at national level is another key objective. The relationship with Liberty Insurance has shown what is possible with hurling and camogie players given joint billing.
Join us tomorrow when we will be looking in greater detail at the four strands of the plan as part of a special Sport for Business Daily Digest focused strongly on Women’s Sport in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Developing a strong approach to governance that is as much player as tradition focused will be a testing aim but change does need to come so that the sport is seen to be as much a part of modern sport as the players already view it but which might not yet have taken hold across the wider sport and the wider sporting audience.
Developing a closer relationship with the GAA is also on the agenda with plans outlined to create a new structure in which those links will be strengthened. Whether it will be a three way coming together including Ladies Football is not yet clear but rather than waiting for a perfect alignment the closer links will be forged between GAA and Camogie first with clubs themselves perhaps then forcing closer association across the two largest codes of women’s gaelic games.
Work has already begun in a number of the areas identified, with all targets scheduled for completion or to be established by 2019.
“With this national development plan, the aim is to build a prosperous and high-profile future for Camogie without letting go of the game’s proud heritage and history,” said Camogie Association President Catherine Neary launching the plan.
“We want to make sure Camogie remains as a strong voice within the national sporting conversation, and part of an inclusive Gaelic games family into the future.”
“The plan today is a product of a huge analysis process undertaken by the Association with its stakeholders. The opportunity to collect both positive and negative feedback by those most invested in the game has ensured that we can work more collaboratively on delivering on and addressing any issues that exist over the next four years.”
“The four year plan intends to place a greater emphasis on its current and future players to help raise camogie’s profile for future generations.”
“Promoting the game is a key part of the plan, and we’re really keen to leverage the profile of individual players by positioning them as role models at a local and national level for girls and young women who might like to take up the game.”
“Developing new commercial partnerships will also play a part in promoting camogie. In recent years the game has benefited hugely from the involvement of sponsors like AIB and Liberty Insurance, and I think there’s a lot of other brands out there looking at the growth and the potential of camogie and thinking that is somewhere they’d like to be.”
“Change is also firmly on the agenda, and we have committed to a series of organisational and structural changes that are designed, ultimately, to benefit clubs and players,” she said. “The more support we can give our players, the happier they will be and the more new recruits we will attract to camogie – that’s what we are working towards.”
“We’re proud to be part of the GAA family and we’re very happy to work closely with our fellow members where the overall aim is to benefit the game of camogie. That work has already started and it will help to deliver a bright future for everyone connected with our game.”
