The growth of appeal in women’s sport throughout the past twelve months has been exceptional and one of the national highlight’s takes place this weekend with three Finals at Croke Park in the TG4 sponsored All Ireland Ladies Football Championships.
The growth is even more pronounced at a participation level with the presence of more than 80 teams from across Ireland, Britain and Europe taking part in the Tesco Homegrown All Ireland 7’s in Malahide and Portmarnock.
Women’s Rugby and Soccer have secured strong media coverage for their exploits during the year but as is the case in Men’s sport in Ireland it is in gaelic games that the highest levels of participation are being seen.
Both Camogie and Ladies Football have active playing memberships of more than 100,000 and the growth is being seen all the way from juvenile through to senior level.
Increasingly it is seen as desirable for sponsors to become involved and Liberty Insurance broke the mould for Women’s sport by taking over sponsorship of both the Hurling and Camogie Championships this season.
Already Lucozade Sport, Tesco and Specsavers are among the major brands actively supporting football and TG4’s Title sponsorship brings with it the level of coverage that a growing sport needs to maintain engagement with players of the present and the future.
With GAA President Liam O’Neill active in advancing a single approach to the promotion of gaelic games and new sponsorship agreements to be signed for the All Ireland Senior Football Championship this winter, it may be that there will be a greater level of partnership across the men’s and women’s games in commercial terms over the coming years.
Women’s sport is also proving a lucrative market for sportswear manufacturers. O’Neills are a major sponsor of the Championships but Kukri Sports will supply the kit for Cork on Sunday, as they do for Limerick, London, Sligo and Down in football and for Waterford and Laois in Camogie.
A light hearted but important side bar to Sunday’s finals will be an attempt to break a world record for the number of people wearing bandana’s. The Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Irish Cancer Society are selling pink bandana’s around the ground with all proceeds going to the charity.
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