The launch of the Women’s Gaelic Players Association yesterday could not have gone better. A strong media turnout was backed up by representatives of the Camogie Association, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, the GAA and the Gaelic Players Association.
Most importantly there was a strong array of county colours worn by players who had travelled from across the country to be there at what promises to be the start of a new era for Women’s sport in Ireland.
The challenge now for the dynamic Chairwoman Aoife Lane and her strong committee will be too maintain the promise and the appeal of the organisation once the lights fade. That will be no easy task as the mere existence of the body will give natural rise to high expectation of what can be achieved.
Simple
“Simple things can make a big difference,” said Wexford Camogie All Ireland Winner and committee member Kate Kelly. “Things like a cup of tea after training where we can actually get to know our fellow players is a small ask but has not always been considered.”
“We want to be respected, we want our effort to be recognised and we want to raise the expectation of how players who train hard and play for the love of the game should be treated fairly.”
“Women are not always great at standing up and saying we are good at something,” said Lane.
“We get on with things without making a fuss, we do things differently. When we are tackled we get up and play on,” she added to a ripple of laughter.
“What we have to do is provide a platform for the local, active heroes within their communities that play our games at the highest level to tell their stories and to inspire others to follow their path.”
Storytelling
The idea of storytelling was picked up by former player and RTÉ sports presenter Jaqui Hurley.
“Media is willing to listen but you have to tell the story of your games and your commitment to them.”
“There is a story in every player and every team, and coming together in the WGPA will help instil the confidence and the channels through which to have that heard on a bigger platform.”
“The first element of what the players can expect is a counselling helpline which players can reach out to for matters that are causing concern either in their sporting or personal lives,” revealed Valerie Mulcahy, the Cork Footballer.
Counselling
The Gaelic Players Association revealed last week that they had assisted in 117 cases of counselling over the past 12 months. That’s a lot of pressure within a small group and evidenced by a survey conducted by the WGPA which revealed that 62% of players feel themselves under stress through their commitment to playing.
Beyond that counselling, care needs to be taken over expectation. The GPA has been supportive throughout the early stages but the Women’s body needs to stand on its own feet. There are many lessons to be learned from the 16 years that Dessie Farrell and his team have been out and active.
There needs to be care taken that the slow and steady progress which will be required is not seen as providing too little in a world where the pace of change grows ever quicker.
The players will need to be active in helping to promote the games which too often are played out before small audiences.
Behaviour
They can lead the change in behaviour which will lead to more people, even just those within the sport, voting with their feet rather than just saying nice things about Camogie and Ladies Football.
Media Coverage is based on storytelling and has significantly increased in recent years. Sponsors like Liberty, AIB and Suzuki have assisted in that and more needs to be done to harness their reach and resource to attract wider audiences.
RTÉ and TG4 in particular have a commitment to broadcasting games and while some dissatisfaction may be expressed with the depth of the coverage that is often down as much to the lack of a compelling narrative and empty grandstands as any prejudice.
The WGPA has got off to a good start. It has support from around 400 players so far and needs to quickly expand that to over 1,000.
There is some financial backing to employ a part time official to draw the different strands together, and there is a huge energy to those that have committed to the task. There will need to be commercial partnerships formed over the next year to make the Association a viable financial entity but there are already positive soundings in that regard.
The trick now will be to achieve some early wins and to retain their position as an agent of change for their sports and themselves. That will not be easy but they deserve to succeed.
In fact, given the importance of sport in driving genuine equality, they cannot afford to fail.
Sport for Business is working on a major new initiative with a number of commercial partners in the area of Women’s Sport. Contact us today if you would like to know more as our plans advance.
