BREAKING: Camogie Association calls for Special Congress a year early over skort controversy

Following a week of controversy, the Camogie Association has decided to call a Special Congress on 22 May in order to resolve the ongoing issues concerning players being forced to wear skorts during matches. 

Last weekend the Kilkenny and Dublin senior camogie teams staged a protest before their Leinster semi-final by taking to the pitch in shorts rather than the regulation skorts. However, they were forced to change into skorts before the match started as they were warned the game would be abandoned if they did not. 

The protest came following the significant findings of a survey conducted by the Gaelic Players Association which reported 70% of players experienced discomfort wearing skorts and a major 83% said they should have the option to choose either shorts or skorts. The survey recorded responses from 650 intercounty camogie players. 

Thursday's announcement that the Special Congress would be brought forward later this month has been a significant move by the Camogie Association but it has clearly been done out of severe pressure from players. The Cork and Waterford camogie squads also planned on wearing shorts at Saturday's Munster final in solidarity with the protest against the rule. 

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The motion to give players the option to wear shorts or skorts had previously been voted on but narrowly failed to pass in last year's Congress. The Camogie Association rule changes only happen every three years and so originally players were being forced to wait until Congress 2027 to see the motion reappear on the agenda.

As a compromise, the Camogie Association said earlier in the week that they would bring the motion forward at the annual Congress in 2026. However, that clearly was not enough as the Cork team later confirmed they would be continuing with their protest at the Munster final this weekend by wearing shorts. 

The Special Congress will be held at Croke Park and if it is passed it will go into effect almost immediately. The vote will not be on whether to ban the skort outright but to give players the choice to wear skorts or shorts. 

The decision will be made by Congress delegates who represent all members of the Association which includes all players.