Thompson Says Camogie Team Will Follow Example Of Cork Hurlers If Skorts Motion Fails

The Cork camogie players have found themselves at the centre of a storm in recent days amid the ongoing skorts situation in the sport.

Skorts have been mandated in the sport since their introduction in 2003, and have grown unpopular due to the discomfort of playing elite sport in them.

An ever-growing majority of players have advocated for choice for camogie players on whether to wear skorts or shorts. Protests have taken place across the country over the past fortnight but the most significant came when Cork and Waterford announced their intention to play the Munster final in shorts.

The Munster council waited until under 24 hours before throw-in to postpone the game, a farcical decision that they claimed to be in the "best interests" of the players and officials involved.

It was a decision widely derided across the world of Gaelic games, and has brought tensions to a head. Special Congress are set to vote on the issue on May 22, with a motion that would allow players the choice between wearing shorts, skorts or skirts, provided they are of a similar style and design.

With the way the situation has escalated, there is now a lot riding on the Special Congress vote, and Cork star Ashling Thompson has suggested that she and her teammates are ready to go on strike if the vote is not passed.

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Speaking to the Square Ball podcast, Cork's Ashling Thompson said that the Rebels squad are ready to follow in the footsteps of the county's hurlers and go on strike should the Special Congress vote fail to pass.

"The day of the Munster final, we went to training," Thompson began.

We said it that day - we're putting it to bed. We said our piece, there's been enough done and said about it. It's out of our control completely.

This decision is going to be made on the 22nd. If it doesn't pass, we know what we're doing. We're not going to change, we're going to fight for what's right.

However, Thompson said that she was concerned the vote would not pass, based on how delegates had voted in the past.

That fear is based on the fact that it's going to be delegates voting. We had already done a survey last year before it went to Congress and it was made very clear, I think it was an over 80% vote that would prefer to wear shorts over skorts.

You had delegates that went and represented the players. Even if, let's say, Cork camogie had said, 'We want such and such,' again, we were voted against by our own delegates.

Again, this is what we're going to have in two weeks' time...we've to wait and see will these delegates change their minds?

Cork's hurlers infamously went on strike in December 2007, after a dispute with the county board over the selection of the inter-county team's selectors. It lasted over two months and led to the cancellation of National League fixtures. Another, longer strike took place at the end of 2008 and culminated in the resignation of manager Gerald McCarthy in March 2009.

Both incidents were deeply controversial in hurling spheres and, no doubt, similarly drastic action by the county's hurlers could prove divisive.

However, few could argue that the demands of Cork - and their counterparts up and down the country - are unreasonable, and one can only hope that the Special Congress vote leaves no need for such threats to be followed through.

For now, though, their focus is on the big prize at the end of the year.

"It hasn't been spoken about since [the Munster final]," Thompson said.

"We're focused on the All-Ireland championship, we don't want to lose focus of what we came here to do and that's to hopefully be in Croke Park in August."