Joe Canning Spoke Pure Sense With Take On Camogie Skort Debacle

Discussions in GAA spheres have been dominated by the camogie skort debate over the past week, since last weekend's scenes at the Leinster senior final between Dublin and Kilkenny.

Both sides emerged in shorts for the warmup and were threatened with a match postponement if they not change into skorts.

Though players are required to wear skorts as per the camogie association's regulations, a recent GPA report stated that 83% of players would prefer to have a choice between skorts and shorts.

That Leinster final eventually went ahead and, as pressure mounted on the camogie association, Special Congress was called to meet over the skort issue.

However, things have now come to a farcical stage, with the Munster senior final between Cork and Waterford postponed after both teams said that they would play shorts and refuse to play if asked to do otherwise.

A strongly worded statement from the two teams on Saturday summed up the hugely disappointing nature of the situation.

A strong statement from the Cork and Waterford camogie teams this afternoon

The key line - "A provincial final has been postponed because we took control of what we would wear. For us, that feels like a massive step backwards" pic.twitter.com/Q6rsbvh3zc

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 10, 2025

The Munster council's statement announcing that the final had been postponed said the decision had been made in the "best interests of all players and officials involved."

That statement was resolutely refuted by Ursula Jacob and Joe Canning on Saturday afternoon.

READ HERE: Special Congress Called Over Skorts Issue In Camogie As Protests Make Their Mark

READ HERE: Outrage Over Decision To Call Off Munster Camogie Final Over Skorts Protest

Appearing in the unfamiliar surroundings of Clones as RTÉ broadcast from the Ulster SFC final venue, Joe Canning and Ursula Jacob did not hold back in criticising the handling of the camogie skort debacle.

Galway hurling legend Canning said that any athlete would know that the mandate to wear skorts could not possibly be in the best interests of camogie players.

In the players' statement, the biggest thing for me was that anyone with an understanding of what it takes to compete in an elite sport knows that this would never be in the best interests of the players.

The delegates that are making the decisions, be it last year or whatever it was, are they really thinking about the players? Were they really thinking about the players last night when it was called off?

They're not.

It's just a choice - let them have a choice. If they want to wear a skort, let them wear a skort. If they want to wear shorts, let them wear shorts. That's all they're asking for.

Canning also said that he would like to see players from the men's game come out in support of their camogie counterparts, and noted that this could be an issue for the GAA's planned integration with the LGFA and Camogie Association in 2027.

Wexford great Ursula Jacob was scathing in her assessment of the decision to call off the Munster final, especially when the Leinster minor 'A' shield final between Dublin and Offaly went ahead with both teams in shorts on Saturday.

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Jacob had no time for the insinuation that the postponement had been made with the players' interests at heart, and pointed out it would raise more questions than answers.

"I don't believe it was," Jacob said. "I can see why the players feel let down by the association, I can sense the frustration from these girls.

"16 hours' notice. Why were they only given that amount of notice? When is it going to be refixed for? We've the All-Ireland championship beginning in two weeks' time, so it probably doesn't amount to much time for these games to happen. What effect does it have for the Leinster final next week between Kilkenny and Wexford?

"I see Offaly and Dublin in the Leinster minor final are wearing shorts today, so you're looking at consistency there.

"I can say, from my point of view, players don't want to be in the spotlight for these reasons, they want to be able to focus on the game. This week has been a little bit of a circus, players have been put front and centre in the media to deal with this and trying to prepare for a massive game today and then, at the last minute, it's cancelled.

"It's not good enough...it's a real kick in the teeth for the players because, again, they feel like their voices aren't being heard. It's like [the association] are hoping it might go away.

"The number one priority for the camogie association should be to let the players play and that's not happening."

Pure sense from both pundits, on what has been a deeply disappointing week for the world of camogie.