Camogie and Ladies Football; side by side or worlds apart?

Cork’s stranglehold on the competition, which had resulted in All-Ireland titles being won in consecutive years between 2005 and 2009 following on from Minor successes in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, appeared unlikely to be broken until Tyrone did so.

Yet whilst the Cork ladies footballers would now be doubly determined to regain their senior crown next season, many of the Rebelettes double as top class Camogie players and with the Leesiders securing recent titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009. The enormity of the task for other counties attempting to break Cork’s stranglehold on both sports looks daunting.

Schools in county Cork in particular place a huge emphasis on primary school Camogie. Ladies Football is viewed by many as the easier sport to learn at an older age with Camogie requiring coaching at a very young level. Locally, many Gaels, particularly in the Camogie sorority, believe that the game is withering on the vine and is being suffocated by the rising popularity of Ladies Football.

At one stage in the past, local club Clann ireann was a hive of activity on the Camogie front, but the disbelief which followed the Shore Road club’s recent defeat in three county finals would clinically highlight where the Lurgan club’s contemporary priorities lie.

Without attempting to be disingenuous, it could be said that Clann ireann’s hat-trick of county defeats made bigger headlines than the scenario which would have been created had all three titles been secured by the Lake Street club.

So, in the modern era, can the local games of Camogie and Ladies Football survive side by side or are they worlds apart? And secondly, could the Cork model be mimicked in an area battling for the hearts and minds of its young sports people?

Well-known St. Enda’s personality Deborah Greene took time out this week to talk to the ‘MAIL’ on the subject and many of her views are also mirrored by Lurgan woman Jane France who also gave her opinions. There seems to be a general consensus, therefore, on the way forward for the Camogie game locally.

Deborah Greene suggested that the better co-operation could help.

She said “Both codes should work together more efficiently. For example, Cork have seven or eight players who have a number of All-Ireland medals for both Camogie and Football in the one year.

“Maeve Morarity is a great example of a dual player. She plays her Camogie for St Enda’s Derrymacash and her football with Clann ireann and Armagh. Niamh McGeown is another.

“She plays both football, for the Sarsfields, and Camogie for St Enda’s and Armagh. These girls are proof that it is possible to play both here in North Armagh.”

Does Deborah believe that the rise of Ladies Football has affected Camogie?

She said: “After Armagh’s 2002 All-Ireland, everybody in North Armagh wanted to play football. Clann ireann was the only club in the area, and then St Peter’s, ire g, St Paul’s, Sarsfields all started up new teams.

“This meant that far fewer girls were available to play Camogie. The successes of Armagh Ladies and Clann ireann raised the profile of football even higher again.”

So is there a way forward for Camogie and how can it be achieved?

Deborah believes it can be done: “Football is the easier of the two games, which helps in that it’s much easier to pick up at any age. Camogie, being more skilful game, is not as easy to pick up so it is necessary to start early.

“Camogie should be introduced into all primary schools and into the secondary schools here in North Armagh. Better promotion of Camogie will lead to more equality between the codes.”

Although Deborah’s preferred game is Camogie, she still believes that sport is the winner in this debate.

She said: “It’s fantastic to see so many girls or ladies playing sport, especially our own national games, and that women now have so much available to them whether it be Camogie or Ladies Football.”