LAOIS CAMOGIE PLAYER Aimee Collier says it is “hugely disrespectful” of the Camogie Association not to allow her county to compete in All-Ireland Premier Junior championship this year despite being relegated from the intermediate ranks.

Aimee Collier of Laois. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

The team has attempted to engage with the Association as to why this decision has been enforced and have said that they would “like some answers.”

Laois were expecting to play in the junior competition in 2023 after losing an intermediate relegation final to Kildare last year. Laois were in that fixture after losing all of their games in the All-Ireland series.

However, they discovered that they had been kept in the intermediate competition when draft fixtures for the new season were released at the end of November. 

The42 understands that the Laois county board attempted to contact the fixtures committee of the Camogie Association to alert them to the situation, but did not receive a response until 20 January after fixtures for the 2023 championships had been ratified.

An email to Laois camogie from the Camogie Association — which has been seen by The42 – states that the decision to retain Laois at intermediate level was reached “having reviewed the performance statistics of Laois over the past number of years”.

Laois have already lost six players from the squad, and have lost all of their Division 2A fixtures this year. They travelled to Kerry for their last game at the weekend with a panel of 19 players.

There are 19 players on the Laois panel attending third level education while eight players are sitting the Leaving Cert this year, with an average age of 19 on the squad. Laois’ first match of the All-Ireland intermediate championship is set for the weekend of 27/28 May, just a few days before the Leaving Cert exams begin.

“It’s not easy,” Collier told The42 about how the ongoing situation is affecting the panel.

“We’ve gotten a lot of beatings up to date and it’s just not helping with the mindset of the team. We’re a very young team. We just want people to know what our feelings are on the whole situation. We’ve lost six girls and we will probably lose more again. 

“It’s very hard to keep positive vibes going in the camp knowing that we should be in the Premier Junior championship, and not competing at intermediate level this year.”

When asked if Laois will be able to field for that Group 3 opener against Meath at the end of May, Collier replied: “We don’t know at the minute. It’s very hard to expect girls who are doing their Leaving Cert to turn up for that game. That’s understandable but I just don’t know if we can fulfil that fixture. It’s like a vicious cycle: if we don’t fulfil that fixture, we’re going to lose our grant. There’s no help whatsoever for smaller counties. We’re caught with minor girls and we just have to try and fight on.

“It’s getting very frustrating. Girls are just trying to keep going. We have six intermediate clubs and 10 altogether in the county.”

Collier is in her fifth season on the Laois squad, and captained the team last year when she was 21. She recalls the agony of losing that relegation final to Kildare last July, and the resilience of the players that followed when they believed that they could rebuild their panel in the Premier Junior championship. 

“I was the oldest girl on the panel,” Collier continues. “And the conditions that day [against Kildare] on the hottest day of the year, we went to extra-time and the loss on top of that – it was just heartbreaking. The dressing-room was very emotional, including myself.

“Girls work hard to get up there and we were relegated. But we gathered our thoughts and [decided] that we’re a very young team, it’s hard to compete with girls on the opposition who are probably 27 or 28 years of age.

“We put the loss behind us and regrouped positively for the junior championship this year. Then when we found out the fixtures, we were asking, ‘What is going on?’ We started back at training in November and then received the fixtures. That’s when the confusion kicked in. Younger girls were asking questions that we couldn’t answer because we weren’t getting proper answers.

“Girls were asking why we played the [relegation] final if we weren’t going to be relegated?”

Collier concluded that Laois have received no further communication from the Camogie Association to expand on the reasoning behind the decision to deny their inclusion in the Premier Junior championship.

The Laois team before an All-Ireland intermediate game in 2020. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

The team held a meeting this week, where they invited members of the local media, representatives of the GPA and club reps in Laois to brief them all on the situation. Members of the Camogie Association were also invited but declined to attend. A statement was read out at the meeting which outlined a number of questions which Laois would like the Camogie Association to address in their response to this matter.

These include an explanation as to how the association could reach this decision, and why there was a delay in informing Laois about it before fixtures were issued?

“People are texting and we’re getting great support,” says Collier. “It’s nice to see everyone getting behind us. Girls from other counties are texting as well, saying ‘This is ridiculous. Fair play to ye for speaking up about it.’

“We just want equality for the girls. We put in the same amount of commitment and dedication as any other player, but it’s like we’re being punished. Laois will fight on but this is affecting player retention and that’s a big thing being spoken about – trying to keep younger girls playing their sport.

“The worst thing is that we’ve had huge success at underage and I feel like this is going to start affecting that. We have huge numbers coming but we’re just caught at the moment. Being in the junior championship with a young panel would benefit us hugely to try and rebuild our team.”

She added: “It’s not just about being relegated: why fix games for during the Leaving Cert? We have highlighted over and over again that we may not be able to field a team if games are fixed during the Leaving Cert. For us to rebuild, our best option is junior championship and that’s what we were set for this year.

“You wouldn’t see this happen in any other sport let alone a man’s sport. It’s hugely disrespectful and we’d like some answers.”

 A statement from the Camogie Association has since been released to The42 which reads:

“We have been engaging with Laois on this matter. In October 2022, a Fixtures Workshop was held at the County Chairs and Secretaries Meeting which is open to all County Chairs and Secretaries to attend. The information from this workshop was considered & incorporated where appropriate in the development of the Camogie Association Draft Fixtures Calendar.

“Each county unit was issued with the draft fixtures calendar for the year ahead, and feedback was invited and considered. Following this, a revised fixtures calendar was developed, which was considered and ratified by Ard Chomhairle. The ratified fixtures calendar was circulated to all counties in December 2022. Laois Camogie were provided with opportunities to contribute at all stages and limited feedback was provided during the process.

“Since the ratified fixtures schedule were circulated in December there has been engagement with Laois on several occasions, over multiple matters.

“It should be noted that no team was relegated in 2022 in Championship Grades.”

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