The success of women’s GAA on the pitch is stained by their lack of involvement off it.
The GAA has often been described as an organisation that was founded by men and has been moulded and governed in a patriarchal system since its inception in 1884.
Ireland’s convoluted battle for a free state was started and engineered by male pioneers such as Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera, to name a few, and the GAA was very much used as the shield to fend off British imperialism.
Male influence has stayed with the organisation ever since, and it took until 2021 for the GAA to consider the possibility that maybe the organisation is outdated in its appointments.
In 2021, the GPA (The Gaelic Players Association) announced the establishment of a new ‘gender-balanced board of directors, comprising of six women and six men’. They are essentially a representative organisation that ‘promotes and protects all aspects of player welfare and provides an independent voice for players.’
The independent organisation is still chaired by a man, Professor Brian MacCraith, but the group are certainly moving in the right direction and maybe the GAA should take some notes on the inclusive switch the GPA has made.
You only have to look as far as the Board of Directors listed on the GAA’s website to illuminate the issue.
All four of the directors are male and despite plans made in 2021 to overhaul women’s structural involvement in the organisation through their support for the GPA’s revamp, the consensus is that this will remain intact for many years to come.
Liz Howard, who is a former professional and former president of the Camogie Association, has spoken on the issue and when asked by the Irish Independant’s Dermot Crowe on the possibility of a female GAA president two weeks ago, she lamented that “it will be another ten or 20 years before something like that happened”.
Decades before sporting bodies were contemplating gender equality, Howard won a landmark election for Tipperary county board PRO, becoming the first woman to obtain the position on a county committee in 1980.
Her national profile was further increased when she was appointed as an analyst on The Sunday Game in 2005; the GAA’s equivalent of the Premier’s Leagues Super Sunday. Again, she was the first female to do so.
She is a prominent figure in almost every aspect of the GAA and her words of disapproval at the prospect of a female GAA president speaks volumes.
She also spoke in the interview about the positive aspects of females’ contribution to the GAA. Howard rejoiced in the success of the women’s game, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Camogie, but said the gleam of its achievements is fading every passing year that the issue of no women in a position of power persists.
The achievements of the women’s game warrant a seat for a female representative at the highest governance of the GAA.
According to the Irish Times, in 2020 ‘there was more women’s football in more homes than ever.’ Malachy Clerkin, who wrote the piece, also stated that the broadcasting switch ‘wasn’t the LGFA (The Ladies Gaelic Football Association) banging the table and guilting TV people into covering their games. This was demand from the public leaving the association with no option but to find a way to get these match’s broadcasted.’
The interest in the women’s game has also risen significantly; in fact, it is the fastest-growing sport in Ireland.
In 2011, Ladies’ football had roughly 80,000 members to its name. That number is now edging towards 200,000. The expansion of clubs has also come by leaps and bounds since 2011. The number has ascended from 650 clubs to 1,395 and the trajectory is accelerating every year.
The globalisation of the GAA is also something that has been spearheaded by the success of women’s contribution to the game. The Asian Games, which is one of the largest international GAA tournaments, is dominated by females.
The Guardian’s Rebecca Root reported on this last year, and said the games are ‘played and coached exclusively by women.’ Former chairperson of the Asian GAA, Joe Trolan, stated that ‘the games also provide an opportunity, especially for women, to escape any potential cultural confines.’
The presence of males in the sport in Asia is virtually non-existent and with the GAA’s global reach being used as a platform for launching a Global GAA Games, women’s impact has certainly stapled them as custodians to the ambitious project.
Despite Camogie and LGFA’s prominence at home in Ireland and abroad, it seemingly has not been enough to be included in the BBC’s new broadcasting partnership with the GAA.
However, what this has done is free up some space for the women’s game to be aired on Irish TV, or so you would think. According to Irish Central, as a result of the BBC’s purchase, RTE are now able to air nine Camogie games and just four Ladies’ Gaelic Football Games. Keep in mind, this is for the entire season.
Women in GAA have done exceptionally well to grow their product with such limited exposure on TV. Maybe if a woman was seated at the upper echelons of the governing body, then their growth could reach even further heights.
