Anna Caplice column: Attitudes to and tolerance of women’s sport is still limited

FITNESS and strength. Headspace and mental strength. 

Resilience and character. Community and friendships. Communication and problem solving skills. 

Open mindedness and tolerance. Teamwork. Enjoyment. Fulfilment. Happiness. 

A short list of the benefits of partaking in sport.

Is there anything on this list that should be exclusively available to men or male athletes? 

Absolutely not. Everyone on this planet is entitled to the benefits of sport. 

Another element of sport that everyone should be entitled to is the clear pathway for development and for those who excel to be rewarded with opportunities to perform as an elite athlete.

A mere 100 years ago, this narrative was very different. 

Women were discouraged and actively banned from sports clubs and facilities across the country. 

It seems we are still picking up the pieces from this. Attitudes to and tolerance of women’s sport is still limited. 

Can you believe it? We’re still here.

Then why are the elite female athletes of this country forced time and time again to openly take on the organisations that they represent to demand better?

Our female GAA athletes have recently decided that the rest of their season will be “played under protest.” 

Although women’s sports continues to grow (albeit at what can often feel like a glacial pace) some of the best GAA players in the country are highlighting the struggles faced by the county players.

It’s a scary place to put yourself as an athlete as once you’ve put your head on the block, the people you are asking more of could take one swing and chop it in an instant.

The powerful photo of the 24 jerseys of county captains who came together to support each other in their cause will be an image to represent this protest for years to come. 

The effort that each of them put in to get together and to organise this photo in particular will stand to their cause. 

We all still remember the photos of the women who came together to face the media to voice their concerns within the Football Association of Ireland and its treatment of their female athletes at the time.

The women’s contingent from the GAA join their soccer and rugby counterparts by being the third code to openly state their dissatisfaction with the treatment of the female players within their organisations. 

In 2017 the main story that grabbed the media’s attention for Ireland’s soccer players was that they had to get changed into their travelling tracksuits in toilets at the airports on the way to games, and then change back out of them once they arrived back in Ireland. A problem so basic yet tangible that it grabbed the public’s attention for the support of their cause. 

Also on their list of demands were things like: working wifi in hotels, consistency in their coaching staff, gym membership, access to a nutritionist; and individual strength and conditioning programmes.

In 2021 current and past members of the Irish Women’s Rugby squad penned an open letter to the Department of Sport to voice concerns over the IRFU’s handling of women’s rugby in Ireland. 

The letter was a plea to the government to ensure that reviews into the then recent underperformances were carried out adequately. When the results of the reviews were published, basic requests were asked. 

A similar theme you may notice.

What are the GAA players asking for? You could hazard a guess. Physio, medical, nutritional and strength and conditioning support as well as fair and adequate access to facilities.

Disappointingly, similarly themed responses ensued each of the forms of protest. 

Resistance, denial, lack of accountability. Call it what you will. The GAA are apparently at a “war of words” with the protesting players. The FAI responded to the 2017 protest by saying that they had been trying to meet with players for months but the players weren’t interested. 

The IRFU initially completely rejected the player’s open letter and “refuted the overall tenor” of the letter which was signed by 62 senior elite athletes.

Not one of these professional organisations was able to respond with empathy and understanding to the athletes that represent them. Professional, adult athletes being dismissed and shot down. That has been the initial reaction every time.

Will we stop resisting this at some stage? 

Will we make space at the top for both our male and female athletes? 

Can we listen to female athletes when they risk everything they have worked for and dreamed of achieving by standing up and asking for better?