‘Total inequality’
There’s been widespread anger in Cork at the recent decision by the the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) to cancel national underage inter-county competitions for 2021.
Last Friday it was revealed by the LGFA that for the second year in a row there will be no All-Ireland finals for under 14, under 16 and under 18 girls. Meanwhile the GAA will press ahead with finishing the minor championships (under 17) for boys for 2020 as well as running full minor competitions in hurling and football in 2021.
Cork underage coaches Joe Carroll and Brian Cotter have been among those criticising the decision.
The LGFA are to allow provincial underage competitions to take place, but there will be no All-Ireland opportunities for provincial winners, should those competitions be organised by the provinces.
This is not good enough for Cork Minor Ladies Football coach Joe Carroll who has called on the LGFA to re-think their position.
“There’s total inequality in this. Boys are allowed play their competition, girls are not allowed. There’s no mention of maybe playing the interprovincial championships in July and August - the window they are saying - and play two extra games in November (the All-Ireland semi-final and final).
“The All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football semi-final and final weren’t played until December last year, so why can’t that be done?” he said.
“It’s the inequality of it. They should sit down and look at the fixtures again to see if it can be plotted out. Re-think it, go back to the drawing board and use the full calendar year. Go out to November or December if they have to.
“There’s a lot of anger about this. I know every county in Munster is in uproar about this. The Galway manager is extremely annoyed about this,” he added.
On social media, Cork U16 boss Brian Cotter said: “Double standards and second class citizens again! No All Ireland series in Ladies Football underage inter county for the second year in a row while the boys have All Irelands in both years, and this is womens’ sport doing this to themselves.”
An LGFA spokesperson told the Cork Independent a number of factors fed into the decision including the difference between underage GAA and underage Ladies Football, where underage girls can be a key part of the adult teams in smaller clubs. This is much rarer for underage boys.
There is a short window for club and county underage games too due to the Leaving Cert. This means July and August is the main window to play underage club and county games.
The spokesperson said the LGFA made the decision was to provide football for the largest number of players, while also allowing elite underage players to represent their counties and play a provincial championship.
The spokesperson added that many parents don’t wish to have their daughters playing sport before the Leaving Cert.
They added that players may face burnout with a busy schedule of club and inter county games from July and players remain unvaccinated.
Joe Carroll said it’s a fair point that the LGFA make with regard to U17 girls playing adult football, as U17 boys are not allowed play adult football.
“But what they are not taking into account is that U17 boys would be playing far more games than U17 girls because of the number of competitions they would be involved in,” he said.
He added that it’s a fair point that the girls can all play with their clubs “but it’s depriving girls of being involved in an inter-county set-up for a period of two full years”.