My First Introduction to Camogie

What is camogie as an Australian I didn’t know anything.
As someone who has been involved in local level lacrosse for 10 years, that is what I knew.
Nothing!
I had not even heard of hurling let alone camogie until I got here. Currently there is a sliotar currently on my desk as a paperweight.

The only thing I knew of Irish national sporting codes was that I had heard in passing about Gaelic football when Jim Stynes was mentioned a lot in the media prior to his death in 2012.

My introduction a few weeks ago was interesting and the crash course to learn the basics was fast.

For associations that are armature in nature there is a lot of professionalism in many of the safeguarding areas needed and in following the legally required vetting processes.

Being fortunate to be given the opportunity to head to Croke park for the Media launch day for the 2024 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Quarter finals, network and to speak with Dublin’s Emma Obrien was interesting.

I was so fortunate to be able to catch the Camogie Quarter final and the Hurling Semi-final (the Kilkenny double header) on Saturday July 6. It was incredible to watch. The camogie final score on Saturday was Dublin 1-13 v Kilkenny 0-12 and the hurling was Claire 0-24 v Kilkenny 2-16

Having the opportunity to speak with Dublin’s Co-manager, Gerry McQuaid and captain Aisling Maher, was also very interesting. They way they both spoke of the innate team effort that was so important to Dublin’s success on the day – this is something I noticed from the opening moments of the game. Dublin showed a sense of teamwork that was far superior to any of the other teams on the day.

Speaking with Gerry, I realised that there is more local coverage of women’s sports, in Australia than there is in Ireland, which is also something that I noticed as the results from the weekend rolled in, along with the crowd numbers on the day.

Something I have high hopes will change in Ireland soon.

For any readers new to Ireland, like me, have never seen these wonderful sports before: The equipment used is a Hurl (some which are still made by hand, from Ash wood) and sliotar, and all athletes will wear a helmet, mouthguard, and shin guards along with football style boots.

I managed to get to the Dublin O’Neill’s store to find out how to get the right size of hurl. I will need to endure that I make my way back to O’Neill’s before heading home.

Standing straight with arms in the by the side the hurl should reach the top of the wrist. For something that is either made from wood or fibreglass the hurls are surprising light weight.

There is a great guide to sizing the hurl from the camogie association and Intersport Elverys gives a great general guide to buying Camogie (and Hurling) equipment.

While the above guides provide a general guide to the minimum standards required there may be additional requirements that may be in place for an underage athlete or that a local club or county has put in place so, please speak with coaches and specialist retail staff before purchasing your gear for the new season.

To be able to attend Croke Park twice in the same week was amazing and something I won’t be taking for granted. The memories will last a while.

I did notice that there appeared to be less rules in Camogie than there were in women’s lacrosse, but that could be what I saw from my lack of knowledge of this sport. There were elements I did recognise such as drawing back, something that is not allowed in women’s lacrosse and picking up the ball with the hurl this would be called a ground ball in lacrosse. I also recognised the umpires at the end in the white coats from watching AFL games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Apparently, there are teams in my home city of Melbourne. With approx. 60 GAA clubs across Australia and New Zealand. With more than 120 teams playing weekly in men’s and women’s football, hurling and camogie and almost 4,000 registered players made up of 60 percent males and 40 percent females participating.

The Australasian association celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. The Association will be celebrating with the Australasia Championships at Gaelic Park, Melbourne in October. Special guests heading to Melbourne from Ireland include GAA President, Jarlath Burns, LGFA CEO, Helen O’Rourke, LGFA President, Mícheál Naughton and Leinster Chairperson, Derek Kent

My loyalties to Melbourne and Australia run deep, and I will be sure to find a team from home to Support once I am back in Australia, however for the pointy end of the intercounty season and in the 2024 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championships I will be following Áth Cliath (Dublin)