Anna Geary, Cork Camogie Captain on Vincent Browne’s People’s Debate in Charleville last night
Before ‘Family Guy‘ got a hold of the microphone on last night’s People’s Debate in Charleville, Cork Camogie Captain Anna Geary raised the matter of equality between men and women within the GAA.
Vincent Browne: “You’re critical of the lack of coverage in the media of women’s sports generally, is that right?”
Anna Geary: “Well, I think you look at male and female athletes in this country, they’re very equal in terms of their dedication and their commitment and their passion for the games they play. However, we have to be realistic, the coverage and the support, both financially and even attendance at games, is not equal. And I suppose really, it’s time for change. And I think people keep talking about change. And some of the words that are used here, are ‘support’ and ‘services’ and ‘sustainable future’. So the WGPA was launched last Tuesday and the WPGA was launched for a specific…”
Browne: “Tell people what WGPA is..”
Geary: “The WGPA is the women’s GPA. Those of you that know the GPA, the gaelic players’ association, and we decided to set up our own. I think a lot of people will testify that women’s sport has gained significant momentum in the past few years. And as I said, now is the time for change. So we have to take that upon ourselves.
We have a responsibility, we have, as players, drive players to improve and I suppose get publicity because power comes from publicity. So, for the WGPA, our goals for year one are very simple: to improve and better the experience of players at an inter-county level, to develop them and help them in their professional lives off the pitch, to increase the recognition for our games, both in camogie and ladies’ football, and to use our players as role models because I think it’s so important for young people.
Sport plays such an important part in the development of everybody, both young and old, and we need to use these people as role models to show people the power and strength of women and that’s what we hope to do by incorporating scholarship programmes and leadership programmes and just giving women an collective and formal voice in sport because that’s what’s needed to move it on to the next level.”
Watch back in full here