Watergrasshill fixtures clash averted after Nemo Rangers agree to change

Watergrasshill have been spared a camogie/ladies’ football fixture-clash after Nemo Rangers agreed to switch a county LGFA junior B semi-final from Sunday to Saturday.

The match had been set for 3pm on Sunday in Trabeg, while the club’s premier intermediate camogie side are down to play Ballinora in a quarter-final at 3.30pm the same day at Castle Road.

The football game has now been moved to 7.30pm on Saturday evening and, while the Hill welcome this, a club statement made clear the situation is far from satisfactory.

“We received communication last evening from Nemo Rangers Ladies Football Club to confirm they would accommodate a Saturday evening fixture to avoid the fixture clash on Sunday,” it said.

“We thank Nemo for their assistance with a resolution. We also acknowledge that Cork Camogie Board were in contact with us over the past number of days and were trying to assist us.

“While our post yesterday confirmed that what's happening to our female players is not fair, and needs to be addressed, it is also clear that the current time frame that both boards operate in is causing these fixture issues.

OWNERSHIP

“Our local boards in Cork took the brunt of the criticism yesterday, but it is the two governing bodies in headquarters, the LGFA and Camogie Association, who need to take ownership of the issue and ensure that each county has the necessary time allocated to run a full schedule of championship games on alternate weeks.

“This is not something that can be addressed over the coming weeks of games, but something everyone invested in the two Ladies Sports would like to see happen.”

Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Meanwhile, Cork LGFA have also released a statement, signed by chairperson Marian Crowley, outlining the timeline with regard to fixture-setting.

“At the Cork LGFA June county board meeting which was held on June 24, our championship fixtures were ratified,” it said, “giving clubs and the players the dates on which games were to be played.

“This would allow them to organise work schedules, holidays and any other commitments that they may have. Camogie fixtures were not published at that stage.

In recent years, Cork Camogie played their fixtures on Saturdays and LGFA fixtures were played on the Sunday and we followed this pattern this year. The default for our matches is 3pm on the Sunday.

“Obviously, at the early stages of the competitions, the semi-finalists and finalists would not be known but every club knew the competition dates should they be successful. The higher grades go on to compete in the Munster championship and then on to the All-Ireland championship. The provincial and All-Ireland dates were ratified at the beginning of the year.

TRADITION

“Therefore, we must have our competitions completed on time so that the winners can progress into these championships. Traditionally, we have played most of our finals on the first weekend in October. This year, we have fixed them on October 5 and 6. October 5 is the only Saturday that we have fixed any match and this will only affect six clubs.

“At the request of a number of clubs at our July county board meeting, our fixtures committee cancelled our fixtures on the weekend of the All-Ireland camogie final so that supporters could travel to Croke Park to support the two Cork camogie teams. Consequently, now there is little or no room from manoeuvre at this stage.

“As stated earlier, our fixtures are out since June 24. Clubs and players have worked around these dates. We cannot force any club to change a ratified fixture. We will always accommodate any club, who in agreement with the opposing team, want to change a throw-in time or even a date, provided that it does not interfere with any other fixture.

“As in every other code, all qualifying rounds must be completed one week before the semi-final stage.

“It has been stated that the LGFA clubs are unwilling to change. This is categorically untrue. I have been in contact with two clubs who have been asked this week to change their fixture to accommodate the opposition's camogie team.

In one case, the club contacted all their players to see if they would be available to play in the rescheduled match. The majority of the players were unavailable due to work rosters and other commitments.

"They were very apologetic about it and understand the situation as they have been in the same position in the past with their camogie club. Is this club now expected to play without some of their starting players to accommodate the opposition's camogie team?

“The second club also checked with their players and have changed their fixture but will be playing without two of their starting players and to add to this, they have discommoded a boys' fixture to get the game played under lights. Many of that club's GAA members are understandably very unhappy about this.

TIGHT

“We all agree that the window for playing club matches is extremely tight and even without taking camogie and other sports into consideration, it can be difficult to get all the competitions completed on time. We also do not own our own grounds and are dependent mostly on GAA clubs, to whom we are very grateful, to accommodate us.

“We regret that there are clashes with some camogie clubs. Cork LGFA clubs will accommodate any request within reason from camogie clubs, but unfortunately, if their players are unavailable to play at other times, those requests cannot be accommodated.”

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