Proposed camogie All-Star trip to provide big headache for Kilkenny
A proposed international trip could turn out to an All-Star sized headache for the Kilkenny senior camogie team and the counties chasing their O’Duffy Cup crown.
It was announced last week that the 2023 Camogie All-Star tour of Canada has been pencilled for dates from May 19 to 25.
However, the timing of the trip has come in for much criticism, as the first round of the All-Ireland camogie championship has been scheduled for the June Bank Holiday weekend - one week later.
If the trip goes ahead in the scheduled timeframe, it will most certainly upset a lot of counties including the defending All-Ireland champions Kilkenny, who will have the most players involved.
The Cats reclaimed the O’Duffy Cup when beating Cork in last August’s showpiece decider. Aoife Norris, Grace Walsh, Laura Murphy, Claire Phelan, Denise Gaule, Julianne Malone, Katie Nolan and Miriam Walsh were then rewarded with All-Stars at the end of season banquet in Croke Park.
Incidentally, the Kilkenny duo of Miriam Walsh and Brian Dowling also won player and manager of the year respectively for their efforts in 2022.
As well as the 2022 winners, the trip is set to feature the 2021 All-Star cast which also include the recently retired Davina Tobin and Meighan Farrell who is currently away travelling.
As was reported in the Irish Examiner in recent days, the Gaelic Players Association has contacted the Camogie Association in the hope that the trip can be rescheduled. A lot of intercounty players and managers have been angered that the timing of the tour comes in such close proximity to the beginning of the championship. If a resolution is not found, the possibility of some players no attending the trip has certainly not been ruled out.
It’s been suggested that the beginning of the All-Ireland championship could be pushed back a week to ease the time frame between the start of Kilkenny’s All-Ireland defence and the All-Star trip, but with the draw for this year’s campaign yet to take place, everything is still up in the air at this stage.
The trip is set to be highlighted by an exhibition match between the 2021 and 2022 camogie All-Star selections in Calgary, while there is also an invitational tournament planned where US and Canada GAA clubs are invited to take part.
It will be interesting to see how things pan out in the next few days. In the short-term, Kilkenny’s eyes will be fixed on their next challenge this Saturday when they entertain Galway in the second round of the Very Camogie League in UPMC Nowlan Park at 3pm.
The two teams have built up a bit of a rivalry in recent years. After both lost their opening league outings last weekend- Kilkenny fell to Clare while Galway lost to Tipp - getting two points on the board will be of utmost importance.
The game was originally supposed to form a double header along with the same two county’s intermediate sides but they will now collide in Clara where there is a 1pm start for their Division 2B clash.