Transgender man wins women's 100 yd and 400 yd freestyle races.

You said it was hypocritical of gays because Polari. If you're now saying it's not comparable, then why did you bring it in?

Because if it's not comparable, then what's your objection to anyone, gay or straight, refusing to participate in the whole "my pronouns are…" thing? Why shouldn't they refuse if they think it's pointless or even counterproductive in some way? Is it obligatory?

Also incidentally, in the same paper, there's a report on the Skort/short controversy in Camogie. Could you imagine the idea that in 2025 male GAA players would be forced to wear a shirt and tie, for example, or anything other than what is generally agreed to be the most comfortable attire? Nothing personal against the referee as he is just enforcing the rules, but the photo with the article, is worth a thousand words.

We may diverge considerably plodder on a few of the core issues, but I laughed at your last comment there because it just put my thoughts into words precisely! 😁 I could not, for the life of me, fathom why, WHY, after already writing in the article -

The survey highlighted two other headline concerns: 65 per cent of players said that wearing skorts led to them being “exposed” in images shared on social media

the writer of the article then chose to include… that photo!

But as for whether I could imagine in 2025 male GAA players forced to wear a shirt and tie? I could, but then I wear a shirt and tie every day anyway and always have done since I used wear a school uniform while playing gaelic football anyway, with the rest of my friends in an all-boys school - we all used have to wear the uniform, comfort or otherwise didn't appear to be a primary consideration! 'Snot the same, I know, and I take your point, but a more relatable, or perhaps comparable example then might be that of players in the men's game who… shall we say aren't au fait with the organisation of which they are a member, signalling their intolerance of prejudice and discrimination which is endemic in the game (just depends on which particular intolerance or prejudice takes one's fancy really 😏).

Nothing personal against the referee though? In all honesty the referee who was the same for both games, and through no small coincidence appears to be a member of the species more commonly referred to as a man, who has conspicuously inserted himself into the women's game, could have let the games continue as it's not as though the spectators would have noticed any difference, unless they went in for some really, really, up close and personal examination, which is frankly just the embodiment of the kind of creepy behaviour that plagues the women's game, to a far more significant degree than just the dress code.

It's a separate organisation, but it's planned (or it was until recently) for both Camogie and the LGFA to integrate into the GAA soon. I don't know whether that will change the take on the skorts question.

In 2027 yes and I imagine the GAA will push for it then as that is when the motion can be brought up again. It would also look bad for the GAA if it was them pushing the ban and not the camogie.

Anyone allowing this would be mentally unstable surely

Allowing feelings and one individuals mental health trump common sense, fairness and equal competition seems to be the new 'mentally unstable' now unfortunatly.

People have forgotten how to say no and instantly shoot down nonsense proposals without even considering it. Nowadays everything is allowed.

No need to apologise for it at all (you should see… actually, no, it's probably better you don't see some of mine 😂), but I know plodder wasn't saying camogie comes under the auspices of the GAA, he was just making a kind of "reverse the sexes" comparison, as in imagine if this was men being expected to wear something they found uncomfortable. The shirt and tie didn't really work, but I think we all got the point - anyone who remembers the time before hurling helmets became mandatory will remember when they became mandatory - lads kicking up left, right and centre that they wouldn't wear them. Eventually we all had to or we couldn't play. That at least, was justifiable as a safety measure.

The skorts thing? That's not a safety measure, it's a tradition, and while I'm all for tradition and what not, I'm not so welded to them that I can't see when someone is making what seems a reasonable point, especially when I'm aware of the kind of behaviour already that some people seek to engage in that's really off-putting for players, namely the kind of behaviour that means a totally unnecessary (in my view anyway) close up shot of a players crotch. That's exactly the kind of behaviour that players are making the point about - that they feel exposed, and not just on the pitch, but off the pitch too, on social media (and not limited to the pitch or social media either). Sure, there are other sports where women and girls are forced to wear kit they feel uncomfortable in which impedes their confidence which in turn impedes their performance in the sport, but more and more women and girls are coming out and saying they're not willing to be objectified and made feel uncomfortable and unsafe by "men of culture" (I'm sure you get the idea).

It's very much on-topic as it speaks to the whole point about men in women's sports and so on, and the fact is that most sports organisations in Ireland are amateur sports staffed and run by volunteers, organisations which need as many volunteers as they can get in order to sustain themselves. Camogie is no different and Ray Kelly is one of the best referees in the game which places an emphasis on non-contact and all the rest of it (something else which players have complained stifles the flow of the game), but on this occasion, if you'll excuse the pun - he dropped the ball by booking all the players for having the wrong kit. Only then they went back to the dressing rooms to change before he allowed the game to continue. There's no way he would have been at risk of being blacklisted or anything else, but it puts a downer on any players morale to have to play in kit they're just not comfortable in which makes them feel self-conscious instead of being able to concentrate on their performance -

"I'd say for about 30% of a game that I play, I'm constantly thinking about how my skort looks, pulling it down, constantly thinking about if my skort is okay or just being in general discomfort when it comes to wearing a skort."

Every sport has rules around proper attire. Francesco Acerbi knew this evening he'd get a yellow card for taking his top off in the Champions League, but he did it anyway, and not out of any kind of protest. The skort rule in camogie just seems particularly antiquated. My point was that the people (women presumably) who made that decision seem to be quite disconnected from the players. It's possibly a generational thing, but I don't see the same thing happening in any men's sport.

Secondly the ref would have been blacklisted from any high standard level games if he had just let them go ahead. He is there to enforce ALL the rules not just the in game playing ones.

The ref has no authority to abandon a game on the grounds he threatened it.

Not wearing the "proper" attire is a minor infringement which he has to report to relevant authorities. That's it.

He overstepped is remit, this has now been clarified going forward.

If he is blacklisted, which I doubt. It will be for stepping outside the bounds of his authority.

I’m not gonna ask why you imagine it wouldn’t work, there are far more trivial rules in the game that result in fouls than spiking the ball at players heads. No reason they couldn’t make it an offence if the referee was of the opinion that it was a deliberate action and not just an accident.

Hell of a hot take from Riley though, as usual. It obviously went over her head that without women like Goss Graves, Riley wouldn’t have the opportunity to participate in competitive sports in the first place -

https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/HCOA-USA-Fencing-testimony-Fatima-written-5.7.25-FINAL-PDF.pdf

As I posted earlier, there were similar objections when helmets were made mandatory in hurling, pretty much amounted to “helmets are for sissys wah wah!” 🙄

https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/its-hard-to-believe-now-but-the-use-of-head-and-facial-protection-was-once-frowned-upon/36830829.html

Would've been in-keeping with the theme of the thread if you'd said Gaines is only the watergirl… 😏

But no, I don't think women are too delicate for full-on volleyball, I'm not even sure how that question arises to be honest. There's no reason it couldn't be made a rule for the men's game too. The idea is to reduce the risk of injury, that's what the Congresswoman's question was about - legitimate question, asked and answered. I don't have any issue with the Congresswoman or the question.

I didn't suggest Gaines has any reason to apologise for her stance either, I'm very forgiving when someone puts their foot in their mouth, 'snot really anything to gloat over and seems unnecessary, particularly so when the individual in question is clearly not the sharpest pencil in the box. Her inability to see further than the end of her own nose is evidence both of her immaturity and her inexperience. That's not to suggest she isn't qualified in terms of her education at least to be able to offer an opinion on the validity of suggesting the players wear protective headgear (she majored in human health sciences), it's just a pity she chose to go for the far easier and woefully ill-thought out hot take instead. Grifting is easier and pays far better than dentistry I guess -

She is a human health science major with a minor in health law and hopes to go to dentistry school.

Success nothing new for Riley Gaines but she would like to add SEC title this week | Your Sports Edge 2021

Downgraded? Sounds like the same sort of rhetoric that was heard when helmets were made mandatory in hurling. The suggestion was made in response to a question about safety, I don’t hear anyone actually calling for it in the women’s game either, but as a suggestion to make playing the game safer for players, it’s a pretty good one.

In rugby headgear is currently optional, but depending on the outcome of this case, it might become mandatory -

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/05/rugbys-concussion-trial-moves-a-step-closer-to-reality-after-high-court-progress

And you know my views on boxing - I don’t regard it as a sport at all and I’d have no issue with seeing it banned, no interest in discussing how it could be made safer to KO your opponent. By its nature that’s a contradiction.

"And you know my views on boxing - I don’t regard it as a sport at all and I’d have no issue with seeing it banned, no interest in discussing how it could be made safer to KO your opponent. By its nature that’s a contradiction."

What are your views on boxing? If anything boxing could do with being like the final fight of rocky 4, would be a lot more entertaining and I would enjoy it a lot more.

I know I brought it up, but the rules of these contact sports aren't going to be changed just to make it safer for males to compete with women. Several times, I've mentioned the possibility of how simplified variants like tag rugby could be a way forward (even that would require rule changes to make them completely gender neutral) but nobody seems to want to discuss these ideas. I don't want to argue it any more. It's too ridiculous.

Re tag rugby no rule change needed, it is mixed. Probably why no one will discuss it with you.

It is mixed but there are requirements/limitations on the numbers of each sex on a team. To be truly gender neutral that would have to be changed. 😉