The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) has released a statement expressing their concern over the Camogie Association's proposed layout for the season ahead.
The proposal for the new season is to split the inter-county campaigns and the Camogie Association has said they will gauge members' opinion on this option.
The National Leagues would kick off the delayed season, before club championships take place.
Then, the All-Ireland inter-county championships would take place at the end of the year.
A poll of GPA members showed that 82% of players backed a split-season model.
The GPA released a statement via Twitter on Sunday evening outlining their concerns. In full it read:
The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) welcome the Camogie Association's decision to take seven days to reflect on their proposed season structure.
We are willing to work with them towards finding a satisfactory resolution to allow all players, both club and county, get back on to pitches across the country without any further controversy.
Players have overwhelmingly voted (84% of 752 players who responded in last 24 hours) that they will not participate in the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues should the current season structure be retained.
The GPA will represent this view from our members to the Camogie Association.
We had recently informed (April 2nd) the Camogie Association that our members wanted to see a split-season introduced.
The key factors that influenced the split season choice were:
- Club AND County: Inter-county players are also club players. They want to be able to give 100% commitment to either their club team or their county team during the respective windows.
- Club Leagues: Players believe that club leagues should go ahead while the inter-county season is being played to ensure their club team-mates are able to participate in meaningful games across the summer.
- Dual Players: Players should not be put in a position of having to choose inter-county football over club camogie or vice versa, or inter-county camogie over club football or vice versa.
- Player Welfare: There is an increased risk of injury when players are being exposed to additional demands where there is an overlap between club and county activity.
- A split-season facilitates a period of no activity that allows for rest and recuperation and benefits substantially the welfare of our members.
We want to see a solution that is in the best interest of all players which we believe the split season provides.
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