THE LAST POINT: ​Women’s sport still living in a strange limbo

Women’s sport is in a tricky place – with the right person and the right occasion, a women’s sporting event can completely dominate the nation’s consciousness; the signature event of the weekend, and maybe even the year, as Katie Taylor’s farewell bout on Saturday proved. But on the other hand, the small attendances at Ladies club games here in Leitrim and the tortuous integration of Gaelic games’ three governing bodies proves that there are still lots of hurdles to be overcome.

Judging by the hyperbole, Katie Taylor is Ireland’s greatest sports person, full stop, while the popularity of Kate O’Connor, Rhasidat Adeleke or Katie McCabe suggests that Irish sportswomen are revered every bit as much as their male counterparts, just as marketable if their presence in on our TV screens is anything to go by and that is as it should be.

A confession first of all – I wasn’t one of the multitude that sat down to watch Taylor’s fight last Saturday, too busy with reports and galleries after the club championship games earlier in the evening but, truth be told, I’m not sure I would have watched the bout. I’m not anti Katie Taylor, far from it, the Bray woman is an extraordinary trailblazer for women’s sport and deserves to be ranked among this country’s very best sportspeople.

My unease comes from the nature of professional boxing, a sport with a history of shady dealings and decisions. Amateur boxing, even with its own history of dodgy decisions at Olympics, is more straightforward and purist but the Pro game is as much defined by the circus of hyperbole, extravagance and marketing to sell the product – that again is just a personal view.

A tweet from journalist Ewan MacKenna got me thinking about the power of marketing into persuading us who we should revere, the comparative merits of various sports and what blinds us to contrary opinions. MacKenna, a thought-provoking provocateur on social media, didn’t buy into the Katie love-in of recent days, not one little bit.

MacKenna opined on X “Katie Taylor is lovable, amazing, and her journey is remarkable even though most won't touch the truth and key to it. Greatest ever Irish sportsperson is insane. She isn't even our greatest ever female boxer. Which doesn't make the top 50. Can we enjoy without being insane.” Naturally, the timing of such thoughts, as honestly held as they may be, went down like a lead balloon but it doesn’t negate MacKenna’s theory.

But how do you compare Katie with Kellie Harrington – Katie has one ground-breaking Olympic gold, Kellie has two? Does that make Kellie the better boxer? The fact that Harrington was content to plough her furrow in the amateur ranks rather than explore the professional game, as Katie did, doesn’t invalidate the argument but then again, that is a matter of taste and personal preference.

Just where do you start in ranking the female greats of Irish sport? What about Sonia or Catherina? How about Rachel Blackmore? The Downeys of Kilkenny or any one of the legion of Cork dual stars like Rena Buckley with 18 All-Ireland medals to her name? Some with argue that gaelic games is purely a home grown Irish endeavour, without the depth of competition that international sports possess, but given where boxing has come from, the same can legitimately be said about female boxing, Katie a trailblazer when the sport was in its infancy.

Female sport has a long road yet – the revelations in the Irish Times that the long touted integration of the GAA, the LGFA and the Camogie Association looks set to miss its self-imposed 2027 deadline is not a surprise. Concerns over budgets, facilities, access and equality of treatment are as strong as they ever were, with some justification.

But there is also a harsh brutal truth on the ground – I’ve reported on quite a few Ladies club and inter county games this past year alone and the lack of attendance certainly gives cause for concern. I’ve said before, you can’t make people like something they are not inclined to but the contrast in attendance at men’s games in this county and the ladies’ outings is still mind-boggling to this Observer and I’ve been observing for quite a long time.

The news that Melvin Gaels had appointed Nicola Brennan as the new manager of their Men’s Senior team was greeted with some predictably off-key comments, one dismissing the former Sligo player as a ‘woke’ appointment but it does illustrate the challenges Ladies sport faces and no amount of marketing will change some people’s mind.

Good luck to Nicola and Melvin Gaels, it is a ground-breaking appointment in the same way Katie Taylor is a trailblazer for Irish sport, not just women’s sport – the challenge now is to make it so that such achievements are not even newsworthy as female sport but simply sport!

SENIOR SERVES UP A THRILLER

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating – those who devised the new format for the Leitrim Men’s club championship deserves a hefty pat on the back after a dramatic final round of games in the Connacht Gold SFC last Saturday.

With an even more tense final round of games to come next Sunday in the Intermediate grade, last Saturday’s Senior games came down to the wire. As Leitrim Gaels were chasing an equalising goal and a winner against St Mary’s Kiltoghert, Glencar Manorhamilton had reduced a 13 point Mohill lead to just five points by the final whistle.

A Leitrim Gaels win could have left Mary’s and Manor level on points and level on score difference after Fenagh St Caillins produced a turbo packed finish to see off their neighbours Ballinamore. It made for great entertainment and is more than a vindication to reduce the number of teams in the higher grades to produce a far more competitive product.

Questions now abound – are Fenagh right back in the mix? Have Leitrim Gaels and Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins been damaged by their losses and are Mohill the new favourites? Given the way form has oscillated wildly in this competition, hard to be definitive about anything but if the quality of games so far is anything to go by, the knockouts should be fun!