‘Pay to play’ is preventing progress in women’s game – O’Gorman

IRELAND international

Áine O’Gorman is hopeful that a new sponsorship deal for the Women’s National League is a first step towards ending a situation where players have to pay to play.

The Peamount United veteran was speaking after it was announced that SSE Airtricity would be taking over sponsorship of the women’s league as well as extending their deal with the men’s equivalent.

There was no sponsor at O’Gorman’s level last year and the reality for players in her league is that most dip into their own pockets to help with the running costs of their club.

O’Gorman wants this practice to eventually cease and she hopes the women’s top flight will eventually have semi-professional players.

The Dubliner is also optimistic that progress will be made on equal pay for players at senior international level as a consequence of talks that date back to strike action in 2017 but, in the immediate term, her focus is on improving the lot of home-based stars.

Reality

“The reality is that at most clubs we do have to pay a fee,” said O’Gorman (above).

“It’s up to us in a lot of situations to go and get a sponsorship. I’m pretty sure that’s the case right across the board. The clubs do the best they can, they need the money to run the club if they want to get buses to matches, food before training, physios at games as well.

“The backing of SSE Airtricity and hopefully increased prizemoney means that hopefully there’s a situation where players don’t have to pay any more. We should be striving to get semiprofessional. We have to look at getting rid of ‘pay to play’ first.”

Details of the new sponsorship deal have yet to be confirmed, with O’Gorman saying she spoke with representatives of SSE Airtricity who indicated all would become clear in due course.

Bringing the two senior leagues under the one umbrella opens up the possibility that the women’s game will be factored into TV and streaming arrangements.

“Hopefully more games are shown. I think if you had more games on TV it creates greater interest and it would increase the standards,” she continued.

As it stands, the women’s league is set to resume on March 26 and O’Gorman – a double winner with Peamount last term – indicated that players would like to undergo Covid testing before the season starts for “peace of mind”.