BREAKING: Mayo will not field adult camogie team this year
Fiona Duffy, Public Relations Officer with Mayo Camogie, said it was ‘disappointing’ that Mayo were not fielding at adult level
Four years after fielding their first adult camogie team in several seasons, the county will not be represented at adult level this year. The county will continue to field an U-16 and Minor team.
After winning some silverware after re-forming the senior team in 2021, Mayo played in Division Four of the League and last year competed in the All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship.
This came after the Mayo Camogie county board issued public appeals for a senior team manager. A lengthy search ended when Galway native Colum O’Meara took the job last February. He stepped aside as manager after a season where Mayo suffered some heavy defeats in all competitions.
O’Meara cited the lack of collective training sessions as a major issue. The Mayo squad was drawn primarily from Tooreen, as well as Castlebar Mitchels and Westport, the only three senior teams in the county.
Fiona Duffy, Public Relations Officer with Mayo Camogie, said it was ‘disappointing’ that Mayo were not fielding at adult level. She cited work commitments and travelling as reasons for the shortage of available players.
Duffy told The Mayo News that there had been ‘huge development at underage’ with Claremorris and Ballina Stephenites fielding camogie teams up to U-14 level. Belmullet may also be fielding at underage level at some point in the future, she said.
“We will hopefully have some Sligo underage teams joining in on our leagues too,” added Duffy.
In previous years, Tooreen have fielded in the Galway junior leagues to get more competitive games. Camogie once thrived in Mayo and there were numerous teams throughout the county. In 1959, Mayo reached the All-Ireland senior final where they were beaten by Dublin.