We spoke to Dublin LGFA stars Martha Byrne and Jennifer Dunne in Croke Park at the announcement of Amgen as title sponsors for Cuala GAA for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Under the terms of the sponsorship agreement, Amgen will support four adult hurling teams; five adult mens’ football teams; four adult camogie teams and four adult ladies’ football teams at Cuala GAA.
Sponsorship in women's sport is becoming more and more prevalent as brands and companies are seeing it's benefit rather than doing so for purely tokenistic purposes.
"For us as a club it's great that Amgen are coming on board and supporting all 4 codes" said Dunne.
"Obviously with women in sport it's great that they are getting more recognition and for facilities and training and that it's great we can expand and keep growing and as a club for us we can just push on further and raise our standards by having that support from Amgen"
Fellow club and county team-mate Martha Byrne echoed it's importance saying "I think large companies are starting to see the benefits of supporting not just the men's [teams] but the women's as well"
"Looking back on when we started to now, we used to play our championship games in club grounds with not fantastic facilities, nothing that would facilitate women specifically and now kind of 5, 10 years later there's no comparison between the two"
Although there is more investment in women's football in recent years, we still have some way to go.
"I think there is still lots to be done, I think some people feel that because we don't bring in the same revenue we shouldn't get the same platform. I think we need to be given a platform and given a chance to gain that revenue and gain that exposure."
Mary McAleese has recently been appointed as independent integration chairperson of the merger between the GAA, Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic football Association [LGFA]. It is hopeful that this will lead to a major surge in support, funds and exposure for ladies football.
"I think Mary McAleese is a fantastic negotiator and I think that it's great that a woman is doing it. I think that the associations need to put the players first. I think they need to think about what's best for players and hopefully if they do that then the process should be made a lot easier." said Byrne.
She is hopeful the merger will improve "simple things like funding, exposure, different rules"
"Funding is a massive thing like when the men win All Ireland's they get massive funding from Croke Park, we don't."
Dunne remarked that she hopes it will lead to "getting to play in Croke Park in more than just a final or a semi-final, chances like that to represent your county in front of a bigger audience"
"Hopefully in the near future it will begin to move on and change"
The contrast in rules between men and ladies football is a common frustration expressed by players. Dunne expressed frustration at "certain rules like the sin bin. It's obviously 10 minutes and in our game that's a long time. Especially if you have momentum, the yellow card can really change the sway of the game, so obviously in the lads game they have the black card which is similar but I think it's harsh to get a yellow card in 10 minutes as sometimes you can be a bit hard done by and your a man down for 10 minutes and for us that's a big loss"
"The physicality aspect also, for us everyone is getting stronger, everyones getting fitter, we're getting access to better facilities to kind of make these things happen so I think it should be more on par with the lads"
"I hope a few things like that can change, as we are becoming stronger, quicker, faster and the game should change in that sense"
The standard of facilities is also a significant grievance amongst ladies footballers. This is another area in which there is hope that the merger of the three organisations will be able to solve. Most pitches throughout Ireland are owned by the GAA, and not the LGFA, which leads to female GAA players experiencing sub-par standards and facilities that would never be experienced by male players under the GAA umbrella.
Byrne explained "We'd go to matches and there wouldn't be sanitary bins and it's even happened in the last few years you go into toilets in GAA grounds and they haven't thought through that there is ladies team coming and that they would need sanitary bins"
"Those small things that we need our association fighting for, that aren't necessarily happening"
Dunne reiterated this and expressed how significant these issues are although to some they may seem like small things.
"Before a big game if your stressing about things like that, it should be the least of your concerns"
"Something like that on a big game day could honestly add to like your nerves or anxiety"
It is undeniable that sponsorship is essential for ladies football's growth and it is crucial in keeping girls playing football. The success of Irish female athletes and the increase in exposure and visibility in recent years is undeniable, however the important part sponsorship has played in this can not be understated. Take the recent success of the Republic of Ireland soccer team who have now qualified for a World Cup. The announcement from the FAI that both women's and men's international teams had agreed to a deal to receive equal pay was instrumental in bringing about such success. Sponsorship in ladies football can massively help with facilities and ultimately performance and results.
"For younger girls coming through the club as well to see a big sponsor like Amgen coming on it's definitely inspiring for them and they might not know what it is but getting involved and seeing 'Oh wow this is a huge company that are supporting my club'" said Byrne
"Showing that girls are on par with the boys is so important"
Dunne also spoke passionately about what it could mean for keeping younger girls in the sport.
"I can't overstate the importance that it's men and women and it's all of the teams"
"Hopefully this funding as well will trickle down and the young girls coming through will reap the benefits and hopefully keep as many involved in the club aswell because it's a growing sport and a growing club"
Amgen’s sponsorship of Cuala GAA also extends to education and employment incentives, with the Dún Laoghaire-based biotech company providing one main bursary and four supplemental bursaries annually to Cuala students who are entering a third-level institution to study STEM subjects, manufacturing, supply chain management, health care or teaching science in school. The sponsorship agreement will also see the company provide a paid internship to a student from Cuala each year through the Amgen internship programme.
