Eimear Ryan: The Grass Ceiling

What is it like to be a girl, or a woman, in a male-dominated sporting world? If you play on the boys’ team, more people pay attention – but you get treated like an alien. When you switch to playing with girls and women, you have to live with a smaller audience, diminished status, and – if you’re a professional – lower pay.

And what if – as is the case for camogie player Eimear Ryan – the sport that you play has a different name for women than it does for men, despite identical rules? And what if you don’t even feel entirely comfortable in an all-female sporting environment because you’re shy, bookish, not really one of the girls?