When people are putting their 2015 ‘Year in Review’ pieces to print, sledging will surely pop up somewhere.
The issue of name calling or abuse on a pitch has always been present, but this year the debate was brought to a new level with allegations of teenagers sledging fellow teenagers, and adults calling each other all sorts of names during various Ulster championship clashes in the early summer.
It’s not just confined to men’s sport however, with Cork camogie captain Ashling Thompson speaking tonight about the various insults and disgraceful comments she has endured over the last number of years.
The Milford woman has been a high profile advocate of positive mental health, but on tonight’s Off The Ball she revealed that she has been abused about the death of her ex-partner by suicide in 2012, as well as her own troubles with depression,
“It happened in one club this year but it happens from a few clubs but not too many. The past was brought up and ‘when the chance came to give up on myself I should have taken the chance’. My ex-partner was brought into and ‘Would you blame him’ (was directed at her).”
The Cork star admitted that the abuse made her incredibly angry:
“It’s shocking really, I never expected people to stoop that low to be honest. I wouldn’t expect it from my own worse enemy, so when you hear it coming out of an athlete’s mouth, especially at senior level.
“You’d never see it a Junior Z so…it took everything in my power not to absolutely bury my fist down their throat. “
Thompson also explained how she was once abused by an opposition team physio who ran onto the pitch while she was playing with Cork and “called me, and I probably shouldn’t say it but a C***.”
The reaction to Thompson was a strong one:
Extremely honest interview with @AshlingThompson on @offtheball – what an ambassador she is for camogie and women's sport in general 👏🏼
— Lauren Guilfoyle (@LaurenGuilfoyle) December 16, 2015
Listening to @AshlingThompson is a real eye opener. How could you stoop that that low on a pitch. She's stronger than I'd be. @offtheball
— Martin O'Sullivan (@therocketncw) December 16, 2015
@offtheball @AshlingThompson top interview👍 also gave best performance I have seen on a pitch in 2015 in Munster club.pity she not from nof😢
— Brian O'Gorman (@bogorman007) December 16, 2015
@AshlingThompson Brilliant interview the other night Ashling. Keep up the great work raising awareness. #fighter #winner
— Gareth McNeilly (@BigGMc1976) December 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/RealLouthGaa/status/677248839582130177
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