One of Dublin Camogie’s shining stars, Laura Twomey has always been vocal about the importance of giving girls and women a greater platform to get involved in sport and physical activity. She’s now given her voice and talents to a new Irish movement, 20X20, the brainchild of Dublin-Based agency Along Came a Spider, the campaign seeks to raise the profile of female sport in Ireland, setting the following 2020 goals for our country:
20% more media coverage of women in sport
20% more female participation in sport, at all levels and across all roles
20% more attendance at women’s games and events.
Involved in sports her whole life and with a background in education, Laura was a natural fit as an ambassador for the movement and has loved raising both the profile of women in sports and her beloved camogie too. With over 600 clubs around the country, she’s keen to see the profile elevated and hopefully get some more girls involved in the Irish sport.
“My sisters both play (camogie) and we were in each other’s pockets growing up. Having the family element is such a huge motivator. Knowing you have that support there is massive.”
Playing since she was Primary School-aged, it wasn’t until she was around 14 that the Portmarnock native really fell in love with Camogie. Hand-picked to be part of a Dublin development squad, Laura was fortunate to have a couple of inspirational family friends and coaches around her, to keep her going and offer that always-important encouragement. And she’s often played alongside her two sisters too, citing that sense of community as a significant one, “My sisters both play (camogie) and we were in each other’s pockets growing up. Having the family element is such a huge motivator. Knowing you have that support there is massive.”
And the community element has stuck with her: the 20X20 campaign emphasises that this is not only a movement ‘for women, by women’, but instead, rightly seeks to involve all of Irish society in the push for greater air + playtime for women’s spots. The importance of young girls and boys seeing both women and men supporting female sports is huge. Laura knows first-hand how key it is to start changing perceptions: “When I reflect on my sporting career, the majority of my coaches were men - and now I spend time coaching and sometimes I’m coaching boys - it’s important that those boys know they can look up to a female coach as a role model too.” 
“When I reflect on my sporting career, the majority of my coaches were men - and now I spend time coaching and sometimes I’m coaching boys - it’s important that those boys know they can look up to a female coach as a role model too.”
Broad and varied involvement at all levels is critical to the success of the 20X20 movement and Laura cites her own experiences as something that she’d love to see change, saying, “I never saw Dublin [Camogie] players on billboards or anything growing up. But it’s really important to see people like you, doing what you love.” But it’s not just about the visibility of professional and national sports players, says Twomey, “It’s people in [your] community too - girls, mums, sisters - whether it’s playing, officiating or supporting - it doesn’t matter. They need to be seen.”
“I never saw Dublin [Camogie] players on billboards or anything growing up. But it’s really important to see people like you, doing what you love… It’s people in [your] community too - girls, mums, sisters - whether it’s playing, officiating or supporting - it doesn’t matter. They need to be seen.”
If you’re interested in supporting the 20X20 movement, you can find out more on their website or join Gym+Coffee at the Sugarloaf - 10am on Saturday, January 25th - as we climb to the summit and post our own 20X20 pledges as well as our individual goals for the year at our 3rd Birthday celebration!
