Galway double All-Ireland winning captain Sarah Dervan says it’s a “real struggle” to prepare for the new season training on an astro pitch.
And the Mullagh player says it’s "pretty brutal" that they have learned to accept the conditions they train in.
Dervan believes the touted merger between the GAA, Ladies GAA and the Camogie Association can help with access to pitches.
This is one of the biggest issues for the Camogie Association and LGFA, who own just a handful of pitches across the country.
“Unfortunately, we are in the middle of it,” said Dervan, speaking as East Coast Bakery launched a new brand of protein cookies called ‘In the Zone,’ in association with the GPA and GAA.
“Tonight we're training on astroturf because we can't get any pitch facilities with lights.
“So it is a real struggle for us. We've trained on astro an awful lot this year so far and we're thankful of getting it, but it's not ideal.
"We're playing Dublin on Saturday so it's not ideal preparation for the first round of the league.
"It's always been the way, unfortunately.
“The fact is that we're relying on the kindness of clubs to give us their facilities.
“It's not too bad in the summer but especially with it being very dark in the evenings, you have to get your training in and have a pitch with lights.
"You just accept it and I think that's pretty brutal to say. You want to be training in the best facilities.
“You want to be in the same places as the men's hurling and football in Galway.
“Unfortunately, we're not at the minute and it's not ideal preparation going into the Dublin game but we accept it, and I suppose it's a frightening thing."
Dervan went on to outline the challenges the current All-Ireland champions face training on astro.
She continued: "You are curtailed a lot with what you can do on astroturf. You can do a bit of ball work, the speed work.
“You wouldn't really do much of your fitness on that because if you're a bit of an older one like myself, it does take its toll on you but unfortunately it is the way it is.
“Hopefully this merger will happen sooner rather than later and all parties will be under the one umbrella.
"It'll be massive for the Ladies Football and Camogie Association to be interlinked with the GAA. It'll be a huge positive.
“Especially for the kids coming up in today's world, that it shouldn't matter whether you play hurling or camogie or Ladies Football.
“At the end of the day, it should all be one GAA and they have equal opportunities that their male counterparts have.
"There's four codes here today at the launch of ‘In The Zone,’ we're all seen as equals and that's thanks to the GPA and WGPA merging and becoming the one brand."
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