Misplaced Pages

#742257

66-589: In the sport of shinty , there are several clubs which play under the banner of one of the Scottish universities . However, these clubs are not always student teams in the strictest sense of the word, and have a long history of participation at national senior level. Since the introduction of a summer season, only the Aberdeen University Shinty Club continues to play in the senior leagues, although Edinburgh , Glasgow and St Andrews have all done so in

132-572: A Scotland-wide basis since 1996, the lower leagues are based on geography. Many clubs run second teams that also compete in these leagues against clubs with only one senior side. Shinty was traditionally played through the winter , based around the tradition of the "Iomain Challainn", where New Year was marked by a game between neighbouring parishes. The summer was left free for seasonal work and friendly tournaments. The Winter season always ran over, however, and many teams would find themselves finishing

198-554: A complete restructuring of the way in which shinty was organised and managed. That led to the move away from a dependence on volunteers to govern the sport, to the Association's first salaried employees. There are shinty clubs in Aberdeen , Aberdour ( Fife ), Edinburgh , Glasgow , Perth , Cornwall , Oxford and even London . University Shinty is a popular section of the sport, with almost all Scotland's main universities possessing

264-633: A downturn on the park, although membership stayed steady. Glasgow failed to reach a Littlejohn final or challenge for the league between 2005 and 2010 as an exceptionally strong Strathclyde side swept all before them. However, 2011 saw a rejuvenated Glasgow leading the University league and reach the Littlejohn Final for the first time since 2004. The club reached the final again in 2012 but they were thwarted by Edinburgh, who won their first trophy in 26 years, Glasgow's drought now lasting since 2002. In 2015

330-430: A force in the university sport, winning three Littlejohn's in 2012, 2013 and 2014. This brought to end an almost thirty-year drought. See Glasgow University Shinty Club for more information One of the historically successful clubs, Glasgow University has failed to achieve success since winning South Division Two in 2003 and the advent of summer shinty. See St. Andrew's University Shinty Club Teams representing

396-466: A hook in it, hence caman , from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic word cam , meaning bent or crooked. It can also be called a stick or club. The slant of the face will vary according to the position that the stick is used for. It can be made according to the player's height. Plastic camans are common in the youth variant "First Shinty". A player can play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of

462-650: A practice called hacking. Players may also tackle using the body as long as it is shoulder-to-shoulder. The game was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling / camogie and the Welsh game of bando , but has developed unique rules and features. These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association . A composite rules shinty–hurling game has been developed, which allows Scotland and Ireland to play annual international matches. Another sport with common ancestry

528-558: A re-vamped Northallerton Shinty Club was formed. The club is hoping to draw in a few former players, but wants to focus on raising awareness of the game in Yorkshire and bringing new local players into the game. Shinty was played widely in England in the 19th century and early 20th century, with teams such as London Scots, Bolton Caledonian and Cottonopolis; Nottingham Forest F.C. was established by shinty players. Since 2012 London has hosted

594-469: A single fixture in the early 1990s. Kingussie's unmatched run of dominance was ended on 2 September 2006 by rivals Newtonmore , who defeated Oban Camanachd 2–0 to ensure that Kingussie could not catch the team at the top of the Premier Division . However, Newtonmore were unable to replace their neighbours as champions, as the first post-Kingussie champions were confirmed as Fort William , who sealed

660-482: A team. Historically, Glasgow University , Aberdeen University and Edinburgh University have vied for supremacy, but in recent years, Strathclyde University , Robert Gordon University , Dundee University , and the University of St. Andrews have risen to prominence. Clubs compete in various competitions, both cup and league, on a national and also North/South basis. While the top Premier Division has been played on

726-399: A whole has benefited greatly from its presence in universities. Many alumni have gone onto play a role in reviving or reinvigorating the sport in their home area or the area in which they have settled after graduation, including Skye, Lewis, London, Cornwall and Caithness. Many players have retained their links with the sport when otherwise they would have drifted away in the urban area. For

SECTION 10

#1732851162743

792-473: Is bandy , which is played on ice. In Scottish Gaelic the name for bandy is "ice shinty" ( camanachd-deighe ) and in the past bandy and shinty (and shinney ) could be used interchangeably in the English language. Hurling , an Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years similar to shinty, is derived from the historic game common to both peoples. Shinty/hurling appears prominently in the legend of Cúchulainn ,

858-522: Is a shinty club from Glasgow , Scotland . Although formally a University Shinty team, representing the University of Glasgow , it has a long history of competition in national competition. Founded in 1901, by Angus MacVicar, Murdo Mackenzie and Murdo MacRae, with MacVicar as the first team captain. It entered League competition between 1906 and 1908 and played on the pitch of the Glasgow Skye Shinty Club until 1909, after which it played at

924-586: Is a collection of various colleges from across the Scottish Highlands and Islands entered a team in the University Shinty League for the first time in 2008. As the UHI has institutions in areas such as Inverness-shire and Lochaber they can draw on a strong pool of players. By 2011 however UHI had folded, the difficulty in fulfilling midweek fixtures for a team made up mostly of tradesmen spread across

990-692: Is a shinty club first established in the Victorian era , competing in English and Scottish competitions such as the English League, the Bullough Cup and most recently in the Camanachd Cup in 1994. They went into abeyance in 1995, but were reconstituted in 2005. They played the first officially recognised shinty match outside Scotland in 80 years on 22 July 2006 against the Highlanders . They compete annually in

1056-413: Is a synonym for street hockey , pond hockey or any informal game of hockey. It derives its name from shinty, although a myth there perpetuates that it came from children tying Eaton's catalogues around their legs to protect their shins from flying pucks or slashing. The English Shinty Association (ESA) is the main body for promoting and encouraging the sport of shinty in England. London Camanachd

1122-402: Is between seven and a half and eight inches (19 and 20 cm) and weight between two and a half and three ounces (71 and 85 g). The ball is usually white, but there is no statutory colour, black being a common colour for Kyles Athletic, and fluorescent balls now being available. Plastic balls or soft balls are often used in youth competitions such as the variant "First Shinty". The ball

1188-526: Is governed by the Camanachd Association ( Scottish Gaelic : Comann na Camanachd ). The association came into being in the late Victorian era as a means of formulating common rules to unite the various different codes and rules which differed between neighbouring glens. Its first meeting was held in Kingussie in 1893. The Camanachd Association maintained its initial structure for much of its first century. The 'Future of Shinty' Report published in 1981 led to

1254-409: Is not allowed to catch it. Playing the ball with the head constitutes a foul whether intentional or not, as it is considered dangerous play. Other examples of dangerous play, which will be penalised, are a player, while grounded, playing the ball, or a player recklessly swinging the caman in the air in a way which might endanger another player. Fouls are penalised by a free-hit, which is indirect unless

1320-483: Is of the Camanachd Cup final. Regional newspaper The Press and Journal runs shinty coverage twice a week (Mondays and Fridays). The first-ever shinty match broadcast live on television was the 1964 Celtic Society Cup Final. Although Camanachd Cup finals and internationals have been shown over the years, 2006 marked the first-ever regular TV deal for shinty with matches being shown on the BBC Sports show Spòrs . This

1386-657: Is played in the British Army , with The Scots Shinty Club keeping alive the tradition of the game being played in the Forces. Shinty is also being revived among the Scottish diaspora in North America , where it was originally played in the 18th and 19th century by Scottish immigrants, but died out. More recent teams such as Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC), Central California Cammanchd (CCC), and Oregon Shinty-Camanachd (OSC) play at Highland games and other venues across

SECTION 20

#1732851162743

1452-576: Is played using a caman , which is a stick about 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.1 m) long with two slanted faces. The stick has a wedge shaped head, roughly triangular in cross section, which must be able to pass through a ring two and a half inches (6.4 cm) in diameter. Unlike the Irish camán , it has no blade. The caman is traditionally made of wood, traditionally ash but now more commonly hickory , and must not have any plate or metal attached to it. The caman would be made from any piece of wood with

1518-526: Is the trophy played for by the universities. It was presented in 1905 and has been played for ever since. The move to the summer season in the sport meant that of the four teams playing in the north and south leagues only the University of Aberdeen continued to play on a full-time basis. However, the change in status means that players from clubs playing in the National Leagues such as Kingussie and Fort William can now play for their university outwith

1584-401: Is traditionally played on grass, although as of 2009 the sport may be played on artificial turf. The pitch also has marks indicating a 10-yard (10 m) area around the goals, the penalty and centre spots (along with their associated arcs/circles of 5 yards or 5 metres radius), and corner arcs at the corners of the rectangular pitch of 2 yards or 2 metres radius. The goals, at opposite ends of

1650-520: The University of Strathclyde had been competing in the Littlejohn Vase since the early 1990s. Most matriculated students who did not play for their home club tended to play for Glasgow University in the senior leagues. Despite being able to draw upon a good base of players and perhaps hampered by a lack of familiarity which other universities had from playing regularly together, Strathclyde did not win

1716-606: The Celtic mythology hero. A similar game is played on the Isle of Man known as cammag , a name cognate with camanachd. The old form of hurling played in the northern half of Ireland, called "commons", resembled shinty more closely than the standardised form of hurling of today. Like shinty, it was commonly known as camánacht and was traditionally played in winter. It is still played regularly on St Stephen's Day in St John's . The origins of

1782-595: The Glasgow Cowal Club pitch at Possilpark, Glasgow. The Club became affiliated to the Glasgow University Sports Association in 1911. Throughout the years the club has also been very strong in University competition, its glory years being in the late 1950s and 1960s, when they won the southern league and the Littlejohn three years in a row. Throughout the latter half of the club's existence from

1848-487: The Scottish Lowlands , where it was formerly referred to as hailes , common / cammon ( caman ), cammock (from Scottish Gaelic camag ), knotty , carrick and various other names, as well as the terms still used to refer to it in modern Gaelic, camanachd or iomain . Shinty was once a popular game in lowland Scotland, as shown by its name shintie , a term which took that form around 1700, displacing

1914-466: The 1960s, progressively expanding to allow a maximum of three substitutions per game. As of 2011, a rule change allowed for rolling substitutions to be made at the senior level. In common with many sports, it became formalised in the Victorian Era and the first organised clubs were established in cities such as Glasgow and London where there were thousands of Gaels resident. In 1887, a historic game

1980-419: The 2010/11 season, these are Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, RGU (Robert Gordon University), St Andrews and Strathclyde. This season saw the demise of UHI, with many teams sighing in relief. The men's league is currently being led by a rejuvenated Glasgow side, with their female counterpart making a strong start to their season after many years playing under the banner of Strathclyde. The sport of shinty as

2046-614: The English Shinty Championships against Cornwall, Oxford, Devon and Bristol as well as playing shinty–hurling matches and organising sporadic friendlies against visiting teams. On 28 December 2010 Ireland held its first dedicated shinty match in Westmeath, with players who have played the Compromise rules Shinty/Hurling . A Cornwall Shinty Club was established in 2012, playing their first game on 21 April 2012 against London;

University shinty - Misplaced Pages Continue

2112-495: The Highlands was a contributory factor. Shinty While comparisons are often made with field hockey , the two games have several important differences. In shinty a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick, called a caman , which is wooden and slanted on both sides. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick,

2178-486: The Littlejohn until in 2005 when they also won the first official University league. They reached the final in 2006 when they lost to Robert Gordon. However, Strathclyde once again won the trophy in 2007 which saw them defeat Dundee University 2–0 in the final. The Strathclyde team have been the strongest force in University shinty in the late 2000s with players from the Premier Division and North Division One making up

2244-503: The South. In recognition of shinty's shared roots with hurling, an annual international between the two codes from Scotland and Ireland is played on a home and away basis using composite rules . In recent years, the Irish have had the upper hand, but the Scots won the fixture narrowly in 2005 and again in 2006, this time at Croke Park , Dublin , albeit with the Irish fielding weaker players from

2310-682: The Southern League, for clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. Over time, there have been moves to amalgamate leagues and, since the 1980s, a push for national competition at the highest levels. In the modern era of league shinty, Kingussie have been unsurpassed in their domination of the sport; according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, Kingussie is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive league championships and going four years without losing

2376-733: The USA. Local papers, such as the West Highland Free Press , The Buteman , the Oban Times and the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard , have in-depth shinty reports. The Inverness-based media reduce shinty coverage to one summary of the whole weekend's action, as do national newspapers, such as the Sunday Herald and the Sunday Post . The only significant national press coverage

2442-526: The University Littlejohn competition. University of St Andrews became the fourth and final team to enter league shinty in the late 1960s. This meant that all four of Scotland's ancient universities had a shinty team representing them. The original three had varying degrees of success but won, or appeared in the finals of several cup competitions as well as garnering league success throughout their league existence. The Littlejohn of Invercharron Vase

2508-558: The annual "London Shinty Festival", which has been attended by Cornwall, London, Oxford Shinty Club , St Andrews university ladies team, and the Scots. It is an open tournament held in late September after the Shinty season is finished to allow any travelling teams the opportunity to attend. Since 2013, a combined English Shinty Association side has entered the Bullough cup, being beaten in 2013 by Tayforth and then in 2014 by Ballachulish. Shinty

2574-429: The article about the senior side of the same name see Aberdeen University Shinty Club . This club is the successor to the University of Aberdeen side which continued in the senior leagues with the advent of summer shinty in 2004. The two clubs maintain a symbiotic relationship, by having the players from the senior team helping with training. Although non-students can play for the senior side, only students can play for

2640-508: The attacking side." A goal cannot be scored directly from a free-hit. Teams consist of 12 players (men) or 10 players (women), including a goalkeeper. A match is played over two halves of 45 minutes. With the exception of the goalkeeper, no player is allowed to play the ball with his hands. There are also variants with smaller sides, with some adjustments in the field size and duration of play. As with sports such as football , shinty originally did not have substitutes. These were introduced in

2706-399: The ball with the shaft of the caman, and the ball must be directly overhead when struck. The winner of a game is the team that scores the most goals. A team scores a goal "when the whole of the ball has passed over the goal-line and under the cross-bar". A goal can only be scored with the caman; there is no goal when the ball "has been kicked, carried or propelled by hand or arm by a player of

University shinty - Misplaced Pages Continue

2772-498: The club won the University league, notably completing the double over a Strathclyde team that went on to win the Littlejohn that year. The Glasgow University Ladies team won the University League for the first time in 2019. The club has one of the shortest pitches in shinty and was one of the first clubs to make effective use of the internet as a recruiting tool. The club is also a major force for promoting shinty, through Gaelic

2838-628: The competition was designed to ensure the final was between the North and South. The Macaulay Cup still preserves a guaranteed North/South Final. There are national equivalents for the Camanachd Cup for intermediate and junior teams. There are regional cups for both senior and junior teams; the MacTavish Cup is the senior cup for the North and the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup is the one for

2904-467: The earlier shinnie – of which there is a written record about 100 years earlier. Shinnie may also derive from shin in English, with the affix -ie , a common termination to the name of many games in Scotland. The objective of the game is to play a small ball into a goal, or "hail", erected at the ends of a 140-to-170-yard-long (128 to 155 m) by 70-to-80-yard-wide (64 to 73 m) pitch. The game

2970-456: The entirety of their team. They appeared in five straight Littlejohn finals equalling the record of bitter rivals Glasgow University. Robert Gordon University was started by shinty players such as Davie "Trout" Roberston in the 1990s but became a force in University shinty when Glenurquhart Shinty Club 's John Barr who made RGU a tough proposition for any team, especially in Aberdeen, played for

3036-467: The field, measure 12 feet (3.66 m) wide and 10 feet (3.05 m) high and a net is affixed to catch the ball when a goal is scored. The ball is a hard solid sphere of around half the diameter of a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. The seam is raised. It is very similar to a hurling sliotar in that it resembles an American baseball with more pronounced stitching. The permitted circumference

3102-426: The foul is committed in the penalty area, commonly referred to as "The D". This results in a penalty hit from 20 yards (18 m). A ball played by a team over the opposing bye line results in a goal hit from the edge of the D, while a ball played by a team over their own line results in a corner. A ball hit over the sideline results in a shy: a shinty shy involves the taker tossing the ball above his head and hitting

3168-458: The late 1940s until his death in 2015 Jack Asher , who latterly was honorary president, attended games and supported the club. The club organises an annual 6 aside tournament in his memory. The club struggled in the 1980s although they had reached the final of the Sutherland Cup in 1981 but the late 1990s saw a renaissance in the team, the club appearing in 5 Littlejohn finals in a row, winning

3234-712: The match finished a draw. They also entered the St Andrew's Sixes tournament in 2012. Following this, in December 2012, two more Cornish clubs were created; the first being the Combined Universities of Cornwall and the second being Mabe. These two teams put forward their best players to play for the Cornwall Shinty Club. There was a team in Northallerton in the 1970s, which competed in six-a-sides; and on 1 August 2012

3300-569: The name shinty are uncertain. There is a theory that the name was derived from the cries used in the game; "shin ye", "shin you" and "shin t'ye", other dialect names were shinnins , shinnack and shinnup , or as Hugh Dan MacLennan proposes from the Scottish Gaelic sìnteag . However, there was never one all-encompassing name for the game, as it held different names from glen to glen, including cluich-bhall ('play-ball' in English ) and in

3366-464: The past. Scottish universities have played a major role in shinty since the early days of the sport. The University of Aberdeen club was founded in 1861, and clubs were founded at universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow in the late Victorian era . Aberdeen played in North competitions and Edinburgh and Glasgow competed in South competitions. Often these teams would compete in "Junior" competitions but would also from time to time restrict themselves to

SECTION 50

#1732851162743

3432-491: The previous season only weeks before the next one would start. In 2003, shinty clubs voted for a trial period of two years of a summer season from March to October, with a view to moving permanently to summer shinty if the experiment was judged to be a success. Despite opposition from the "Big Two", Kingussie and Newtonmore , and other small groups in the game, an EGM in November 2005 voted by an overwhelming majority (well over

3498-561: The required two thirds) to make summer shinty the basis upon which the game would proceed. There have been teething problems since the move to summer shinty, with a couple of teams being culpable for the season running over into November and December. Season 2010 saw the league season finished by the first weekend in October, almost on schedule. Shinty does still get played during the winter, in University Shinty which has teams compete for

3564-632: The second most valuable trophy in Scottish sport – the Littlejohn Vase – and in New Year fixtures, the most prestigious of which is the Lovat Cup , played between Beauly and Lovat. For more information, see Shinty league system League shinty was originally organised on a regional basis, with distinct competitions for the North District and at one time, two separate leagues for Argyll (the Dunn League) and

3630-506: The second tier Christy Ring Cup . Scotland made it four in a row when they won in 2008. Canadian Gaelic -speaking pioneers in Nova Scotia adapted shinty, which was traditionally a winter sport , to the much colder Canadian climate by wearing ice skates while playing on frozen lakes. This led to the creation of the modern winter sport known as ice hockey . The game of shinny in Canada

3696-517: The senior season. Previously these players could only compete in the annual one-day Littlejohn Vase tournament. They may now play in the winter University League. The Scottish Universities also have a representative side which currently plays against the British Universities GAA in Composite rules Shinty/Hurling annually. There are seven teams entering the University Shinty League for

3762-468: The stick. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not bring their stick down on an opponent's stick, which is defined as hacking. A player may tackle an opponent using the body as long as it is shoulder-to-shoulder as in association football (soccer) . A player may only stop the ball with the stick, the chest, two feet together or one foot on the ground. Only the goalkeeper may use his hands, but only with an open palm since he

3828-438: The students' side. Aberdeen University welcome all players from all levels to train and play and are well known for giving people who have never played shinty a taste and help them develop into shinty players. See the senior side article for more information on the history of the club. See Edinburgh University Shinty Club for more information The second oldest University club, founded in 1891, Edinburgh has, since 2011 become

3894-537: The title on 30 September 2006, having won their games in hand over Newtonmore. Kingussie regained the title in 2007. Since 2010, Newtonmore have been the dominant league force. Cup shinty has always been seen as being more important than league shinty, and the premier national competition remains the Scottish Cup or the Camanachd Association Challenge Cup, the Camanachd Cup for short. Until 1983

3960-466: The trophy twice and the club's final season in 2003 in the south leagues saw them win South Division Two undefeated. However, the switch to a summer season in shinty resulted in the University leaving the league set-up. Their last senior fixture was a Glasgow Celtic Society Cup match against Tayforth in the spring of 2004. Since 2004 amid the advent of summer shinty, the club's fortunes suffered

4026-529: The university. RGU won the Littlejohn in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010. The university also runs a ladies' team, which featured Eilidh Middleton , an international Equestrianist. It also depends on many Irish students with a background in Hurling. Dundee University Shinty Club is a shinty club from the city of Dundee founded in 2004. Its men's and women's teams are representing University of Dundee in University Shinty league and at numerous tournaments throughout

SECTION 60

#1732851162743

4092-475: The usual games, but 2012 saw several games filmed live on BBC Alba. The sport is featured on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal by the programme, Spòrs na Seachdain, although English-language radio interest is usually restricted to the big events in the year. Commentary on the Camanachd Cup Final is provided in both English and Gaelic. Glasgow University Shinty Club Glasgow University Shinty Club

4158-438: The year as the men's team. The current women's team captain is Kirsty Fraser. University of Abertay Dundee have the distinction of having won every Littlejohn they have competed in, having only competed in one to this point in 2003 defeating Glasgow University in the final 2–1. They have failed to make an appearance at any Littlejohn since. They have a sixes team which plays infrequently. The UHI Millennium Institute , which

4224-508: The year. The club have performed rapidly since formation winning the SUSF (now SSS University) league in 2006/07 and also reaching the final of the Littlejohn Vase tournament in 2006. The current men's team captain is Hamish Duff. The women's team was established in 2013 and officially entered University Shinty league prior to 2014/15 season. They also compete in the same tournaments throughout

4290-560: Was played between Glenurquhart Shinty Club and Strathglass Shinty Club in Inverness . This game was attended by thousands of people and was a major milestone in developing a set of common rules. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007 celebrations in Scotland, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The modern sport

4356-615: Was then followed by the STV show An Caman . 2009 saw the Camanachd Association sign a deal with BBC Alba to broadcast all national finals as well as the Marine Harvest Festival. The MacAulay Cup and Camanachd Cup final were also shown on BBC Two . There is also an increasing amount of shinty on the internet, with various clips garnering attention on video sites such as YouTube . 2011 was a sparse year for TV coverage outside of

#742257