Camanachd Association holds AGM
CLUBS from across the country gathered for the Camanachd Association’s annual general meeting in The West End Hotel, Fort William, on Friday November 24.
Annual report
In his final annual report, out-going Camanachd Association president Jim Barr looked back on a challenging last 12 months.
There was a six-month gap between the anticipated departure of chief operating officer Torquil Macleod and his replacement, chief executive officer Derek Keir, taking post. This meant additional responsibilities and increased workload for association staff and directors throughout the intervening period.
It was also clear from the 2016 budget deficit that the organisation was living well beyond its means and the requirement to urgently reverse this situation placed additional demands on the personnel involved.
Against this difficult backdrop, the 2017 development programme and competition schedule were delivered within the constraints of the new budget.
Although the association expects to record a modest financial surplus for 2017, the financial outlook remains challenging, highlighting the importance of the game’s loyal commercial sponsors.
The association will look to Derek Keir to bring fresh energy and outlook, whilst the election of Keith Loades for the next three years leaves the governance of shinty in good hands and they have already forged an effective partnership.
Colin Cameron and Wendy Chamberlain were co-opted onto the Camanachd Association board during the season. Ted McDonald retired from the board in April having served for six years and his role was acknowledged.
With one of the wettest summers of recent times in Scotland interrupting and extending the senior league programme for several clubs, all the cup winners and the majority of league outcomes were determined before the end of October.
The shinty/hurling/camogie programme gave senior head coach Ronald Ross a fourth successive home win against Ireland, whilst Alan MacRae’s U21 side showed promise for the future. Stuart Reid’s women’s team also recorded success in Ireland in July against a Dublin County Select.
The development team is making specific efforts to retain interest at secondary schools by organising round robin competitions. The women’s game is growing and developing under the careful direction of the Women’s Camanachd Association and the Marine Harvest Awards night is always an enjoyable occasion with Lord Robert Smith of Kelvin, former SSE chairman and personal sponsor of the Balliemore cup for 21 years, and Steve Bracken, who has been behind the 33 years of Marine Harvest involvement, both richly deserving the presentation of silver mounted camans.
Tulloch Homes signing up as the Camanachd Cup Sponsors until 2020 is a major boost, whilst Anderson, Shaw and Gilbert stepped in at short notice as match day sponsors for the MacTavish Cup Final. Marine Harvest extended their sponsorship package of all leagues, the international programmes and the annual awards until 2020, a record breaking 33 years of continuous sponsorship.
Jim Barr also used his report to acknowledge and express appreciation to all volunteers who give up their time to be members of the Camanachd Association committees and sub-committees, as well as those who support competitions and development activities as coaches, team leaders, drivers, groundsmen, supporters and match officials.
Jim Barr thanked all staff and board members, partnership managers and member clubs who he has worked with over the last nine years, particularly the last three years as president, and added: ‘Shinty has a new chief executive officer in post, an experienced president elect, a refreshed and more diverse board, a small but effective professional organisation and a new four-year strategic plan with clear opportunities for growth. In short, much to look forward to and a future as bright as we dare to dream.’
Jim Barr was presented with a silver-mounted caman by past-president Archie Robertson as a token of appreciation for his work in office.
New appointments
The Camanachd Association has a new president after Keith Loades was unanimously elected into the position.
Keith Loades has been shadowing outgoing president Jim Barr for the last six months in a president-elect role and has been a Camanachd Association board member for the last three years, latterly as vice president.
Colin Cameron and Wendy Chamberlain were voted in unanimously as directors with Wendy becoming shinty’s first female director.
Annual accounts
The Camanachd Association’s 2016 annual accounts reported a £38,573 reduction in turnover, prompting a £48,066 deficit for the year. This means the association’s reserves reduced to £75,962 as of December 31 2016.
The association signalled a potential £44,000 loss at the 2016 AGM so the final count was slightly above expectations.
The association’s financial target for 2016 was to deliver a break-even outcome or, in the event a sponsor for the Camanachd Cup was not found, to manage any deficit to below £20,000.
With the target not achieved, the association re-based its activities, re-doubled its efforts to attract commercial sponsors, improved its business processes and made economies across the board to balance the books for 2017.
The 2016 annual accounts show grant funding reduced by £23,743 from 2015. The sportscotland grant remained similar and was the largest single contributor to shinty funding. However, local authority grants were reduced because of the general squeeze on budgets. Specific activity events/grants from Awards for All (£10,000) and Cholmcille/BnG (£5,000) were not forthcoming. Sponsorship income also reduced in 2016, down by £21,368 which was largely attributable to the loss of SSE sponsorship for the Camanachd Cup, partially offset by the establishment of the Shinty Business Club.
Not for the first time, Marine Harvest were shinty’s principal sponsors in 2016, combined with additional support from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Gilmour Sports and the BBC.
Total expenditure in 2016 was £595,655, an increase of £1,806 on the previous year. Key areas of expenditure remain: competitions, development, wages and office expenses. An increase on wages is principally as a result of having the central belt Development Officer in place for the full reporting year.
Competition costs reduced in 2016 as a result of savings made across the programme. Membership numbers increased slightly in 2016 to 2,900, generating an associated increase in income.
The association expects to record a modest profit of around £5,000 in 2017 which will go towards rebuilding reserves to the target level of £90,000 which the board believes is appropriate for the size of its business.
However, the association looks likely to break the VAT de-minimis threshold this year. This will place an extra annual burden of between £8,000 and £10,000 in VAT payments unless the de-minimis threshold, which has been in place for many years, is revised upwards.
New resolutions
With 27 voting clubs in attendance, a raft of minor amendments to Byelaw 1 (Rules of Play) went through unopposed.
•Minor alterations to the ball composition.
•Players will no longer have to wear the same colour helmets as their team mates.
•Secondary shorts no longer need to be the same colour as the team shorts.
•The procedures following a sending off have been expanded to include any team officials and anyone representing a club who has been dismissed.
•If the two centre players are one left-handed and the other right-handed, the choice of the side for the throw up shall alternate throughout the game.
•The rules in relation to ‘cleeking’ have been clarified.
•A warning for persistent fouling will be issued after a minimum of three fouls and a caution will follow if the player continues to foul.
•Foul and abusive language, including frustration with oneself, is now a distinct cautionable offence and could be a red card if directed specifically at the referee or a goal judge.
•Deliberately preventing a clear goal scoring opportunity through foul play is now categorised as a cautionable offence.
Competitions
Participation in the 2017 senior leagues increased to 54 teams from 52 in 2016. This was as a result of Strachur re-joining the league and Strathglass entering a second team.
There were 689 senior fixtures scheduled in 2017 compared to 618 in 2016. However 39 fixtures were unfulfilled due to team raising difficulties, an increase from 27 in 2016. Of the 125 fixtures which were postponed and rescheduled, 103 were due to unplayable fields and 13 due to bereavement. Nine fixtures were rescheduled at the request of both clubs in compliance with the byelaws. This compared with 75 postponements in 2016. During 2017, nine fixtures were reversed or transferred to an alternative venue to ensure the game took place on the scheduled date compared to 12 previous year.
There were no changes to fees for membership, insurance, competition entry or player transfers and there were no appointments for members of Honour or Honorary Patrons
After the meeting finished Kilmallie voiced displeasure at the switching of fixtures at short notice.
A few clubs questioned the need to provide after-match meals and although this is an issue for the clubs, the Camanachd Association agreed to circulate a poll to gather views.
Oban Celtic boost as Kenny Wotherspoon stays on
Oban Celtic received a boost when manager Kenny Wotherspoon agreed to stay in charge of the Marine Harvest National Division side for a third season.
Speaking after his decision to remain in the hot-seat was confirmed, Kenny Wotherspoon said: ‘I feel it would be a wasted effort to step down now after all the work that’s been put in. The boys are great and in the matches we lost last season, we were only beaten by the odd goal on most occasions. I’ll be looking for effort and commitment from the players and I feel I can offer more encouragement to improve our side.’
After their promotion from Marine Harvest South Division 1 at the end of the 2015 season, Oban Celtic finished sixth in the eight-team Marine Harvest National Division last term.
Wotherspoon added: ‘We are always looking to improve the playing squad and we relish the forthcoming season.’
Kinlochshiel player of the year awards
Marine Harvest Premiership champions Kinlochshiel celebrated their season and announced their player of the year awards at the Lochalsh Hotel on Saturday November 18.
The Duncan MacRae Cup for first team player of the year went to Mark MacDonald with the Scottish international defender also named 2017 Marine Harvest Premiership player of the year.
Duncan Matheson collected the Tommy Mackenzie Cup for second team player of the year.
Conor Cormack was voted winner of the Kenny Wilson Cup as committee player of the year.
The Ian ‘Dubh’ Memorial Shield for U21 player of the year went to Ally Nixon.
Duncan ‘WD’ MacRae was presented with the WD MacRae Cup for U17 player of the year.
The CalMac Quaich for U14 player of the year went to Duncan MacMillan with the most improved player of the year award for this age group going to Arron Jack.
Archie ‘Ach’ MacRae was U12 player of the year, whilst Fraser MacRae was the most improved player of the year at this age group.
Club stalwarts Bert Loades and John MacDougall, with more than 80 years’ service to the club between them, stepped down as directors and, as a mark of appreciation, they were presented with gifts and became Kinlochshiel’s first honorary chieftains.
Annie MacDonald was also presented with gifts to thank her for taking photographs at club matches this season.
Newtonmore Player of the Year awards
Newtonmore announced their player of the year awards at their annual dinner dance at the Newtonmore Village Hall on Saturday November 25.
Michael Russell was named first team player of the year following a season in which he was named in the Scotland squad.
Kenny Ross received the second team player of the year accolade for the third successive season.
The U17 prize went to promising youngster Tommy Stewart.
Newtonmore will hold their annual sale of work at 2pm at Newtonmore Village Hall on Saturday December 2.
Col Glen awards
Col Glen have announced their player of the year awards.
Cally Mcnaughton is the club’s player of the year after the youngster had an excellent season in Marine Harvest South Division 1.
Tom Irvine was young player of the year, with Kyle Kerr, who captained Dunoon U14 to South of Scotland League success, named most improved player. Another youth player, Neily Mcnaughton, was Col Glen’s top scorer.
Oban Camanachd AGM on Friday
Oban Camanachd’s annual general meeting takes place at the Rockfield Buildings on Friday December 1.
The AGM starts at 7pm. Everyone welcome.
Inveraray AGM
Inveraray’s annual general meeting takes place at the Inveraray Inn on Friday December 1.
The meeting starts at 7pm and members and non-members are welcome.
Boleskine AGM
Boleskine Camanachd will hold its annual general meeting at Farr Hall on Monday December 4.
Boleskine, who finished bottom of Marine Harvest North Division 2 last season, are especially keen to hear from any players who would consider joining the team for next season.
Scottish student squads announced
The Scottish Student representative squads have been announced for the upcoming shinty/hurling/camogie matches against Queens University in Belfast on Saturday December 2.
Lochcarron’s Niall Arnott has had to pull out of the men’s squad and he has been replaced by Duncan Gorman from Newtonmore.
The squad includes a number of top flight players with places for Kingussie’s Rory MacKeachan, Newtonmore’s Iain Robinson, Craig Anderson from Glasgow Mid Argyll as well as Skye Camanachd’s James Pringle.
Men’s squad from: Rory MacKeachan - UHI; Darrin Fowler - UHI; Ewan Fraser - Aberdeen; Donald MacRae RGU; Iain Robinson - Abertay; Nathan Whear - Edinburgh University; Jack Berg - Edinburgh University; Daniel Donald - Edinburgh University; Sandy Elrick - Edinburgh University; Duncan Gorman - Edinburgh University; Daniel Lamont - Heriot Watt; Jono Price - Heriot Watt; James Pringle - Heriot Watt; Alex Dunnings - SRUC; Craig Anderson - West College Glasgow; Cameron McCue - Glasgow School of Art; Matthew Young - Glasgow University; David MacLean - Glasgow University; Seamus Gordon - Glasgow Caledonian; Angie Grant Glasgow Caledonian.
Lochaber’s Christy MacIntyre has withdrawn from the women’s squad and has been replaced by Shannon Birnie from Strathglass.
Women’s squad from: Shannon Wilson - UHI; Taryn Neilson - RGU; Rona Stewart - RGU; M J Malcolm - RGU; Aofie Tangey - RGU; Juliet McDavitt - St Andrew’s; Sarah Hart - St Andrew’s; Catriona Kirk – Stirling; Rhona MacIntyre - Edinburgh University; Erraid Sinclair - Edinburgh University; Mairi Stewart - Edinburgh University; Morgan Redpath - Edinburgh University; Shannon Birnie Edinburgh University; Rosie Mulligan - Heriot Watt; Megan Ralph - Glasgow Caledonian; Donna MacKenzie - Glasgow University; Zoe Reid - City of Glasgow College; Amy Harris - Strathclyde; Caitriona Stark - Strathclyde; Christy Doherty - Strathclyde.
Shinty coaching
The Camanachd Association has confirmed that its United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) Level 1 & 2 courses have once again been accredited by UKcoaching.
This accreditation, which lasts until 2020, shows the Camanachd Association courses are of the highest quality and stand comparison with all other sports in the United Kingdom and beyond.
The close season programme of courses includes: UKCC Level 1: Bute - TBC; Inverness - January 20/21 2018; Glasgow January 20/21; Ardnamurchan January 20/21.
UKCC Level 2: Oban - November 29/December 1 (two evenings); Inverness – January 28 2018; Glasgow – February 4.
WCA round-up Play-off postponed
The WCA Marine Harvest North Division 2 play-off between Strathspey and the Lochaber second team at Grantown Grammar School on Sunday November 26 was postponed because of an unplayable pitch.
Strathspey won home advantage following the toss of a coin but, with Spean Bridge also unplayable, the match will now be rescheduled for early in the New Year.
After ten league matches, the teams would have gone into this 1.30pm throw-up level on 14 points at the top of the table.
Strathspey were beaten by Glengarry and Strathglass in the league and drew twice against Lochaber.
Lochaber’s only defeat came against Glenurquhart in their final league match but they also drew four matches.
This rescheduled play-off will be the final fixture of the 2017 women’s shinty calendar.
Fort William ladies seek new head coach
Fort William ladies are seeking a new coach to inspire their team.
The Fort currently run senior and development teams and train once a week.
With the new WCA season starting in March 2017, the new coach will be supported by senior players and will be expected to:
•Plan and deliver a well-structured and progressive training programme.
•Ensure a high quality, positive coaching experience which centres on the needs of both senior and development players.
•Provide positive guidance during matches.
•Uphold a level of professionalism in every aspect of delivery and representation of Fort William Ladies.
Although a coaching course can be provided, the Fort William Ladies are looking for the successful candidate to have suitable experience and attitude.
Any interested parties should send their CV to Katherine Anne Gall at kamunro70@ hotmail.com highlighting experience and what skills they can bring to the team.
This is a voluntary post and the closing date is Friday December 29.
Youth shinty Lundavra set for youth competitions
Camanachd Association regional development manager (East) and Scotland head coach Ronald Ross recently spent time at Lundavra Primary School where they put their young shinty players through their paces.
Youth coaches Kirsty Delaney, from Lochaber Ladies, and Shannon Wilson, from Fort William Ladies, work with the Lundavra youngsters.
Shinty sessions take place in the school gym hall on Thursdays between 4.30pm and 5.30pm and will be for boys and girls from primary 1 to primary 7.
Lundavra Primary School hopes to enter teams in local competitions in the future. Sportsdesk 01631 568000