Shinty in Strachur needs you
Colin Cameron, chairman of Strachur and District Shinty Club, invites people with time, energy and ideas to shape the future of one of Argyll’s oldest shinty clubs.
Shinty is in our blood in
Cowal.
But the region’s oldest club, Strachur and District, is in need of fresh blood if it is to survive and prosper in the modern era.
As a club, Strachur is looking for help from the entire community to support shinty in the district. Players of all ages are welcome, but we need to freshen up the backroom side too.
We want to hear from anyone who can offer the skills and experience necessary to run a modern and forward-looking sports club with a rich history.
Shinty is part the cultural heritage of Cowal, as it is across most of the former Gaelic-speaking areas of the Highlands.
We have been playing it for at least 1,500 years, and when the Victorians
standardised the rules in the late 19th century into something akin to the sport we know today, village clubs were formed.
In Cowal, the oldest of these clubs still in existence is Strachur.
Since its first organised match in the spring of 1879 at Balliemeanoch Farm - near the site of the former sawmill - Strachur has enjoyed sporadic success at junior and senior level.
No fewer than seven Celtic Cup final appearances in the 1980s yielded two wins (1982 and 1985) and during this period the club featured in every senior showpiece in 1983 - the Celtic, Macaulay and Camanachd Cup finals.
Since this purple patch, a combination of factors, including a declining and ageing population, forced the club to move from two adult teams to one during the 1990s. In recent times a shortage of players along with changes in society have made it more difficult to put a team on the pitch each week. Strachur is not alone in this - Argyll is probably the most seriously impacted area of the shinty-playing community in Scotland.
But Strachur and District Shinty Club wants to buck the trend.
With a new pitch and changing rooms, opened in 2012, the club’s facilities are second to none in Cowal. With the help of the Camanachd Association, the club is drawing up an action plan.
The team on the pitch is clearly paramount and we want to attract players to a progressive club with a coaching pathway to achieve success, using the excellent Strachurmore facilities. We also have plans to strengthen the club’s community links, build club membership and develop the social scene.
The club’s annual general meeting will be held at Strachurmore pavilion at 7.30pm on Tuesday November 26.
If you are interested in finding out more about helping Strachur and District Shinty Club as it looks to the future, come along to this open meeting.
Experience or knowledge of shinty is irrelevant - we simply need people with the skills, enthusiasm and a little bit of time to support the club.
To find out more, contact me on 07866 368842 or email colin@positiveland. co.uk.