Growing Highlands game

MARINE Harvest has been sponsoring shinty for 29 years and holds an annual awards ceremony – at the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, handing out more than 20 awards.

This year Marine Harvest’s business support manager Steve Bracken made presentations at the awards night, on October 21, for Marine Harvest Coach of the Year (PJ MacKintosh, Newtonmore), Marine Harvest Player of the Year (Finlay MacRae, Kinlochshiel), and Marine Harvest Club of the Year (Newtonmore Camanachd).

The awards ceremony was followed the next day by the Marine Harvest shinty/hurling international in Bught Park Inverness between Scotland and Ireland, with Scotland winning the Marine Harvest Quaich.

‘When we first started sponsoring it kids weren’t playing but now we have proper youth development,’ said Bracken, ‘and women’s shinty has become a big thing, with 16 or 18 different clubs.’