Shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

was played in its original form throughout

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

by Scottish settlers until the early 1900s when the practice died out. Shinty, and its close Irish relative

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

as well as the English

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

, are recognised as being the progenitors of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and are an important part of North America's modern sporting heritage. Despite this tradition, shinty itself went unplayed for almost 100 years at any serious level until the mid-1980s when

Scottish Americans Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, d ...

once again took an interest in the sport, with the first club being established in northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Since 2000, a concerted initiative, with support from the

Camanachd Association The Camanachd Association (in Scottish Gaelic, ''Comann na Camanachd'') is the world governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game. Its main competitions ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, has seen a revival of the sport. There is now a US Camanachd Association and Cup and clubs are also making the trip to Scotland to play tours. The

Camanachd Cup The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd Cup (or less commonly the Scottish Cup) is the premier competition in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shin ...

itself made the long trip to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for the Tartan Day celebrations. Steps are afoot to open franchises in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The Oregon Franchise opened in 2010. The first ever All-American competition was held in September 2010 with

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and

meeting at the Kelso Highlander Festival. It is a significant step for the sport of shinty to spread to new markets such as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

which have large

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

communities. The first international games with a Scottish club on US soil were played in September 2009 against

Skye Camanachd Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in the Premier Division and has a reserve team in North Division One, as well as a Ladies team in the WCA National Division One and a Ladies reserve team in the ...

US Camanachd Association

US Camanachd operates as a body for fostering and assisting the spread of shinty within North America. It is operated by Northern California Camanachd. It is not the governing body of the sport in the US and Canada as it does not prescribe rules or govern competitions, instead recommending the rules of the

as used in Scotland.

International side

US Camanachd co-ordinates the international representative team for the United States. The United States played England in the first ever shinty international between in May 2013. England won the fixture 2–0 on neutral ground in St. Andrew's.

Clubs

Northern California Camanachd Club

Northern California Camanachd Club AKA NCCC is a shinty team based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. It was the first shinty club of the modern era in North America being founded in 2001 and has been instrumental in the spread of the sport across the United States. Set up by Americans with Scottish heritage, including Michael Bentley, who trained with

in 1983, Elheran Francis and Karl Davis. The NCCC officially came into being in 2001 as a means of fostering and developing an authentic Scottish sporting activity in northern California. They contested the first US Shinty cup, the Glenfarclas Cup, in 2004 with San Luis Obispo Shinty Club and played against their (now-defunct) state rivals several times. The NCCC hosts the Campbell Quaich (see

Quaich A quaich , archaically quaigh or quoich, is a special kind of shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl of a type traditional in Scotland. It derives from the Scottish Gaelic (), meaning a cup. History According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Br ...

). In 2005, the club made its first tour of Scotland, playing

Tayforth Camanachd Tayforth Camanachd is a shinty team originally from Perth, Scotland, but now playing at Levenhall Links, Musselburgh. In 2016, the club finished at the top of South Division 2. History Tayforth Camanachd is a shinty team originally from Perth, ...

, Edinburgh East Lothian and

Aberdour Shinty Club Aberdour Shinty Club is a shinty club which plays in Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. It is the only senior Shinty Club in Fife and was founded in 2001. In 2011, the club entered two teams into senior competition. Its first team competing in Marine Ha ...

. They repeated this trip in 2006. Whilst also being the founders of US Camanachd, the club's players have also spread the game as ambassadors to other parts of the

and there are, as of December 2010, 4 other clubs in the USA. The Northern California Camanachd Club also has Regional Challenge matches during the off Highland Games season, both clubs train year round. On 4 September 2005 the first international Shinty match between a team from USA and a team from Scotland on Scottish soil was played. The event was hosted by the Blairgowrie Highland Games where the Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC) played a series matches against Tayforth. The Cup for the match series was provided by the Pleasanton Blairgowrie Fergus Sister City Organization and the "Player of the Match" award was provided by the Campbell Highland Games Association. The hosts Tayforth took home the cup, which they retained in 2006. Northern California Camanachd Club also participated in the first Annual Edinburgh East Lothian Levenhall Six a Side Shinty Tournament in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

on 5 September 2005, other teams were Edinburgh East Lothian,

and Edinburgh University Women's team. Edinburgh East Lothian won the tournament with NCCC coming in 3rd out of 4 teams. In June 2006

Gary Innes Gary Innes (born 13 December 1980) is a Scottish musician, shinty player, composer and a broadcaster from Spean Bridge, Lochaber, Scotland. He was a founder member of Scottish folk-rock band Mànran. Music Innes has had a professional c ...

, Captain of Fort William Shinty Club and Man of the Match for the 2005

visited to California to play Shinty and to teach at a workshop hosted by the Northern California Camanachd Club open to all US Shinty Clubs. Gary Innes will be returning in June 2007 to teach another workshop open to all clubs and individuals. This workshop will help developing clubs as well as beginning level players. The club played its first twelve a-side fixture in Scotland against

on 6 September 2007, they were defeated 9–0. The spring of 2008 marked the inaugural season of the Northern California Camanachd League Fixtures. The club was divided into three geographical regions: South Bay AKA Bayside Bears, North Bay AKA North Bay Rovers, and San Mateo AKA San Mateo Hooligans. Each team played each other twice in a six-game season. The club also brought shinty to the Pleasanton Highland Games in 2008. In 2009, they returned to Pleasanton, where they also hosted

in the first ever international match on US soil. In September 2010 Northern California Camanachd traveled north to play Washington Camanachd and the Oregon Shinty Club at the Kelso Highlander Festival in

Kelso, Washington Kelso is a city in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Washington and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,720. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan statistical area, which h ...

. This is the first time that three US shinty clubs have met and played one another, and most likely the first time in history that three non-Scottish shinty clubs have ever met. NCC won 5–1 against Oregon and 3–0 against Washington. Further US shinty tournaments are being planned.

The MacRae Shield

The MacRae Shield is the trophy awarded to the Winner of the Norcal League. It was first presented in 2010 and was inscribed with the names of the three previous winners. It is named after John MacRae, former Skye Camanachd player, who donated the presentation camans upon it.

Central California Camanachd

Formerly the Washington Camanachd franchise, this has been in existence for over four years, playing against the Northern California Camanachd club and was represented on the US International side that traveled to Scotland to compete in the 2014 St Andrews Sixes Tournament.

Oregon Camanachd

As of 2010, a shinty franchise has started in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Oregon competed against NCCC and Washington at the Kelso Highland Games in September 2010.

New England Camanachd

A new club to begin in 2011, this franchise was started by an ex-Washington player who moved to Boston, this is now the second active club on the East Coast after the North Carolina Clubs.

Defunct Clubs

Morro Bay Shinty Club

Morro Bay Shinty Club was the second

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

club in the modern era of shinty in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The club was founded as San Luis Obispo Shinty Club in 2004, adopting the wider scope of

Morro Bay Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 census. The town ...

to increase the club's catchment area in 2006. The club founded the Glenfarclas Cup, the first intra-club US based Shinty cup, played at present between Morro Bay and Northern California Camanachd Club in 2004 and 2005. The Cup is sponsored by

Glenfarclas Glenfarclas distillery is a Speyside whisky distillery in Ballindalloch, Scotland. ''Glenfarclas'' translates as meaning ''valley of the green grass''. The distillery is owned and run by the Grant family. The distillery has six stills which are ...

, who also sponsor Morro Bay. The club planned to tour Scotland in 2007 but as of 4 April 2007 the club is no longer active, please contact the Northern California Camanachd Club for information on shinty in Central or Southern California.

North Carolina Shinty Association

The North Carolina Shinty Association (NCSA) became the newest East Coast shinty group in the fall of 2010. The group mission is to expand knowledge/interest in the game of shinty into all of North Carolina and provide shinty competition to the citizens of this state. The NCSA 2011 season is starting in March. Two clubs are currently playing in the Premier league, the Fuquay Varina Tigers and the Erwin Wolves.

Clubs of the NCSA

Fuquay Varina Camananachd Club The Fuquay-Varina Camanachd Club (FVCC) was formed in September 2010 and was located in the southern part of

Wake County, North Carolina Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

in the shadow of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. The club was founded by Timothy Rogers, an American with Scottish roots. The team is a part of the North Carolina Shinty Association. Its mascot was a tiger and its colors were orange/black. Erwin Shinty Club The Erwin Shinty Club (ESC) was formed in October 2010 and was located in the eastern part of Harnett County. The club was founded by Daniel Abbey, an American with English roots. The team was a part of the North Carolina Shinty Association. Its mascot was a wolf and its colors were red, black and white. The Erwin Shinty Club was an offshoot club from the FVCC formed to create true shinty competition in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The teams shared a practice field.

Awards of the NCSA

Houston Camanachd

Houston Camanachd Club was the third shinty team to be established in

in the modern era in 2005. The club was founded by Warren Clifford, a shinty player from the NCCC. The developmental aim of the club was to compete against the other shinty teams in North America. However, their extreme distance from any other club, the rest of the clubs being on the Western Seaboard, meant that Houston did not develop into a fully blown club and as of 2010 can be considered to be inactive.

Dunedin Camanachd

Dunedin Camanachd was founded in the Spring of 2006 by an Ex-Pat Scot, being the First East Coast club in a century. Located in

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is ...

, Dunedin Camanachd drew their co-ed player base throughout the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

area. The club was affiliated to

Lewis Camanachd Lewis Camanachd ( gd, Comann Camanachd Leòdhais is the senior shinty team from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The club entered North Division Three for the first time in 2011. This was the first time a team from the Western Isles ...

in Scotland and received a donation of equipment from the fledgling club. The management relocated to Washington State which led to Dunedin folding.

Colours

*NCCC – International: Blue, Gold, Grey. Domestic Teams of the NCCC: Bay Side Bears: Blue, Gold White, North Bay Rovers: Green and Black, San Mateo Hooligans: Maroon and White *Washington – Blue *Oregon – Green *North Carolina Shinty Association (NCSA) – Red Domestic Teams of the NCSA: Fuquay-Varina Tigers: Orange and Black, Erwin Wolves: Red and Black Defunct clubs *Morro Bay – Red and White Stripes *Houston – Black and Gold *Dunedin – Blue and Green

References

External links

US Camanachd Association Official Site
{{Shinty teams Shinty Foreign relations of Scotland Scottish-American culture