Ronald Ross,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 1975) is a retired Scottish

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 ...

player who played for

Kingussie Camanachd Kingussie Camanachd is a shinty team from Kingussie, Scotland and according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive leagues and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in ...

. He is a forward, the only man to have ever scored more than 1000 goals in the sport and who has broken several other records as an individual and as part of Kingussie's record-breaking first team. The media has awarded him the nickname "

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

of the Glens" in tribute to his scoring prowess, drawing comparisons with the famous Portuguese footballer. Everyone in shinty just calls him "Ronald".

Early playing career and prime

Ross made his first Camanachd Cup appearance in 1992 against Fort William as a substitute. His father, Ian Ross, was manager that day, and had not put him in the team due to worries about nepotism. However, Ross soon began to prove his worth throughout the nineties as Kingussie swept all before them. In 2002–03, the last ever winter season for shinty, he scored 94 goals in all competitions. This was more than the accumulated totals for Kingussie's closest rivals,

Newtonmore Camanachd Club Newtonmore Camanachd Club is a shinty club from Newtonmore, Badenoch, Scotland. It is historically the most successful side in the history of Shinty, having won the Camanachd Cup a record 34 times. They won the Marine Harvest Premier Division ...

and

Fort William Shinty Club Fort William Shinty Club is a shinty club from Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. The club has two sides in the Shinty league system, a first team which was relegated from the Premiership in 2013 and a reserve side in North Division Two. The ...

in the league that season. His previous best, in season 2001–02, was 88. Ross retired from international shinty for the second time on 14 October 2007 after helping

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 ...

defeat the Irish hurlers in Fort William. He finished the 2007 season, where he helped Kingussie reclaim the Premier League title, with 72 goals. 2008 saw Ross again help Kingussie win the title but he was the victim of strong handed tactics by

in 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 ...

final that year. He scored a fantastic goal, akin to one scored in 2006 at the final in

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...

but the treatment he received from Adam Robertson was very physical.

Return to international and 1000 goals

Ross returned to International shinty/hurling in 2009 after a call from the management of the Scotland side due to his form in the 2009 season which saw him score 92 goals, two short of his all-time record. Kingussie reclaimed the league with a last day win against Kyles Athletic. In 2010, after scoring 4 goals to win the Macaulay Cup in extra time, Ross stated that he would review his playing career at the end of the season. His career total, excluding goals in reserve shinty, is in excess of 1000 goals. On 23 May 2009 he scored his 1000th goal (and 1001st) against Lovat in a MacTavish Cup Semi-final. As well as captaining Scotland, he has popularised the wearing of safety helmets amongst young players. He is employed as a shinty development officer by 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 are ...

. Ross was appointed under-21 Scotland manager for 2012.

Recognition

He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to shinty. Ronald was awarded the

Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards are annual awards given to notable Scottish people. It is sponsored by the Scotch whisky company Glenfiddich, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards are given out for art, business, envi ...

for Sport in 2009, the second time he had received this honour.

Prowess in tennis

He was Scottish junior

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

champion and was Scottish Number Two at youth level and is friends with

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...

. In early 2010, he was ironically injured by tripping on a tennis ball whilst coaching children shinty.

Newtonmore connections

In 2010, Ross was the victim of an

April Fool's April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...

prank by a shinty website which stated that he would be switching to Kingussie's bitter rivals

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( gd, Baile Ùr an t-Sléibh ) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre of Scotland There is some debate as to the lo ...

for his final season in the sport. Ironically, given his iconic status as the Kingussie player par excellence of the last 20 years, Ronald's mother is from

. Also his maternal grandfather, Minto Sellar, won the Camanachd Cup for Newtonmore in 1931. His father, Ian, from Kingussie, was a massive influence on his career. He also has a brother, Ian Jr. Ian was also awarded the MBE for services to shinty.http://www.strathspey-herald.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6003/Honour_for_shinty_legend.html

Footnotes

External links

Herald ProfileRonald Scores Goal 94In the Winning ZoneRonald Ross Scoring Against NewtonmoreRonald breaks 1000 barrier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ronald 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Highland (council area) Shinty players People from Badenoch and Strathspey Members of the Order of the British Empire