Shinty in northern california, usa, Shinty or camanachd

[CelticRadio]

Shintyboy, this sounds like a very fun game, as well as interesting from a culturally perspective. If I lived in California, I would love to watch a game and even participate in the game if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, I live in Massachusetts. Are there any leagues or clubs out my way that you know of? Also, is this an event played at Highland Games. I have only been to a few in the Northeast, but I don?t recall seeing this game being played.

Thanks.

[ShortBit]

I watch Hamish MacBeth on BBCAmerica.  In an episode last week they had a Shinty match.  I thought it looked a lot like the field hockey games we played when I was in school in Upstate NY.

[ShintyBoy]

SHINTY
(Camanachd)

Scotland?s Oldest Sport

Learn and play the ancient sport of the Scottish Gaels

Camanchd or Shinty is a game of the stick and ball variety and has been played in the Scottish Highlands for many years. Its origins date back 2,000 years in Scotland, and several other sports have evolved from or been influenced by Shinty, notably Golf and Ice Hockey. Shinty is also related to Field Hockey and Irish Hurling.

The Northern California Camanachd Club has Coed Teams playing in the North and South Bays. We play by the modern Camanachd Association (Scotland) rules and would invite anyone interested to participate. Our goal is to provide a traditional Scottish team sport, in addition to the usual Scottish Heavy Field type events, for Bay Area events.

A brief description of the game

Two teams (most commonly of six or twelve players a side) play on a field of similar proportions and size to a soccer pitch. Players use Camans (curved sticks with a triangular cross section) to strike the shinty ball, either in the air or on the ground, with the intention of scoring goals. Like soccer, the goal nets are guarded by a goal keeper,  the only player allowed to use hands. A Shinty match is either 15-30 minutes (for six-a-side) or 90 minutes (for twelve-a-side) in length, divided into two halves with a short break between them. Loaner Camans will be available for new players.

Contact [email protected] for more information

[scottish2]

Hey Paul

Try this had 63 hits for this game when I placed it with Massachusetts.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22SHINTY%22+and+%22Massachusetts%22

[ShintyBoy]

Shinty is not normally played at Higland Games in Scotland, generally Shinty or Camanachd have regularly matches on local pitches (fields). Since we are trying to recruit more players for now Highland Games are one of our best places for exposure, but our long range goal is to have Highland Games only be about 50% of matches and devolp a league to play similar to Scotland. As far as I know the only Shinty Clubs up and running are those on the west coast, us in Northern California and one in Oregon. I have heard rumors of a team in the mid west, but have not be able to track anyone down. We would be more than happy to help others get clubs together in other parts of the US. The more clubs, the more likely we can get some of the better Shinty teams over from Scotland to play exhibition matches. There is some similarity to Field Hockey, but the former field Hockey Players who play with us say the two sporst have some big differences as well. Shinty is more aerial than Field Hockey, with rules closer to International Football (Scoccer). BBC Scotland does extensive coverage of the matches, but unfortunately they don't make it on to BBC America yet. The triangular head of the caman (stick) makes for interesting ball handling capabilities as compared to a Field Hockey Stick. The offical site for the Camanchd Association, which is the governing body of Shinty or Camanchd in Scotland is: www.Shinty.com. There are excellent photos of the matches on the site. FYI: There is also an International match between Scotland's national Shinty Team and Ireland's national Hurling Team, playing by combined rules from each sport. I have seem these matches and they are truly fast paced and exciting to watch.

[ShintyBoy]

Well we made the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald in Scotland. A feature article concerning our activities has made the paper. This paper also covers the two arch rival Shinty teams in Scotland: Kingussie and Newtonmore.

[ShintyBoy]

We have our web site up and running:

http://www.foundrysite.com/shinty/

Please drop by and check it out

[ShintyBoy]

Hello,
Our new web site is www.norcalshinty.com
Some news from the last year

Shinty is also spreading in North America, though originally played in the 18th and 19th century by Scottish immigrants, the sport died out, however it is enjoying a revival. Two teams, Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC) and San Luis Obispo Shinty Club, play regularly on the Highland Games circuit in California. On 04 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 exhibition matches against the Tayforth Shinty Club, with Tayforth victorious. This match was followed by the Northern California Camanachd Club participating in the first inaugural Annual Edinburgh East Lothian Levenhall Six a Side Shinty Tournament in Musselburgh on 05 September 2005, other teams were Aberdour and Edinburgh University Women’s team. Edinburgh East Lothian won the tournament with the NCCC coming in 3rd out of 4 teams. As the teams in Scotland have switched from a winter schedule to a summer schedule more visitors to Scotland are seeing the sport and returning very interested in it. There is interest in forming clubs in Houston (Texas), Santa Monica and Bakersfield (Calif), Seattle (Washington), Utah and the Gulf Coast.

[ShintyBoy]

You can view Shinty matches from Scotland on line at:

Shinty is currently being broadcasted in an 8 part Gaelic sports series on BBC Scotland featuring shinty and Highland league football, etc. There is also a thirty minute programme dedicated to shinty ("An Caman") which is broadcast on the digital channel Tele G. Many shinty fans did not have access to this channel and so "An Caman" is streamed on the website - www.mnetelevision.com . There is a section dedicated to Sport and every Friday at 18:30 we add the latest "An Caman" programme.

[ShintyBoy]

Shinty and Field Hockey though they may have similar roots have evolved into very different sports, with widely differing rules and defintely different governing bodies. Many of the the most desireable techniques used in Shinty would be called as fouls in Field Hockey. To view the rules of Shinty you can go www.norcalshinty.com or to the governing body in Scotland web site: www.shinty.com. One difference in particular is in Shinty you are allowed to strike the ball with your caman (stick) over your head and I believe in Field Hockey the stick must be kept below the level of your shoulders or waist. We have former Field Hockey players in our club and they all say they much prefer Shinty over Field Hockey and would never go back it. In Shinty the Goal Keeper does not wear all of padding and protection that a Field Hockey Goalie does. The balls are different with a Shinty ball being similar in construction to an American Hard Baseball only slightly smaller in diameter. The Shinty stick or caman is beveled (triangular) and both sides of the stick are used to strike the ball, where in field hockey you only use one side of the stick. You can see photos of camans and balls in the equipment section of www.norcalshinty.com.