Media Invitation - Kingussie Shinty Club

Date:  Sunday 7 May 2000

Time: 1.00pm

Venue:  Kingussie Shinty Club, Kingussie (across track from railway station, next to football field)

Details:          

Shinty's programme for developing its younger players received a major boost from sportscotland today with the announcement of a lottery award of up to £15,000 to the Camanachd Association.

The award, made under sportscotland Lottery Fund's Junior Groups Programme, will be used to develop shinty’s newly created U18 National Youth Group.  This will benefit around 32 young players from all parts of Scotland including twins, Andrew and Euan MacMurdo from Lochgilphead and the grandson of poet Sorley MacLean, Aonghais MacDonald from Skye.

The award will be used towards funding two regional training sessions, eight national sessions and also the establishment of a shinty/hurling fixture against Ireland for this new U18 team. 

The overall aim of the new initiative is to improve the playing standard and fitness levels of the selected athletes with knock-on effects for raising the standard of play across the whole of Scottish club shinty.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, comments,  "Today's announcement represents a further investment by sportscotland in developing the future playing base of shinty.

"Our support over the past nine years in bringing more youngsters into the sport through the Team Sport Shinty programme is now paying dividends with many of those set to benefit from today’s announcement having originally come through this programme.

"Working together with the Camanachd Association we are creating a pathway which supports the development of players through from the earliest years up to the U21 and the Senior team and today's announcement helps in ensuring an even smoother transition through the age groups." 

Donnie Grant, the Camanachd Association's National Youth Group General Manager, adds, "This is a major boost for youth shinty and will allow the Camanachd Association to take the best U18 players from all over the country into a squad set up.

"It will allow us to introduce sports science and other support services available to the modern day athlete, and for any changes in preparation and lifestyle that these athletes adopt will hopefully provide a model to pass on to their other club colleagues."

You are invited to send a photographer/cameraman/reporter to the National Youth Group's first training session which takes place in Kingussie this Sunday when the young players and representatives of the Camanachd Association and sportscotland will be present.

• Since 1991, sportscotland has invested around £550,000 in a Team Sport Shinty Co-ordinator and, more recently, added two local development officers, specifically to develop the grassroots of the sport.

• Since the inception of the Lottery, sportscotland has made capital awards of over £500,000 to shinty clubs to improve facilities.

• The Junior Groups Programme began in 1997 and makes awards to governing bodies of sport, or local authorities, to assist the development of junior groups performing either nationally or regionally. The funding is to help these groups participate in co-ordinated programmes of coaching and competitive events and costs covered can include facility hire, coaching fees, accommodation, travel, equipment and competition entry fees.