Shinty in the United States
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Shinty was played in its original form throughout North and South America by Scottish settlers until the early 1900s when the practice died out.[1] Shinty, and its close Irish relative hurling, are recognised as being the progenitors of ice hockey [2] 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 once again took an interest in the sport, with the first club being established in northern California. Since 2000, a concerted initiative, with support from the Camanachd Association in Scotland, 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 itself made the long trip to New York City for the Tartan Day celebrations.
Steps are afoot to open franchises in Oregon, Utah, Alabama, Louisiana and Arizona.
It is a significant step for the sport of shinty to spread to new markets such as the United States and Canada which have large Scottish Gaelic communities.
[edit] Northern California Camanachd Club
Northern California Camanachd Club AKA NCCC is a shinty team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 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 Skye Camanachd 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 have played against their state rivals several times since. The NCCC also hosts the Campbell Quaich (see Quaich).
In 2005, the club made its first tour of Scotland, playing Tayforth Camanachd, Edinburgh East Lothian and Aberdour Shinty Club. 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 United States and there are now four 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 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 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 on 05 September 2005, other teams were Edinburgh East Lothian,Aberdour Shinty Club 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, Captain of Fort William Shinty Club and Man of the Match for the 2005 Camanachd Cup 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 Skye Camanachd on 6th 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, North Bay, and San Mateo. Each team played each other twice in a six game season.
[edit] Morro Bay Shinty Club
Morro Bay Shinty Club was the second shinty club in the modern era of shinty in North America. The club was founded as San Luis Obispo Shinty Club in 2004, adopting the wider scope of Morro Bay 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, who also sponsor Morro Bay. The club planned to tour Scotland in 2007 but as of 04 April 2007 the Club is no longer active, please contact the Northern California Camanachd Club for information on shinty in Central or Southern California.
[edit] Houston Camanachd
Houston Camanachd Club was the third shinty team to be established in North America in the Modern Era in 2005.
The Club was founded by Warren Clifford, a shinty player from the NCCC. It is a developmental aim of the club to compete against the other shinty teams in North America.
[edit] 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 Camanachd draws their co-ed player base throughout the Tampa Bay area. The club is affiliated to Lewis Camanachd in Scotland.
The Dunedin Franchise is in the process of relocation to Washington State in order to allow for the spread of shinty franchises into Vancouver and Oregon,
[edit] Washington Camanachd
In the spring of 2006, the Washington Camanachd Club aka WCC was established in Seattle. The club has a state wide reach and has two teams.
The club are seeking to also expand shinty in the neighbouring state of Oregon.
[edit] Colours
- NCCC - International: Blue, Gold, White Stripes. Domestic: Blue, Grey, White or Red and Gold.
- Morro Bay - Red and White Stripes
- Houston - Black and Gold
- Washington - Blue
- Dunedin - Blue and Green
[edit] External links
- US Camanachd Association Official Site
- HCC On-line
- NCCC On-line
- WCC On-Line
- Morro Bay Shinty Club
- Dunedin Camanachd
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