Kingussie Camanachd have asked clubs and associations to consider a number of points before coming to a decision on the proposed helmet introduction which will be put to the vote at the Camanachd Association AGM in November 2014.
The Badenoch club’s proposal would mean that as of the 2015 season ‘All players born on or after 1 January 1997 must wear a helmet and faceguard in all grades of shinty’.
This means that all players currently playing their last season of U17 shinty will be required to carry on wearing helmets with faceguards in senior shinty.
Kingussie have asked voting members to consider the following points before coming to a final decision:
- All of these players have worn helmets and faceguards all of their shinty careers up until now but, under current rules, they can choose to stop wearing them once they leave U17 shinty.
- The skill and ability levels of these players are every bit as good as their counterparts from 20-30 years ago. Helmets and faceguards do not hinder players at all if they are used to wearing them from a young age.
- The safety benefits from wearing a helmet and faceguard are obvious and surely clubs have duty of care to keep their players as safe as possible. As a sport we will also retain more players with this rule change as the amount of serious facial and head injuries will be dramatically reduced.
- Under the current rule some players will see it as a ‘coming of age right’ to stop wearing a helmet and faceguard when they reach 18 years old. It is known that peer pressure and even some older players and coaches actively discourage players from wearing them. This makes it very difficult for clubs to introduce the rule unilaterally, only a Camanachd Association rule change will be effective.
- The cost to clubs would be minimal or non-existent under this rule as all players affected will already have helmets, they will simply carry on wearing them.
- Our last point is that we would ask all committees to consult their club coaches and young player’s parents before coming to a decision on this proposal as it would be good to get a as broad a view as possible across the whole shinty community on this subject.
Anyone wishing to discuss any part of this proposal before coming to a final decision can contact Davie Anderson by mobile on 07971911698 or by email at kerrowdyke@btinternet.com.