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Shinty In The Armed Forces - Two Decades On | |
24 March 2014 It is 20 years since shinty was reintroduced into the Armed Forces and SCOTS Camanachd plan a series of celebratory events to mark the occasion. SCOTS Camanachd club secretary Captain Robert Stoddart is originally from Skye and he is in no doubt how far the club has come since former Scotland Head Coach and former Glenurquhart co-manager Fraser MacKenzie resurrected shinty in the Armed Forces back in 1994. Captain Stoddart said, “The club is on its third name in 20 years and is now drawn from the Navy and Royal Marines, Army and RAF unlike the solely Army team which Fraser formed in 1994. In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary it is hoped that the club will host a sixes tournament towards the latter end of the year and travel to Ireland for a shinty / hurling rematch with the Irish Defence Force.” Fraser MacKenzie recalls the early days back in 1994 only too well. He said, “I can remember the formation of the team very well indeed. The Queens Own Highlanders had just been posted to Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh from Munster in Germany and we were preparing for the amalgamation with the Gordon Highlanders. I had just got back involved in shinty by signing for Tayforth and I got talking to a few of the boys in the regiment about starting a team. I asked for an interview with the then sports officer Major Hugh Young. I said. “Sir, we are a Highland regiment, we have Rugby teams, football teams, skiing teams, we even have a bloody cricket team but we don't have a shinty team.” He asked me how many players we had and I handed him a list of 30 players within the regiment. The list was made up of former players most of which had not picked up a stick since High School and soldiers who wanted give it a go. Within the list were players such as Paul Ross (Caberfeidh), Dickie MacKenzie (Inverness and Lovat) and myself who all had league experience. Major Young agreed that we should start the team and we were given funding to buy equipment.” These early days were not straightforward though recalls MacKenzie, “We started arranging friendly matches and we entered sixes competitions but it was still very hard to get a team on the park as we had guys away on courses all the time and we were training for an imminent two year tour of Northern Ireland. When we started talking to the Camanachd Association back in about 1995, we didn't really get taken seriously. The one person at that time who showed interest and should be credited with helping set the club up is the late Johnny “Ach” MacRae from Kinlochshiel. He was the Camanachd Association’s Publicity Convenor at the time and he was a great help.” There were times when the day job had to come first though. MacKenzie said, “When we were posted to Londonderry in 1995 as the newly formed Highlanders Regiment, the team had to be put on hold as it was an operational tour of duty. But the planning didn't stop and towards the end of the tour we started getting things moving again and we arranged a tour of the North with games against Strathglass, Kinlochshiel, Inverness and Lochbroom. Again Johnny “Ach” MacRae helped and when we were posted to Catterick in the North of England, we saw through the full shinty tour.” When the time came for MacKenzie to leave the army, it was important to both leave the shinty team in safe hands and to implement some clever strategic planning for the future. “I had decided to leave the army so I was in my last year when Robert Stoddart from Skye was posted back to the regiment. Here was a guy with the determination to keep the thing going. We looked at the best way to set the club up for the future and we decided to ask the Commanding Officer (CO) to become the Chieftain and this post would pass on to the next CO and so on. I'm sure he felt very proud but, in all honesty, the main reason for his appointment was so that he might feel that he has a duty to support the team and nobody has more power than the CO. The next position to fill was that of Club President. The idea was to find someone with an interest in shinty who also had a bit of clout so we asked Captain Brian Ross to take on that role and he did it very well and he was very supportive. I left the Regiment in 1997 and Robert Stoddart, who has gone on to become a Captain, and Pate Marshall, now also a Captain, have grown the team through some very challenging times. I have to take my hat off to these guys as they have done a great job and they managed to win the Bullough Cup along the way.” MacKenzie is very clear about the benefits of having a Forces shinty team. “Having the team means that players who decide to join the Forces still have the opportunity to play the game and when they leave, they can easily fit back into their local clubs rather than being lost to the game. It’s fantastic that the team has managed to keep going through all its commitments since 1994. Robert Stoddart and the boys have done a great job!” Shinty continues to flourish in the Armed Forces, albeit that it is very much a minority sport. Planning is ongoing for the creation of a development squad which will give access to shinty for members of the Armed Forces that have previously never played the sport. Any members of the Armed Forces who wish to play or try the game for the first time should contact the club secretary by e mail: robertstoddart@hotmail.com The club are particularly keen to recruit more players from the Navy and Royal Marines. (Photograph is of the first Queens Own Highlanders Team) |