Highland Council recognised the shinty work undertaken by Alness Academy Gaelic Teacher Eoghan Stewart at their Annual Awards at Smithton Free Church, Inverness on Thursday 17 November 2016.
Communities across the Highlands were invited to nominate staff who they felt deserved special recognition for the work they do and Eoghan was nominated for running The Cupa Iomain na h-Òige - a national shinty competition for primary schools run though the medium of Gaelic.
Working in partnership with the Highland Council’s Gaelic Team and Highlife Highland, Eoghan organised a national shinty event for P4 – P7 Gaelic Medium pupils from schools across Scotland, taking the language out of the classroom setting.
The event took place in Newtonmore and was held entirely in Gaelic. FilmG saw this as an opportunity to include a sports category within this year’s FilmG competition and they liaised with Eoghan, as they filmed the competition, providing commentary on the young Gaels’ heroics.
Teams from Newtonmore, Lochaber, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh all took part and, after a competitive day’s play, the Newtonmore youngsters were victorious in the shinty competition with Bun-Sgoil Ghàidhlig Loch Abar being presented with the Duais Gàidhlig for commitment to the language.
In his nomination, Seumas Charity said: “This is the next generation of shinty players and Gaelic speakers and it’s vital that they see the rich connection between sport and language from a young age. Gaelic medium education has been important to the growth of the sport in many areas and we are very keen to tap into that energy.
He added, “Iomain Cholmcille is an innovative project and we feel that Eoghan Stewart has been the driving force and inspiration behind the project and therefor are of the opinion that he and Iomain Cholmcille are worthy of an award within this category.”
With the evenings compare Norman MacLeod from STV News on hand; Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael presented Eoghan with his award.
Speaking after the event, Eoghan Stewart said, “It's a massive honour personally and it was very humbling to receive this award on the same night as some incredible projects. The aim has always just been to get people speaking Gaelic and playing shinty together and I hope we can continue to promote the language and sport together.”
Eoghan Stewart has been the key figure behind Iomain Cholmcille since its inception in 2008 and he went on to say, “We are really proud of what we've achieved over the last decade with Iomain Cholmcille. I'd like to thank everyone who has helped with the project in that time and hopefully we can continue to go from strength to strength with the Gaelic International Series and Cupa Iomain na h-Òige for Gaelic Medium Pupils as well as other projects. The message to any shinty players with Gaelic is to use it as often as possible. Gaelic and shinty can both gain strength from each other."