Four Skye Camanachd players have been included in the Scotland Under 17 squad which has a new sponsor ahead of their 2019 Ireland tour.
The annual tour, which has been taking place for over twenty years, sees the country’s elite shinty players, many of whom played in the previous year’s North vs South U17 match, play shinty / hurling challenge matches against their hurling counterparts from Kildare and Dublin.
There are places for four Skye Camanachd first team players: Jamie Gillies, Ross Gordon, William MacKinnon and Martin Pringle.
This year’s tour will be sponsored by Sitekit, a technology company headquartered on the Isle of Skye and now with offices in London and Edinburgh servicing the digital health and cyber security markets.
Sitekit founder Campbell Grant, himself a former shinty player with Glasgow University, Aberdeen Camanachd and Skye Camanachd in the 1980s, said: “Sitekit is proud to sponsor the Scotland U17s tour. We have a long connection with the sport and we wish the team and all those involved every success and a safe trip.”
Camanachd Association Youth Director, Willie MacDonald, added: “We are delighted to have Sitekit’s support for this year’s tour. The Scotland Under 17 Squad, and the tour itself, is an integral part of shinty’s player pathway; it is the last opportunity for players to test themselves before preparing to step up to Under 21 and senior level. This year’s squad is made up of some highly skilful players, most of whom already hold spots in their own club’s first team. I am in no doubt that we will see some excellent displays of shinty / hurling skill.”
This year’s squad is:
Ryan Craig – Bute
Cam Clark – Kilmallie
Cameron MacIntosh – Glenurquhart
Ryan Boyle – Fort William
Jamie Gillies – Skye Camanachd
Calum Grover – Newtonmore
Liam Borthwick – Kingussie
Duncan Matheson – Fort William
Kieran MacPherson – Kingussie
Daniel Sloss – Oban Camanachd
Ross Gordon – Skye Camanachd
Conor Kennedy – Kyles Athletic
Alistair MacRae – Fort William
Lewis Clark – Fort William
Martin Pringle – Skye Camanachd
William MacKinnon – Skye Camanachd
Lachie Shaw – Fort William
Fort William’s Lewis Clark has been included for the third time with club-mates Lachie Shaw, Ryan Boyle and Alistair MacRae are all capped for the second time as are Oban Camanachd’s Daniel Sloss, Skye Camanachd’s William MacKinnon and Bute’s Ryan Craig.
The new caps include Kinlochshiel’s Duncan Matheson, Conor Kennedy from Kyles Athletic and Calum Grover from Newtonmore.
There is also a place for Kingussie’s Kieran MacPherson who missed out last year through injury.
The squad travels across to Dublin on Sunday 28 July 2019, taking in the All Ireland semi-final at Croke Park, and return on Wednesday 31 July 2019.
Photograph courtesy of Moreen Pringle:
(Left to right): Sitekit founder Campbell Grant, Skye players Martin Pringle, Ross Gordon and Jamie Gillies, who are included in the Scotland U17 squad, and Sitekit CEO Elgar Finlay.