Shinty: Skye North End kids ‘gutted’ after new rule blocks national finals trip – but Camanachd Association say change will ‘encourage participation’
North End Shinty - made up of youngsters from several small Skye primaries - look set to be barred from playing due at the event due to a new limit on total school roll numbers for combined teams.
Skye North End Shinty’s team of primary school kids face missing out on a place at the annual National First Shinty Festival after a controversial rule change.
North End, made up of players from several small North Skye primaries, have been hit be new Camanachd Association rules, which have reduced the combined school roll threshold where the pupils are drawn from to 80 (from a previous threshold of 150).
The Skye youngsters won their local area qualifiers, at which they were able to play under the previous rules.
However, they would now be forced to break up their team to compete in the national finals, which take place in Fort William on Friday, February 27.
North End coach Ronnie MacDonald said: “The children are gutted by this decision, and it is something we feel could have a detrimental effect on youth shinty going forward.
“The frustrating thing is that the new cap doesn’t take into account the number of children actually playing shinty, as a school roll might be 30-40 pupils but maybe only two or three of them play shinty.
“This decision is likely to have an impact on participation levels in many rural primary schools and not just on Skye.
“Under the new rules, the only way we could field a team would be to exclude one or two schools from our cluster, so children from the schools we cut ties with would miss out as they don’t have enough players to make up a team of their own.
‘Camanachd Association want to avoid super-teams’ – North Skye coach
“I can appreciate it’s difficult for the Camanachd Association to introduce a one-rule-fits-all solution, and I can understand that they will want to avoid having schools combine just to field so called ‘super-teams’.
“But the reality is that declining school rolls in some areas mean there is more of a need than ever to combine and the limit that’s being imposed is just too severe.”
Coach: If our cluster schools had enough players to form a team alone, they would
When asked whether it was possible to increase the number of players across the combined schools involved, so fewer schools had to come together to form a team, Ronnie said: “People might say that, and we have tried to increase interest in the past.
“You still have to find qualified coaches and provide additional equipment, so it’s not straightforward – even if the interest was there.
“If any of the schools in our cluster had sufficient numbers to go it alone, then they would do so.
“But that’s just not the case at present.”
Despite being small in numbers, North End Shinty have had many successes over the years – and not just in competitions.
MacDonald said: “Current Skye players John Gillies, Archie Millar, Seonaidh Alex Macleod and Christina Macdonald all started playing competitively here – and just look at what they have gone on to achieve.”
Camanachd Association defend rule change
Camanachd Association youth director Graeme Macdiarmid defended the decision and explained the association’s aims when introducing the lower cap.
He said: “The intention is to encourage more participation such as getting a team of six players from a combined school roll of 80 pupils rather than the same number of players from a roll of 150 pupils.
“We’re also bringing the indoor criteria in line with the outdoor competitions which were reduced to an 80-pupil cap a year ago.
“That was a success and the result from last year’s change is that there are now more children playing shinty than ever before.
“This also standardises the rules for indoor and outdoor competitions, making it clear for everyone to understand.
“The Camanachd Association has to have a one-size-fits-all set of rules that apply fairly from Fife to the Western Isles and it’s almost impossible to take into account every local issue or produce something that pleases everyone.
“We want to help wherever we can though, and our regional development officers are always available to provide taster sessions in schools or train potential new coaches to help increase overall numbers.”
The clubs claim they were only informed of the reduced cap rule in December and Mr Macdiarmid did accept a longer lead-in period might have helped, but he added several area qualifiers had already taken place without any issues.
[Source: Press and Journal]
