A newly formed partnership between Live Active Leisure, The Camanachd Association & Perth UHI will see the return of club shinty to Perthshire after a 12-year absence. Through increased participation of the sport across several Perth & Kinross Primary Schools, the partners aim to capitalise on the interest and push to develop community-led shinty in Perth City.

‘We are delighted to bring shinty back to Perth & Kinross with the support of the Camanachd Association & Perth UHI. The Gaelic Mod 2022 based in Perth City was a clear indicator that there is an appetite for regular shinty activity to be on offer to all ages across the locality and it is brilliant to see the legacy of the event progressing towards the formalisation of a local shinty club.’ Logan McConachie, Live Active Sport Development Officer.

The Camanachd Association who have been instrumental in the recent development work shared their views.

‘It has been great to see the recent growth and development of shinty in the Perth and Kinross Area within UHI and some local primary schools. The Camanachd Association is excited to work in partnership with Live Active and UHI Perth to further support, develop and create opportunities for prospective players and coaches. We would be delighted to support coaches and volunteers by providing coaching qualifications. This is an exciting time for shinty in Perth and we look forward to creating opportunities for participation and competition.’ Alaina MacLennan - East Development and Welfare Officer.

The group of partners are holding a ‘Shinty Returns’ meeting at Perth UHI, Academy for Sport & Wellbeing on Monday 22nd April at 6.00pm. Any interested stakeholders are invited to attend and are encouraged to share the invitation within their local networks. The aims will be to establish a route map of how shinty will return to Perthshire and to help gauge interest on where best to utilise the resources from each of the partners.

Perth UHI’s Active Campus Coordinator, Lindsey Brown, shared the organisations excitement for the project.

‘Recently Shinty has been building momentum at UHI Perth and we are really excited about it. Our HNC coaching students completed their 'sports coaching practitioner - knowing yourself' module through learning the sport and teaching it to the local Gaelic speaking Goodlyburn Primary School pupils. The feedback from both groups was extremely positive with everyone inspired to continue playing and coaching Shinty.

We also recently had our very first UHI Shinty teams enter the Littlejohn & McHue Porter Shinty Tournament, and the success was unbelievable. We had UHI Perth students involved with both teams with women taking home the bronze medal and the men’s team winning the coveted Littlejohn Vase. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Live Active and The Camanachd Association to support Shinty coming back to Perth and eager to see the sports development continue.’

For anyone wishing to learn more about the sport of shinty, please visit www.shinty.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Aarron MacLeod – Camanachd Association - Communications & Marketing Manager

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. T: 07926237825