Ronald Ross, shinty’s all time top scorer and National Development Officer for the Camanachd Association visited Stornoway last Wednesday and he delivered a mix of coaching and games to Primary School pupils from across the island at Stornoway Primary School.
There were 32 children in attendance, with 3 pupils travelling from Lochs and a couple from Tung. There were two sections of games, one for beginners and one for those with shinty experience.
Ronald awarded the player of the day to Harry Bray and Harry received a signed shinty ball for his efforts, one of many promising youngsters who make it look bright for the future of shinty in the islands.
In the evening, the shinty foundation coaching course was delivered in the primary school with five new coaches, Saskia, Anna, Alicia, Sean and Euan trained to deliver youth shinty across Lewis and Harris. Thanks also to Saskia for the above photos.
Ronald told the BBC, who featured the youngsters on BBC An Là “The Camanachd Association is looking to develop in the Western Isles. Lewis have had a team for the last five year, it’s all very good having a team at the moment but you’ve got to look to the next generation and this is the future. It’s great to see all the kids participating, they are very keen and eager. There are some really talented kids so the future looks bright for shinty in the Western Isles.”
Iain Sinclair said “We always like having Ronald over and we look forward to his next visit. It’s great to have somebody who has achieved so much in sport visit the islands. We now have some young coaches fully trained as well which will help with the spread of shinty in the Islands Ronald received the best of Hebridean hospitality departing with a salmon and a marag dhubh (is ghorm) and the club is looking forward to his next visit..”
We face Glengarry this Saturday at Shawbost for the first time. The Lochaber team defeated us 7-0 at Craigard Park earlier in the season, and they are challenging at the top of North Division Two. Lewis veteran Duncan MacIntyre is a former Garry player. . Throw-up will be at 2.30pm but please follow the club on Facebook and Twitter for any updates.