The Camanachd Association’s annual disability festival enables additional support needs (ASN) pupils from all over Scotland to come together, learn new skills, make friends, and have fun!
An inspiring festival for all
The disability festival is a residential two-day celebration of shinty culminating in a round robin tournament between all the participating schools. 2022 marks the first time the disability festival has run since the pandemic, and it was inspiring to see so many schools coming together for the first time in three years.
Camanachd Association Youth Director, Willie MacDonald, said: “This is one of the most rewarding events we hold annually as we are bringing together children who don’t get many opportunities to compete in shinty. The event grows in popularity each year, and it was great to see Lochaber High School and Kingussie High School taking part for the first time”.
Nine teams and seven schools from all over the country including: Lochaber, Badenoch, Glasgow and North Ayrshire enjoyed coaching from qualified shinty coaches as well as enjoying a film in the evening.
The festival took place at the Aviemore all-weather pitch, with day one being dedicated to teaching the kids the basic shinty skills they would need the following day.
Bringing people together through sport
The tournament was played on a round robin format, with all nine teams playing each other once. Each match was extremely competitive with some excellent play and great goals scored throughout the day. This year, Abercorn, from Glasgow, the 2018 winners topped the group 1 point ahead of 2019 winners Lockhart Campus.
Scottish Disability Sport CEO, Gavin Macleod, said: “Congratulations to the Camanachd Association on another successful Disability First Shinty Festival and well done to all the schools, coaches and players who participated.”
Shinty: a strategic priority
The Camanachd Association made restarting shinty for the whole community a priority when shinty was allowed to resume in June 2021 and we take our responsibility to give everyone equal access to our sport very seriously.
“Creating a diverse and inclusive culture across Shinty is a cross cutting theme in all that we do to engage our whole community. The disability festival is one of the ways that we are able to ensure that opportunities are provided for as many people as possible and we look forward to its growth in the coming years.” - National Development Manager, Ronald Ross.
