Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, and was even played for a considerable time in northern England and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.
The Scotland national shinty team is the team selected to represent Scotland and the sport of shinty in the annual composite rules Shinty/Hurling International Series against the Ireland national hurling team. The team is selected by the Camanachd Association.
Biography
MacNeil, along with his older brother, Scott, started out playing for Lochaber Camanachd. He and his brother then moved to Fort William, where they became integral parts of the team. Drew was captain of Fort William when they won the Camanachd Cup in 1992.
Lochaber Camanachd is a shinty club based in Spean Bridge, Lochaber, Scotland. The club's senior team play in the Marine Harvest Premiership while a reserve team plays in the North Division Two. Lochaber also field a woman's team.
Fort William Shinty Club is a shinty club from Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. The club has two sides in the Shinty league system, a first team which was relegated from the Premiership in 2013 and a reserve side in North Division Two. The first team were Camanachd Cup holders four times in succession, between 2007 and 2010, but were knocked out in the second round in 2011. The club also has a vibrant youth system.
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd Cup is the premier competition in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty.
He moved to Inverness for three seasons but returned to An Aird to win the Camanachd Cup again in 2005. He then became manager of Fort William in 2007 and was the manager as Fort won an historic 3-in-a-row Camanachd Cup finals.[permanent dead link].
Inverness Shinty Club is a shinty club from Inverness, Scotland. The first team competes in North Division One and the second team in North Division Three. Founded in 1887 as Inverness Town and County Shinty Club to distinguish from other clubs in Inverness such as Clachnacuddin, Inverness moved to the Bught Park in 1934. Inverness won the Camanachd Cup in 1952. The club struggles to compete for players with the wide proliferation of football clubs in Inverness, in particular Inverness Caledonian Thistle but still manages to put out two teams.
An Aird is both an area of Fort William, Scotland, and also the largest dedicated shinty park in the town and is situated on the east bank of Loch Linnhe, near the centre of the town. It is located next to the Nevis Centre. An Aird regularly hosts both the Camanachd Cup Final and the Composite Rules Shinty/Hurling Internationals and is considered one of the finest parks in shinty. It is home to Fort William Shinty Club's various squads who have played there since moving from Claggan Park in the 1980s.
However towards the end of the 2009 season, MacNeil was unceremoniously sacked due to a fall-out with the club committee in the October. This saga was played out in the Highland media.
The Highlands is a historic region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.
He was appointed Scotland manager in early 2010. He has also been a regular pundit on BBC Alba coverage of shinty despite his lack of Scots Gaelic. MacNeil became a member of the Glenurquhart coaching staff in early 2011 and on the resignation of Jim Barr in October 2011, he was appointed to the top job.
BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG ALBA. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. The station is unique in that it is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership and is also the first multi-genre channel to come entirely from Scotland with almost all of its programmes made in Scotland.
Glenurquhart Shinty Club is a shinty team which plays in Drumnadrochit on the banks of Loch Ness, Scotland. It draws its players from the part of the Great Glen which encompasses Drumnadrochit, Lewiston and Glenurquhart. The club has been existence since 1885. They won their first senior trophy, the MacAulay Cup in 2012. After 2013 and 2014 saw them lose two successive MacTavish Cups, they are currently the holders as of 2015.
MacNeil expressed an interest in staying on as Scotland manager despite conceding the series to Ireland twice in 2010 and 2011. The Camanachd Association extended MAcNeil's contract to 2013.
As shinty is an amateur sport, MacNeil was formerly a prison officer and is now a community worker in Merkinch.
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Related Research Articles
The Camanachd Association is the world governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game. Its main competitions are the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup and the Mowi Premiership and the Mowi Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup.
Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in the Premier Division and has a reserve team in North Division One, as well as a Ladies team in the WCA National Division One and a Ladies reserve team in the WCA Development League. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree.u
Oban Camanachd are a shinty team based in Oban, Argyll and Bute, Scotland who currently play in the Marine Harvest Premiership. One of the oldest Camanachd clubs they were founded in 1889.
Kingussie Camanachd is a shinty team from Kingussie, Scotland and according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive leagues and going 4 years unbeaten at one stage in the early 1990s. The club most recently won the Camanachd Cup in 2014, but was almost relegated in 2015, a final-day playoff victory against Kilmallie their salvation. The second team plays in North Division 1 and won the Sutherland Cup in 2011.
Lochcarron Camanachd is a shinty club from Wester Ross, Scotland.
Newtonmore Camanachd Club is a shinty club from Newtonmore, Badenoch, Scotland. It is historically the game's most successful side, having won the Camanachd Cup a record 33 times and are present holders. They won the Marine Harvest Premier Division seven years in a row beginning in 2010.
Kyles Athletic Shinty Club is a shinty team from Tighnabruaich, Argyll, Scotland. It is one of the sport's most illustrious names, presently playing in the Marine Harvest Premiership with their second team is playing in South Division one.
Lovat Shinty Club is a shinty club from Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, Scotland. The club was formed in 1888 and has a healthy rivalry with near neighbours Beauly. The club takes its name from the area within which it plays in and shared this name with the late Second World War hero, Lord Lovat.
Ronald Ross, MBE is a retired Scottish shinty player who played for Kingussie Camanachd. He is a forward, the only man to have ever scored more than 1000 goals in the sport and who has broken several other records as an individual and as part of Kingussie's record-breaking first team.
The Mod Cup is a trophy in the sport of shinty first competed for in 1969, traditionally played for by the two teams who are based closest to the host venue of the Royal National Mod. The current holders are Oban Camanachd.
The Balliemore Cup is a knock-out cup in the sport of shinty. It is the Intermediate Championship run under the auspices of the Camanachd Association and only first teams competing in the National, North Division One and South Division One are eligible for entry.
The MacTavish Cup is a knock-out cup competition in the sport of shinty. It is competed for by senior teams from the North of Scotland district. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shinty. The current holders are Newtonmore. The competition is currently sponsored by cottages.com.
The Strathdearn Cup is a knock-out competition in the sport of shinty. The present holders are Lochcarron.
The Premier Division is the premier division in shinty. Based in Scotland and formed in 1996, the league is the top tier of the Shinty league system. Set-up in order to create a Scotland-wide league for the first time, it constitutes as one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam of shinty.
The Albert Smith Memorial Medal is the award given to the Man of the Match in the final of the Camanachd Cup, the blue riband trophy of the sport of shinty. It has been presented every year since 1972 by the Smith family of Fort William in honour of Albert Smith Sr. The widow of his only son, Albert Smith Jr. currently presents the medal. Albert Sr.'s grandson, Victor Smith is a former player for Fort William Shinty Club but never won the medal despite featuring as a key player in several Fort William wins.
Stuart MacKintosh AKA Smack, is a shinty player and musician from Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness, Scotland. He plays in goal for Glenurquhart Shinty Club and he is the current Scotland goalkeeper.
