Shinty is a Scottish sport which could be compared to a mix of Hockey with some Footballing rules. There is no exact date for the creation of Shinty but it is believed to be over 2,000 years old. The game is mostly played in Scotland, with it also being enjoyed in some parts of England and areas of Scottish settlement.

A Shinty game consists of two teams of 12 players, whose objective is to get the ball into the opponent’s goal, much like in a game of football. Also similarly to football, a shinty game consists of two 45-minute periods with opponents swapping halves during the interval. Shinty also features corners, free hits and penalties are awarded similarly to football.

Shinty is often paralleled with Hockey, due to the use of a caman (stick) to move the ball. However, Shinty can be more rigorous than Hockey, with players allowed to go shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. Shinty also allows players to control the ball with their chest and both ends of the caman. Fouls are often awarded for misuse of the caman. Players are not allowed to hit the opponent’s caman with their own. This is called hacking and will result in a foul. A foul will cause either a free hit or a penalty if the infraction takes place inside the penalty area. Fouls can also be called for hitting an opponent with a caman or controlling the ball with one foot. If foul play is judged to have occurred, the resulting player can receive a yellow or red card. If a player receives two yellow cards or one red card, they are ejected from the game and cannot be replaced with a teammate. The winner is the team that scores the most goals across the game.

The highest senior level of shinty is the Mowi Premier Division for men and the WCA Mowi National division, which were last won by Kingussie and Badenoch respectively. The University of Aberdeen is the sole senior representative in the Mowi league system. The men’s team currently play in the Mowi North Division 2, the third tier of Shinty. They finished the previous season in an impressive third place, only beaten out by Beauly and Kilmallie.

Scottish Student Sport offers a variety of shinty competitions.

The Scottish Student Shinty League sees university teams play against each other continuously throughout the academic year.

The October Shinty Festival helps gives a platform for newer players to experience the sport.

The Littlejohn Vase (Men’s) and McHue and Porter Cup (Women’s) are knock-out tournaments that are fiercely contested by universities.

The Camogie-Shinty Hurling International sees Scottish Shinty players take on Camogie/Hurling competitors from Ireland in November.

If you are interested in joining a shinty club/society, click the links below:

RGU: https://www.rguunion.co.uk/getinvolved/societies/shinty/

University of Aberdeen: https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/club/shinty/

University of Dundee: https://sportsunion.dundee.ac.uk/clubs/shinty/

University of Edinburgh: https://www.eusu.ed.ac.uk/organisation/shinty/

University of Glasgow: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/sport/whatson/club/shinty/

University of St. Andrews: https://shinty.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/

University of Stirling: https://www.stirlingstudentsunion.com/sportsunion/clubs/shinty/

University of Strathclyde: https://www.strathunion.com/sports-union/club-sport/club/7148/

Sports Chair: Lee Thompson – sss.shinty@gmail.com

Governing Body: Camanachd Association – https://shinty.com/