Scottish Student Sport

Who plays? Shinty hails from the Scottish Highlands and has a distinct Celtic influence – being similar to the Irish games of Hurling and Camogie. The sport is very fast and skilful, and requires a great deal of courage from its participants. The game was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling but has developed different rules and features. These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association.  Universities have played an instrumental part in the modern development of the sport in Scotland and its governing body, the Camanachd Association – Aberdeen University being the first fully constituted Shinty Club in Scotland.  There are currently 7 Universities that participate in Shinty.

What is there? League running from October to March and several events which occur throughout the year including;

Freshers’ Tournament – This event occurs at the start of October and sees all of the institutions within Scotland come together for a tournament aimed at providing the chance for players new to Shinty to compete. It also sees the international trials for the representative squad run concurrent to the tournament.

Camogie-Shinty Hurling International -The Annual Eire-Alba-Oilthigh Camogie-Shinty-Hurling International is another highlight of the student calendar. Played every November, the match sees the cream of Scottish Student Shinty (both male and female) clash with their Camogie and Hurling counterparts in Ireland.

Littejohn Vase and McHue and Porter Cup -The Littlejohn Vase, which is the second most expensive sporting trophy in Scotland is a fiercely competitive inter-university tournament contested since 1905, with the women competing for the McHue and Porter Cup since 1999, this is deemed as the biggest tournament for all the students that participate in University Shinty.

SSS Shinty continues to thrive today: providing high class Shinty in a winter league complimentary to the national summer season, and helping to introduce countless new players to the game – from all over the world.

When does all this happen? League running from October to March and several events which occur throughout the year.