Wednesday 1st February 2023

Want to know more about Shinty before joining a society? Here’s a quick overview of the sport and what SSS has to offer.

Shinty Image

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/

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Monday 6th June 2022

The final SSS Medal Table of the 2021/22 season is here!

The SSS Medal Table is a method for institutions to see how successful their student-athletes have been over the course of the SSS season.

The table includes all events in which medals have been awarded during the 2021/22 season.

All semester 1 and 2 events which took place have been added.

The table defaults to alphabetical but can be sorted by any of the column headings.

 

SSS Medal Table 2021/22

InstitutionGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Abertay University43
411
Ayrshire College112
Borders College11
City of Glasgow College4217
Edinburgh College224
Edinburgh Napier University4217
Fife College1427
Glasgow Caledonian University96318
Heriot Watt University10111334
Queen Margaret University123
Robert Gordon University510722
Scotland's Rural College112
UHI51410
University of Aberdeen23361978
University of Dundee34212075
University of Edinburgh876652205
University of Glasgow466245153
University of St Andrews714138150
University of Stirling433731111
University of Strathclyde32333398
University of the West of Scotland116623
Z-Guest Entries12111538

 

Total Events: 73 (88% of planned activity)

Last Updated: June 2022

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Tuesday 5th April 2022

After three years SSS has finally seen the return of the Littlejohn and McHue Porter Shinty tournaments. The day was a great success for student shinty with competitive games at all stages.

After three years SSS has finally seen the return of the Littlejohn and McHue Porter Shinty tournaments. The day was a great success for student shinty with competitive games at all stages. Read on to hear the round-up from Scottish Student Shinty.
In the Women’s McHue Porter Trophy, the University of Strathclyde topped the table after the group stage with the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh playing a decider to see who would join in the final. The University of Edinburgh came out 1-0 victors in the playoff after a very close game to progress on.
Despite this it was the University of Strathclyde Women’s who came out 3-0 winners in the final to claim the McHue Porter trophy, after a fine display of teamwork.
Within the Men’s Tournament the University of Strathclyde topped the group stage with the University of Aberdeen finishing a close 2nd. In the final nothing could separate the two teams with the match finishing goalless. It took penalties for a winner to be decided, and after 5 penalties both teams stood even again with both keepers making some excellent saves. It was then onto sudden death before captain Liam Arnott was able to find the back of the net for Strathclyde.
Congratulations to both teams today in their respective wins and to all teams in attendance for making such a good day.
Men’s Littlejohn

1st Strathclyde University

2nd Aberdeen University

3rd Edinburgh University

 

Women’s McHue Porter

1st Strathclyde University

2nd Edinburgh University

3rd Glasgow University

 

Full results can be found HERE

An album of photographs from the day can be found here.

 

Thank you to University of St Andrews for hosting us!

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Wednesday 16th December 2020

Inspiration, innovation and collaboration at every corner. These were some of the key themes that emerged from the SSS 2020 Festive Gathering. Over 70 members tuned into the virtual gathering and were treated to thought-provoking discussion, high-quality guest speakers and plenty of Festive Fun! Read all about it here!

In a change to tradition and a fitting tribute to 2020, the SSS Festive Gathering was delivered virtually this year with over 70  members across the tribe tuning in to hear from a panel of world-class athletes and leaders in sport.

Whilst the virtual gathering was a first of its kind, the longstanding tradition of participants wearing festive jumpers remained true – with some fantastic outfits on show throughout the afternoon. None more so than panelist Robyn Love (pictured below) in what is undoubtedly a candidate for the most festive photo of the year.

After an energising welcome from SSS Chair Pete Burgon, a brief review of the year gone by and finances approved – our attendees were met by two equally inspiring and thought-provoking discussions from our special guests.

First up, the Road to Tokyo panel, where SSS Head of Competitions Chris Purdie, was joined by three athletes whose experiences through student sport had helped shape their career path and their journey to next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Neah Evans (Cycling), Megan Gaffney (Rugby) and Robyn Love (Wheelchair Basketball) discussed how their positive student sport experiences helped them reach where they are today. From balancing the workload of their studies with the pressure of performing in their sport and also trying to keep up a social life in the process, the panelists spoke honestly and fondly of their student days.

All three touched upon the huge sacrifices required to make it at the top level and acknowledged the vital support they received from their institutions and staff during their time at University. This support has been vital to them and many other young athletes looking to achieve their potential while also studying and preparing for their future.

The panel discussed the importance of resilience and “bounce-back ability” that the challenges of Coronavirus and lockdown caused before previewing what promises to be a jam-packed and exciting year of sport in 2021.

All three have very real and promising hopes of competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games and everyone at SSS wishes Megan, Robyn and Neah every success for 2021 and beyond.

Following this inspirational panel, the next section was packed full of ambition, innovation and collaboration at every corner: An Audience with Jan Paterson.

Jan is currently Managing Director Sport for Neom, delivering a bold new vision of future living. Neom is being designed as a global city for global citizens and Jan’s role is to engrain sport and physical activity in the lives of residents. In the future city, citizens will never be more than 8 minutes from a sports facility and physical activity will be an integral part of the curriculum.

Jan herself is a pioneer and her experiences in leadership roles were a great learning opportunity for our audience. She spoke of the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people, and the significance of bottom-up team building. We also heard some great stories of her times at the World University Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

To round off the day and in true 2020 style, the SSS Tribe were treated to a Zoom Quiz of the Year courtesy of Pete Burgon. This gave everyone a chance to show off their best Christmas jumpers, share some “funny” Christmas jokes and engage in some much needed festive cheer.

We would like to wish everyone a restful festive break and we look forward to seeing you all in 2021.

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Wednesday 9th September 2020

Check out the highlights from our first-ever virtual Chair Development Day and meet your new and returning SSS Sports Chairs!

Last Sunday (6th September 2020) Scottish Student Sport hosted the first-ever virtual Chair Development Day! A total of 35 volunteers across 28 of our sports engaged in a zoom-based training day designed to equip them with all the necessary tools to tackle the upcoming 2020/21 season.

Throughout the day, the eager volunteers were treated to a series of different workshops delivered by the SSS staff touching upon a little bit of everything and anything. Including; introductions to the staff team, planning the return to play for student sport, how to encourage growth and participation levels within their sport, student mental health, all things social media and communications,  and engaging discussion surrounding where student sport fits in the wider student landscape.

In another first, the workshop was opened up to include not only sports chairs themselves but also other members of each sports development committees. This enabled vice-chairs and other officers to learn, engage and contribute to the conversation around planning for the next 12 months and beyond!

Despite not being able to meet in person, in true SSS fashion, everyone on the call grasped the opportunity to get to know each other, collaborate with one another and share best practice. We can’t wait to see some of your fantastic ideas in action. We hope all our volunteers found the day beneficial and are feel better prepared to grasp their unique opportunity and tackle season 2020/21!

Meet your sports chairs and find out what they made of the day!  🎥👇

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Tuesday 30th June 2020

The SSS AGM took place virtually on Thursday 11th June 2020. Did you miss it? Catch up on everything you need to know here!

The 2020 SSS AGM took place on Thursday 11th June via Zoom webinar in what was the first (but perhaps not the last…?) of its kind for the SSS Tribe. Over 50 members from 16 institutions were able to tune in and whilst something was lost in the two-way face-to-face interaction, we also gained in some respects and the Chair is to be congratulated for bringing it all to a close within 62 minutes. Please click here for the official AGM minutes.

The meeting allowed for a bittersweet look back at the unusual year, which until mid-March had been going like a train, with a bumper year in terms of club activity at an institutional level, and event entries nationally. This appetite will surely stand us all in good stead as the subsequent lockdown begins to lift.

The AGM endorsed a sober but pragmatic approach to the 20-21 Academic Year in terms of SSS’ planned activities and finances, and approved a one-year plan that can get the organisation safely to next summer whilst still being well placed to deliver across every part of the business.

Some notable features of the revised plan include:

  • Carrying as little risk as possible, with modest aims around event entries
  • Shelving of all non-essential costs
  • Budgeting for a significant deficit on the year, equal to the current level of our non-fixed reserves
  • Offering up to a 25% discount on membership fees for those who need it

This will mean less room for manoeuvre and the cessation of some aspects, including our Special Projects Fund, but gives us a solid footing for what is a most unpredictable year. It also allows for the full staff team to remain in place throughout, so as to be best placed to provide a strong service to the members.

For more information about our plans for 20-21, please don’t hesitate to contact stew@scottishstudentsport.com

With the finances dealt with the AGM was then able to confirm the line-up of volunteer officers and appointments that will help to shape SSS’ work over the next twelve months. Across all of our committees we are blessed to have the most capable and enthused individuals in place and each of them comes into office with the thanks and optimistic expectations of the wider membership. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the new SSS Executive, Development, and Competitions Committees for season 2020/21.

The departing volunteers – and particularly the sabbatical students leaving office – exit with a huge vote of thanks from all at SSS. We all appreciate that the year has ended in strange circumstances for you all, but we know that you have all the traits and tools you need to make a really positive transition, and we hope you’ll retain a long and positive engagement with the Tribe.

 

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Monday 29th June 2020

The CHANGES: Train the Trainer programme is designed to up-skill staff in the network to deliver awareness workshops to clubs in an attempt to tackle the challenge of initiation and hazing activity within student sport. Read more about the partnership, and the work done so far.

As of August 2019, the SSS and CHANGES partnership, led by Professor Moira Lafferty (University of Chester) and her colleague Dr. Caroline Wakefield (Liverpool Hope University), continue to work towards a joint aim of making student sport safe and inclusive for all. Together we are continuing to work towards the commitments set out in the partnership agreement alongside the CHANGES trainers, Development Committee, and Equality Steering Group.

So far the partnership has hosted two Train the Trainer programmes which has led to the upskilling of 17 student sports staff across five regions of Scotland. In February this year, SSS invited the trainers to a CHANGES networking and planning workshop to discuss the journey so far and future steps. Amongst other things, the trainers made it clear a third train the trainer programme was required to reach the target of training all student sports clubs in Scotland.

Train the Trainer Course

The third Train the Trainer will take place on Friday 23rd October in Edinburgh. The deadline for signing up is Monday 19th October at 12:00. Professor Lafferty’s research highlights the advantages of having external staff deliver the CHANGES workshops to student clubs. The overall aim is to be in a position where we have developed a large enough workforce so that institutions are able to support one another to train up all our 614 clubs in the network.

Please note that we are mindful of the challenges Covid-19 may bring with delivering this course. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep up to date with public health guidelines so that we can take all the necessary steps to ensure the safety of those involved.

📲Sign up here for the next CHANGES: Train the Trainer course.

Michael Webster from the University of Edinburgh, participated in the training last year and from that, co-delivered a workshop to over thirty sports club members.

He said: “The Train the Trainer course was engaging, informative and eye-opening. The effects of hazing and negative group events can be catastrophic, so to have the ability to deliver workshops with the aim of positively influencing the culture of student sports clubs, feels incredibly impactful, and fulfilling on a personal level.”

“The tools and techniques from the course have allowed me to frame conversations around looking to the future, creating new traditions, and utilising team-building techniques to create inclusive, positive, and safe welcome activities.”

The current list of available trainers can found below and will be updated after the October Training.

Tayside, Fife, and Grampian Regional Trainers;

Eamonn Laird, University of Dundee – e.y.laird@dundee.ac.uk

Ellen Morrissey, Robert Gordon University – e.morrissey@rgu.ac.uk

Claire Scott, University of St. Andrews – cls25@st-andrews.ac.uk

South East Regional Trainers;

Fraser Reynolds, Edinburgh Napier University – f.reynolds@napier.ac.uk

Craig Bodel, University of Stirling – craig.bodel@stir.ac.uk

Amy Beattie, University of Stirling – amy.beattie1@stir.ac.uk

Michael Webster, University of Edinburgh – michael.webster@ed.ac.uk 

Bethany Lawrie, University of Edinburgh – Bethany.Lawrie@ed.ac.uk

Catherine Wilson, Heriot-Watt University – catherine.wilson@hw.ac.uk

West Regional Trainers;

Iain Christie, the University of the West of Scotland – iain.christie@uws.ac.uk

Seona McKenzie, University of Strathclyde – seona.mckenzie@strath.ac.uk

Jamie Taylor, University of Glasgow – Jamie.Taylor@glasgow.ac.uk

Scottish Student Sport Staff;

Gavin Rittoo, Scottish Student Sport – gavin@scottishstudentsport.com

Nicola Scott, Scottish Student Sport – nicola@scottishstudentsport.com

Megan Richardson, Scottish Student Sport – megan@scottishstudentsport.com

Neil Rankin, Scottish Student Sport – neil@scottishstudentsport.com

 

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Wednesday 29th April 2020

The numbers are in and SSS are excited to announce a 12% growth in club membership numbers in the 2019/20 academic year. Check out the sport-specific breakdown and highlights here!

Scottish Student Sport are delighted to report that across Scotland, the collective total club membership numbers has reached just under 40,000.  Here are some of the facts behind the numbers…

  • Across 571 student sports clubs there are 39,947 individuals reported to be taking part in club activity. This healthy annual growth of 12% is representative of the hard work put in by the staff, volunteers and students at each institution working hard to ensure good quality, fun and friendly sport and physical activity are available on campus.
  • We are delighted to see a huge increase in the reported involvement of students with a disability with that number reaching a total of 1,330 students.
  • The sex balance reported is 45% male, 48% female and 6% unknown.
  • There is slight movement in the top 10 sports per membership numbers with Netball moving up and Tennis moving down. Each sport in the top 10, with the exception of mountaineering, have all increased in size since the 2018/19 reporting.

Please see below a snapshot of the data capture. If you have any questions regarding the data then please email Development & Competitions Assistant Leah Davidson.

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Tuesday 21st April 2020

The final SSS Medal Table of the 2019/20 season is here!

The SSS Medal Table is a method for institutions to see how successful their student-athletes have been over the course of the SSS season.

The table includes all events in which medals have been awarded during the 2019/20 season.

All semester 1 and 2 events which took place have been added.

The table defaults to alphabetical but can be sorted by any of the column headings.

 

SSS Medal Table 2019/20

InstitutionGoldSilverBronzeTotalNational Squad Members
Abertay University61
6132
Edinburgh College2002
Edinburgh Napier University453128
Fife College1001
Glasgow Caledonian University945181
Heriot Watt University1275249
Queen Margaret University31042
Robert Gordon University12121135
Scotland's Rural College0213
University of Aberdeen231614536
University of Dundee262721748
University of Edinburgh57645117220
University of Glasgow43455013817
University of St Andrews47364612912
University of Stirling291614594
University of Strathclyde2529247815
UHI11022
University of the West of Scotland343101
West College Scotland0101
Z-Guest Entries13212054

 

Total Events: 43 (67% of planned activity)

Last Updated: April 2020

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Wednesday 1st April 2020

The SSS Competitions Committee have passed through a new proposal, allowing students and institutions to compete against each other in eight new sports during isolation. Read more about The SSS Isolympics here!

The Scottish Student Sport Competitions Committee met earlier this week to discuss an emergency plan to keep student sport competition running throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. After a lengthy discussion, the group concluded to extend the current official 35 SSS Sports to include some new additions.

The SSS Comps Committee passed through the motion to include 8 new sports, including e-sports, where Scottish Universities and Colleges will be able to compete against each other to earn BUCS points and SSS medals for their institutions during this period of self-isolation. This new fleet of sports and fixtures will be called The SSS Isolympics.

Our SSS Competitions Committee Chair, Chris Sellar, believes the new initiative will thoroughly enhance the student experience. He said:

“The decision made by the Comps Committee is a very positive one. It is not only in keeping with the SSS values – innovative, responsive and sustainable to name a few – but it is also putting the students’ interests first and foremost. The Isolympics will bring together athletes across the country to pit their skills against the best within their disciplines. This has the making of one of the greatest sporting competitions of our generation.”

Here is all you need to know…

  • Each sports sabbatical officer or equivalent sports coordinator will be in charge of selecting one competitor for each sport. No individual can compete in more than one sport.
  • The SSS Isolympics are mixed-sex, anyone can play against anyone.
  • The fixtures and leagues will be managed by the fixtures administrators or equivalent position at each Scottish institution, liaising with one and other and their clubs as to when the fixtures of each sport can be played.
  • All fixtures will take place over ZOOM call and must be played between the hours of 9am and 8pm. As no participants will be travelling, BUCS Regulation 9.3.5 Start Times stating- No league or knockout match may start before 13:00 on a weekday – is hereby void.

For a full list of rules and regulations for the isolation games please click here.

The following 8 sports have been added into the SSS official list of sports.

E-sports | FIFA 20

Institutions will compete against one and other in a one-off  ‘Kick-Off’ match. Teams will be decided based on the geographical location of your institution. For example a fixture between Robert Gordon University v Heriot-Watt would be Aberdeen FC v Heart of Midlothian FC. All team lines to be sent to our competitions and development assistant Leah Davidson.

Press-Up Challenge 

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to do as many full press-ups as possible. All videos to be sent to our SSS judge Megan Richardson, who will be the count whether a press-up is deemed complete or not.

Hall Putting 

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to record their longest putt in their own home. ‘Golf clubs’ can be substituted for brooms or mops. The golf hole must be a tin can with the following dimensions: 73 mm x 110 mm.

Toilet Roll Keepy-Ups

Keep the toilet roll off the ground for as many touches as possible. Three attempts per person, take the best score.

Synchronised Brunching 

Individuals must make two identical brunch meals. SSS brunch connoisseurs Gavin Rittoo and Neil Rankin will rank the dishes based purely on presentation.

Paper Toss

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to consecutively throw as many pieces of crumpled up paper as possible, into a waste paper bin. If you miss you go back to zero. The bin and the individual must maintain at least a two-metre social distance at all times.

Sofa Jump 

Individuals need have to jump/ ‘fosbury flop’ over the back of the sofa and onto the cushions. The highest jump wins. Each individual is allowed three failed attempts before their final height is recorded.

Speed Ironing

Timed competition – how quickly can you iron your sports team kit?

Fixtures will commence from April 1st 2020 with no final deadline date set as of yet. Best of luck!

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