The parallels between Shinty and the game of Field Hockey

The Scottish sport of Shinty is credited with having influenced the traditional game of Field Hockey. There are many similarities between the games and players of both games and all calibre’s spend their training time improving their game skills and increasing their overall stamina and fitness. One of the ways that hockey players do this is to watch

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Back to Shinty. It first appeared in Scotland following on from Celtic settlers from Ireland arriving in the region. This why there are also similarities between Shinty and the Irish game of hurling. Shinty is now almost exclusively played in the Scottish Highlands.

Here are some facts about the rules and game-play of Shinty

• You are allowed to hit the ball whilst it is in the air as long as it is directly over your head and you can use both side of the stick in order to do this.

• The stick in Shinty is called a ‘Caman’ and similarly to Field Hockey they are made solely of wood. The caman can be used to block and tackle a player or the ball but the one move you cannot make is to bring your caman down on another players. Players must use their stick to make contact with the ball except in the case of the goalkeeper who may use their hands to touch the ball, but this must be done in an open palm manner.

• The teams are made up of anywhere between six and twelve players depending on when and where you are playing and are made up of players in a variety of field positions and a goalkeeper. With the aim of the game, much like many other team sports to score a goal in the opposing teams half.

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• The pitch is 140 yards long with goals in dimensions of 12 feet wide and 10 feet high.

• The match lasts a total of 90 minutes and is played in two 45-minute halves much like football.

• There are Shinty teams (some of whom have first and second teams) across the whole of Scotland and league matches are arranged from north to south with premier and national competitions being arranged.

• Shinty has been introduced to both New Zealand and Australia by immigrants from Scotland and it is also being played again in certain states across America.