A Lochaber High School pupil who is committed to shinty ‘swung’ into action recently in organising an inter-schools sixes tournament.
Fifteen-year-old Ellie Paterson, who plays for Lochaber Camanachd Club Ladies 2nd team and has also been a Camanachd Association Shinty Ambassador for two years, put together the entire event in just a few weeks.
Ellie’s idea came from her awareness that many schools across the Highlands had a wealth of talent so devised the tournament to bring them together, forge new links and demonstrate their skills in a competitive environment.
She arranged with the PE Department to set aside time on the Astroturf to stage the event and contacted various schools, bringing together a total of nine teams representing Glenurquart High `School, Kingussie High School, Ardnamurchan High school and Lochaber High School.
On a dry and sunny afternoon the matches were staged, refereed by Camanachd Association staff with the final between Newtonmore and Lochaber A, resulting in a draw.
In the following sudden death replay the visiting team scored an early goal to end the game and win the tournament.
Ellie said: “I have been playing shinty for nearly 11 years and took on the role as Shinty Ambassador nearly two years ago.
“This year I decided that I would organise a LHS sixes tournament because I knew there was a wide range of young talent amongst Lochaber High School pupils as well as the abilities and commitment of shinty of players across many other schools in Scotland.
“I was so pleased with how the day turned out and don’t believe it could have gone any better.
“I was blown away with the amount of young talent within the shinty world that was showcased throughout the tournament and hope to continue to see this amount of passion going forward within the sport.
“Thanks to everyone who took part, especially the PE department and the Camanachd Association for their assistance.”
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