 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2022) |
 A shinty game in progress | |
| Highest governing body | Camanachd Association |
|---|---|
| First played | Pre-historic Scotland and Ireland |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Full |
| Team members | 12 players per side substitutes are permitted |
| Mixed-sex | Officially No (there are no rules to prevent women from playing in men's teams, a frequent occurrence in the lower leagues, with some of shinty's elite female players playing or having played for lower league men's teams[1]) |
Shinty (Scottish Gaelic: camanachd, iomain) is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland,[2][3][4] and was even played in Northern England into the second half of the 20th century[5][4] and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.[6]
While comparisons are often made with field hockey, the two games have several important differences. In shinty a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick, called a caman, which is wooden and slanted on both sides. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, a practice called hacking. Players may also tackle using the body as long as it is shoulder-to-shoulder.
The game was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling/camogie and the Welsh game of bando, but has developed unique rules and features. These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association. A composite rules shinty–hurling game has been developed, which allows Scotland and Ireland to play annual international matches.
Another sport with common ancestry is bandy, which is played on ice. In Scottish Gaelic the name for bandy is "ice shinty" (camanachd-deighe) and in the past[when?] bandy and shinty (and shinney) could be used interchangeably in the English language.[7]
- ^ Butterworth, Annie. "Shinty is not just a man's game, so it's time for fair play". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ Scottish Mining Website. "Mining Folk of Fife". Scottishmining.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ^ "The Early Years of Scottish Football". www.valeofleven.org.uk.
- ^ a b Collins, Tony; Martin, John; Vamplew, Wray (14 July 2005). Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415352246 – via Google Books.
- ^ Shinty in England, pre-1893 Archived 1 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Sports Historian, 19:2(1999), 43–60
- ^ "Dictionary of the Scots Language :: SND :: Shinty n". DSL.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Heathcote, John Moyer; Tebbutt, C. G.; Buck, Henry A.; Kerr, John; Hake, Ormond; Witham, T. Maxwell (16 March 1892). "Skating". London: Longmans, Green and Co. Retrieved 16 March 2018 – via Internet Archive.