KINGUSSIE shinty star Ronald Ross, the most successful player in the history of the sport, has been made a MBE in the New Year Honours list released on Friday.
The 35-year-old Kingussie forward has had a glittering career ever since he began playing in primary school, and becomes the first person to be made a MBE for his ability on the shinty field.
Since breaking into the Kingussie first team in 1992, he has re-written the record books over and over again. In May, 2009, he took his tally of first team goals to 1,000 - a feat now registered with the Guinness Book of Records.
In 1998 he captained Kingussie's Grand Slam winning squad, and he has been elected as the club's captain for 2011.
And it isn't only shinty at which Ronald has excelled. He played tennis for Scotland under-12s and 14s and was the Scottish number two for a time.
Interestingly, Ronald's father, Ian, was made a MBE for services to shinty 10 years ago, probably one of the few father and son combinations to be honoured in such a way.
Only last month, Ronald won the Sunday Mail's Scottish Amateur Sports Personality of the Year.
A delighted Ronald told the "Strathy": "It was a shock and a surprise! Obviously it is a great honour for a man of my age to get one. My dad got his 10 years ago for exceptional service to shinty, I got mine for playing.
"Our club has been very successful, I have been lucky to be part of it. This award is great for shinty and for the club."
He said his mum, Belle, who hails from Newtonmore, was delighted for him, but... "She would have preferred if I had played for that team, although she's sort of accepted it now.
"Obviously the award is special for my mum and dad because dad did support me a lot. We did a lot of travelling to Edinburgh and Manchester when I was playing tennis, and that's not cheap."
Looking back at his glittering career, he is quick to highlight one of his very early triumphs.
"The Mackay Cup. That's the main primary cup," he said.
"I was about 12. That was the start of an incredible career, but you'd never have believed then that it would turn out to be such a dream career.
"Winning the amateur sports awards was one of my biggest successes, because you are up against so many people, and to have scored 1,000 goals is great because we don't have any others in Scotland. It's also great to win cups, such as the Camanachd and the MacTavish, and the grand slams.
"I don't regret choosing shinty and staying in this area. There wasn't the opportunities here for tennis so I had to go to Edinburgh and Glasgow to play as all the main tennis competitions were based there or in London.
"There are so many opportunities for achieving excellence now, but there weren't when I was coming up.
"Shinty is a team sport and I was good at it, so I had to make a choice about whether to move away or not, and I chose shinty.
"When you are good at something you enjoy it. I don't regret my choice; it has been the career of dreams."
Alistair Brown, president of the Kingussie club, said: "The whole club is highly delighted for Ronald. Considering the effort he puts into training he richly deserves to be recognised in the New Year Honours list."
Donnie Grant, who managed Ronald during the early years of his first team career, said: "It is a fitting reward for his dedication to shinty. Twenty years ago it would have been considered impossible to score 1,000 senior goals, but Ronald has passed the 1,000 mark and is still adding to it."
First team manager Stephen Borthwick, who also spent many seasons playing beside Ronald, said: "Ronald's ability and commitment to shinty has made him a legend, something that will live for ever.
"We are fortunate he chose shinty; he would have been successful in whatever sport he chose."
Committee member John Robertson said: "Ronald has won every medal and every honour available to a shinty player from primary school upwards. His ability on the pitch has taken shinty to a completely new level. No one will ever score 1,000 goals again, no one will even come close.
"It is entirely fitting that he will be making a trip to Buckingham Palace this summer."
Ronald is quick to acknowledge the support he got as a young player, and cites Donnie Grant and his father as two of his biggest influences, particularly as they were instrumental in putting him in the first team.
"Those guys were pretty supportive and so were my team-mates, who were already playing at the top level."
Looking ahead, he said: "We have to make sure there is a programme for the youth, providing opportunities for them at all levels. We have to make sure that we have a top level too.
"The good shinty players are also the best golfers, rugby players and tennis players. If you are good at one sport, you tend to be good at all of them.
"In shinty, you can't obviously offer them the career they would have if they went into football. You can't make a full-time career out of shinty. With shinty you get a lot of knocks, but you do it because you love it.
"My aim is to get Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen more involved in shinty. That would make me happy."
