Shinty never stops for new Kingussie seconds boss Craig Dawson
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
This is the time of year when everyone involved in the long shinty season takes a well-earned break from the sport to recharge their batteries.
Well, almost everyone as a call to Kingussie’s Craig Dawson prompts the text response: “Sorry, I can’t take your call just now. I’m at shinty training with the kids. I’ll call you back.”
The training in question comes under the guise of the excellent Kincraig Junior Shinty Club and the sessions, led by Kingussie’s former seasoned campaigner Ali Macleod, continues through the winter months.
When the Strathy’s catches up, Craig Dawson explains: “It’s a really good set up and Ali does a brilliant job with the kids.
“The kids attend Alvie Primary School which has a school role of just under 50 pupils and, remarkably, half of them come to the shinty sessions which took place on the astro at Aviemore until the weather sent us inside a couple of weeks ago.
“There is a great committee behind the scenes who raise funds to allow everything to happen and the club really over-achieves in competitions considering the numbers we have. I just help out if needed these days and it is great to see the players so enthusiastic.”
Youth training is an early, but important step on the pathway that, for some, will lead to first team shinty.
The final preparation for such a step is second team shinty and after assisting Iain Borthwick with the Kingussie seconds last season, Craig Dawson now takes on the managerial role in his own right.
Reflecting on the past season, Dawson said: “We did alright. We started well with four wins and a draw from our first five games, but we then had a mid-season slump, which killed us really, before putting in a strong finish to the season.
“We actually scored more goals in our final four matches (16) as we’d did in the previous 10 games (15).”
The mid-season slump coincided with a first team injury crisis, leading to several second team being called into the senior side.
“The first team used 21 players last season but that’s what we are there for,” is Dawson’s instant response. “It was a
brilliant season for Gibby (John Gibson) and the first team and if providing players when needed is Corky (Iain Borthwick) and mine’s contribution, then we are happy with that: it’s job done.
“Cameron Bremner is a good example. He scored for us in the first game of the season, and he was called up to the first team soon after.
“I bet he thinks all his Christmases have come at once as he’s now an 18-year-old who now has a bag full of shinty medals.
“We lacked a couple of things in the second team last season. One was the inclusion of an experienced player or two to help the young ones. A Rory Fraser or Kevin Thain-type would have made a huge difference.
“Most other teams in the league have one with Raymond Rennie at Lovat, Gregor Cushnie at Lochcarron, Glen MacKintosh or Evan Menzies at Newtonmore and Shaun Nicolson or Nick Dalgety at Glengarry.
“They are all forwards too and we missed a natural forward with real composure although Robert Shiells did well towards the end of the season, scoring 15 goals overall.
“He’s a strong lad and he can be a big player for us next year, especially if he works more on his fitness.
“We were scraping together a team at times last season and Ronald Ross and Kirsty Deans both stepped in to help us out at some games. We were never blown away though and I always felt we gave the opposition problems.
“I think Skye away in the Strathdearn and Newtonmore at home in the league were the only low points and apart from that, the boys gave everything.”
