Strathspey Camanachd pulls out of the men's shinty league
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Grantown has been left without a men's shinty team competing in the Camanachd Association leagues.
Strathspey has just announced that they have pulled out of Mowi Division Two because of on-going struggles fielding a team.
The club's committee has issued a statement outlining its decision and saying that they will be better served trying to rebuild at this time for the future.
They state: "The club is extremely disappointed to announce that our men's team is pulling out of the remainder of the league season due to a lack of playing numbers.
"We have decided that the long term future of the team will be better served by focusing on recruiting new players, and building training numbers, rather than going week to week trying to put a team out on a Saturday.
"As everyone knows, many clubs are struggling to generate the same number of players as in the past. Between the start of last season and this, we have had 11 senior players choose to either move to other clubs or stop playing altogether.
"These departures took us from a team looking to challenge for the North Division 2 title to a team in need of serious reinforcements.
"We are grateful to Kingussie and Newtonmore clubs for loaning us some junior players which allowed us to play the matches we did.
"The young lads showed great courage to jump into the senior games and played extremely well.
"Unfortunately, those players have now been recalled to their parent clubs to help bolster their second team squads.
"We are extremely grateful to the new players who joined us this season – most of whom were completely new to the game and were willing to be thrown, almost immediately, into competitive matches.
"A final thank you goes to the general shinty community, especially the clubs who have been willing to change throw up times, reverse fixtures or find a different day to give us the best chance to field a team."
Looking to attract new players
The club will continue to train and said preparations for next season begin now.
The club stated: "Whether you have played shinty before, are looking for a new sporting challenge, or your first sporting challenge, or just looking to meet new people, get a bit of exercise and enjoy the social benefits that come with that.
"If you're 14 or over now is the time. Training is on a Wednesday evening 6.30pm to 8pm.
"We have mixed training with the ladies team and players are split into groups based on experience and ability to ensure that everyone has a positive experience.
"This is the perfect time to rediscover old skills, or develop new skills without the expectation of being available for matches every Saturday.
For more details email strathspeycamanachd@gmail.com or send the club a direct message.
