About Shinty

Shinty is one of the fastest, most physically demanding and skillful sports in the world! The object of the game is to score goals!

The full Rules of Play for shinty are contained in the Camanachd Association’s byelaws, but variations to these rules, mainly to do with numbers in a team and the dimensions of the field of play, exist for women’s shinty and for children and young people.

In men’s shinty there are 12 players in each team – one of whom is always the goalkeeper.

In women’s shinty and in some competitions for children and young people, there are fewer players in the team and the pitch dimensions are smaller.

Each player has a caman, or curved stick, and it is with the caman that the small leather ball is struck. A well-struck shinty ball can travel over 100 metres at very high speed.

For more on shinty, visit the Camanachd Association website.

Shinty is primarily an outdoor sport played on a natural grass surface. The playing area is much larger than for other outdoor team sports such football (soccer), rugby or field hockey. The pitch dimensions can be up to 155m (170yds) long by 73m (80yds) wide.

The video above shows a shinty game in action