The Camanachd Association is aware of challenges with supply of Camans in Scotland. This has been due to a variety of factors, not least the pandemic and absence of playing in 18 months. We have now returned to playing shinty and as such, sticks are breaking with little to no supply to replace them.

Over the past 18 months the Camanachd Association has been working with Scotland’s academic community to try and support caman making and to ensure that our sport is able to continue despite persistent challenges to the craft. Further detail on these projects has been outlined below:

 

• Edinburgh Napier project. The Camanachd Association secured £5,000 funding so we could have standardised tests generated. These tests would enable us to give a “Camanachd Association Gold Standard Approved” mark to ensure that camans continue to be made to the rigorous standards that they have been for generations. As part of this we are now asking for Caman Makers to provide us with a stick which can be tested – helping inform the standards and parameters that will make the Gold Standard.

 

• University of the Highlands & Islands Project. Following the conclusion of the Napier project in the coming weeks, we will launch a new business led project with UHI. The reality for many caman makers is that the craft is simply not profitable enough and many of them are doing it for the love of the sport rather than as a money making business. Naturally, this is not sustainable so we will be working with UHI to determine a number of things including the potential for makers to work in a co-operative to lower their costs as well as attempting to discover through collaboration what the true cost of making a caman is so as they can be marketed and priced appropriately.

 

 

In order for these projects to be a success we need to work with caman makers to better understand the challenges they are facing and to, through collaborative working, ensure that we are coming up with optimal solutions for the issues facing them at this time. As such we are appealing for caman makers to get in touch with aarron.macleod@shinty.com to arrange an exploratory group discussion to support our UHI Project moving forward.

We hope that through these projects we will be able to help support caman makers to continue the amazing craftsmanship they have shown. However, there are no immediate fixes and these projects take time to complete. As such, due to the current lack of stock from Caman Makers we are appealing to all ex shinty players to check your cupboards & lofts and donate any old camans to your local club where they will undoubtedly be gratefully received. Furthermore, we ask that all current players with cracked or damaged sticks please do not destroy/snap them in two as they very often can be fixed or repurposed for junior members. Only by working together can we move through this difficult period for the sport. Our thanks go to all members & clubs for their co-operation at this time.