Sunday the 23^rd of March brought an end to this winter’s indoor series in Oban. Four events were held at the Atlantis Centre from October up to March and attended by age categories Primary 5 and Under and a Primary 6/7 age group.

Over the four events there were 20 different teams entered over both age groups emphasising the surge that participation in shinty has had once again in the area. Teams from: Rockfield, Park, St Columba’s, Taynuilt, Mull, Inveraray, Kilmory, Kilmartin & Craignish all attended the events.

Despite there being three events prior to yesterday the leagues were extremely close coming into the final day of competition which led to another entertaining festival of shinty.

In the end in the Primary 5 & Under section St Columba’s came out on top with powerful and skilful performances throughout the series meaning they didn’t lose a single game over the 4 competitions. The strength of this side is clear to see as they narrowly missed out on reaching the National indoor final in February too.

The battle for 2^nd was extremely close with Park Primary and Kilmory only being separated by 2 points going into the day and their 2-2 draw on the day showed there was very little between the sides. Ultimately Kilmory managed to hold of the challenge and keep hold of 2^nd place.

The older section was similar in structure to the younger with the gap between 2^nd and 3^rd very close. Rockfield Primary School were the winner of this competition showing great skill and competitiveness throughout the events. The strength of this team was clear to see as they were crowned National indoor winners at the event in Fort William in February.

St Columba’s and Park were competing for 2^nd place in this with only 1 point separating the two teams coming into the final day. However, St Columba’s managed to hold off the challenge from Park to secure the runners up spot.

Will Cowie from the Camanachd Association commented, “It is fantastic to see so many children playing shinty in the Oban area. The standard of the competition through these leagues has been excellent with the quality being displayed at a national level which is exactly what we were hoping for when we started this. A credit must go to all the coaches and parents who have put in a tremendous amount of work, and this is showing on the pitch. A massive thank you must go to The MacAulay Association who once again sponsored the event without them these events would go ahead. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going with the return of the Taynuilt Sixes and MacAulay Sixes in the coming months.”

President of The Macaulay Camanachd Association Roddy McCuish added “The Macaulay Association are delighted with the turn out for the winter indoor primary sixes. It is encouraging to see so many children of all abilities taking part. We as an association are committed to promoting shinty at the very grass roots level and can only do so in partnership working with everyone involved in the game. Many thanks to everyone who made this event possible.”