Newtonmore Camanachd Club Newsletter
June 2011

1] Results Whereas May was a disappointing month for the 1st team, the results in June were excellent and some of the performances were outstanding especially the second half ones in the unprecedented 8 – 1 win over Fort William and the 6 - 0 away win over Kilmallie. The gap on Kyles Athletic in the league has been narrowed to one point albeit that they have a game in hand.

The 2nds were not to be outdone however and they matched that with a 4 – 2 win over last years champions Glengarry and a 7 – 2 thrashing of Glenurquhart who had already beaten them twice earlier in the season. The end of June sees the 2nds sitting several points clear at the top of North Division 2.

2] Fixtures There are quite a few fixture changes:
- the 2nds match against Kilmallie is now on Friday 1st July at 7.30pm [instead of Saturday 2nd ] at the request of Kilmallie              
-  we won the toss so the 16th July Macaulay Cup semi-final against Kingussie will be at the Eilan at 1430
- this means that the 2nds fixture against Kingussie originally scheduled for 16th July will now be on Friday 15th July in the evening.

3] Williamson 6s Many thanks to Angus Macpherson for sponsoring the evening and to Gail Carruthers and helpers giving the support of Wolftrax to the BBQ which sold out. We had 20 teams with over 150 players including representation from Carrbridge and Grantown which was good to see. Many thanks to the PTA for the home baking, the referees, Graeme for organising it and of course to Rob for setting up the fields and even making the goals for one pitch.

4] MacBain Cup Thanks to the involvement of Mr Anderson one of the technical department teachers at Kingussie High there is more support for the school teams entering competitions. The 13s and under won a thrilling cup final against Lochaber 7 – 5 to win the MacBain trophy for the first time in many years. The team was made up of Laggan, Kincraig, Kingussie and Newtonmore players. A picture of the winning team is on the youth coaching section of the website. The High School are also in the final of the Macpherson Cup.

5] Sponsorship All the match ball and raffle sponsorships have been taken up so many thanks to everyone who has shown their support. We have received a grant from the Badenoch and Strathspey Sports Council for 50% of the £800 costs of sending four boys to the national shinty development camp in July. Dalwhinnie Distillery has also donated half a dozen bottles of malt whisky to the club for prizes.

6] Fence post painting The weather has temporarily halted progress on this. Additional volunteers would make the job seem easier. Paint and brushes are supplied.

7] Ground improvement ideas We were not successful in getting a grant for dugouts, but are still waiting to hear about possible support for a practice shooting wall with net, and fence repairs between the shed and clubhouse. If anyone has any suggestions for improvements to our facilities the committee would be pleased to hear from you.

8] Lotto The committee have been discussing changing the rules on our lottery draw which have been the same since it started. The proposal is that instead of redrawing to a winner at £1000 we would continue to roll the prize fund over until it reached £1500 at which point it would be drawn till there is a winner. We would be pleased to have feedback on this proposal by e-mail or speak to any committee member.

9] Surplus camans + helmets We have still not had any response! Have you got old camans lying around unused that could be donated to the club? Perhaps they could be cut down and used by some of the younger players. With new camans costing over £35 it doesn’t make sense to have unused ones lying around. New helmets now cost 50 euros so if you have any helmets that are no longer being used a donation of these to the club would be much appreciated.

10] Lawnmower wanted again Have you got a petrol lawnmower that you no longer need? We have been using a donated one for the past year, but it has recently given up the ghost. A lawnmower is really useful for doing some bits that the sit on mower cannot get to and also for between the white posts as an alternative to a strimmer.

11] Clubhouse improvements With the insurance money following the water damage over the winter we are planning to make some improvements to the clubhouse including replacing the two wall heaters. We are very grateful to Howdens who are donating some kitchen units. This will allow us to create a bigger serving space with a lot more storage.

12] New strips We are going to be buying new strips for the under 17s courtesy of MGM Timber and for the under 14s courtesy of Chris Robinson. We are very grateful for their support.

Ian Gibson    Tel 01540 673048     Mob 07817 378729      iangibson12@btinternet.com      28th June 2011

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