Newtonmore Camanachd Club     

   Newsletter 1     2008

1] Open Day Saturday 23^rd February  Yes, it’s that time of year again and I am looking for volunteers [12-14] to do a house to house delivery in Newtonmore, Laggan, Dalwhinnie and the bits in between. Arrangements are still being finalised, but we will probably open for complimentary drinks and snacks at 1230, an exhibition of memorabilia, merchandise, season tickets etc available and with a game against Kinlochshiel starting at 1345. Following on the successful CD launch last year at this time we are repeating an evening of music and dance with David Holt and others in the Village Hall.

We would be very grateful for gifts in kind of snacks and drinks for the open day.

2] Fixtures  The fixtures for the season are now available on this website. We have 1^st team practice matches arranged so far on 9^th Feb [Beauly] and 16^th Feb [Lochaber], but the venues will be weather dependent. We are still trying to arrange 2^nd team friendlies. The first matches of the season were played by the primary team which  attended a friendly 6's on Sunday 20^th Jan, hosted by Beauly and staged at Drumnadrochit. From 8 games we won 5, drew2 and lost 1.

3] AGM  A well attended meeting agreed that player membership for the year would be £10 and that the season ticket priced at £30 for first team league home games [half price for cup games] and £15 concessions would include membership of the club in the price.

The captain of the 1sts team is Orsten Gardiner. David Ritchie is the captain of the 2nds.

Norman Macarthur is the manager of the 1sts; Glen Tonkin, Cammy Macdonald, Mark Hay and Niall McCreath are managing the 2nds together; Glen Tonkin is looking after the under 17 team supported by Scott Campbell and Michael Ritchie is looking after the under 14s assisted by Fraser Mackintosh.

4] Sponsorship At the time of writing this we are still looking for sponsorship for the Family Sunday event at the beginning of August at £400, the website at £200 and a proper fixture list, for distribution to accommodation and tourist outlets, at £150. Match ball sponsorship at £15 and raffle sponsorship at £10 [or a gift in kind] are available for most of the games.

We have a number of business interested in the advertising boards at £350 for 3 years [or £150, £105 & 105] and if you have any additional potential contacts, please let me know. Gifts in kind and prizes for the competitions on Family Sunday would be very welcome with EIS already pledged to support the under 14 competition annually, so many thanks to them.

5] Coaching project  Initial discussions have been held with all the head teachers in Badenoch on how to integrate coaching with the curriculum as well as offer it as after school clubs. It is also intended to hold the same discussions with schools in Strathspey shortly. A start to the project cannot be made until we have secured some more funding from outside businesses.

6] Ground improvements The training area is now going to be spiked to improve drainage, before the seeding which means that it will not be available for use till several months into the season. The behind goal nets at the Smithy end should be available by April and a signpost for the ground will be commissioned soon.

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