NCCC
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updated 1/13/2003
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January 2002 - The Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC) is up and running, or at least walking. After years of trying to organize shinty in the San Francisco Bay Area we have finally managed to get beyond the wishful thinking stage. Our club has about fifteen active members (up from four just last May!), with about twenty other folks keeping an eye on us and joining in from time to time. There is certainly more to do, but we've made great progress this last year.
Our first attempts to get the game going (in the early 1980s) arose through the activities of a small group of Northern Californians with a mutual interest in Scottish culture and history. We came across a brief and intriguing description of the ancient game of camanachd in I. F. Grant's book, Highland Folkways. Playing matches with hand carved camans under the auspices of a couple of different historical re-enacting organizations, we made a go at recreating this early version of the game. This went on for several years and, in fact, one group still plays this historical version today. Unfortunately we never made much progress with the game in this form as it was only a minor activity embedded in larger activities amongst organizations with very different general interests and goals.
Around this time one of our lads, Michael Ross Bentley, managed a long trip to Scotland, and became the first (and only, until watching Alasdair's videos!) of us to see a modern camanachd match. Michael, while in Inverness, had inquired at a local bookshop about books on shinty. It happened that the bookseller was connected with the Camanachd Association! This fellow proceeded to take Michael around to meet the league president (John W. Campbell, who donated a few balls for California shinty), to a local match, and even interviewed our wayward comrade for BBC Highland radio. This led to an article in the People's Journal (posted here) when a journalist heard the radio broadcast! A few weeks later Michael was fortunate enough to meet the lads of Skye Camanachd and join in on a short practice. Michael is still one of the key organizers and players in the new NCCC.
In the years since Mr. Bentley's return from Scotland we have had several unsuccessful attempts at bringing together a group to play shinty by the rules of the Camanachd Association. One major challenge we have faced is the geographical layout and size of the San Francisco Bay Area. Our members live in many different communities, spread around the region. Some players travel as much as two hours to attend practices. We also must compete for both fields and players with American football, baseball, basketball, and soccer, all of which enjoy multiple leagues for various age groups in every town. And, as with anyone who is in the adult stages of life (sounds terminal!), our own time for the game is limited. For one thing, in our pursuit of things Scottish, many of us have become involved with Highland and/or Country dancing, and music. This makes for good parties, though!
After many false starts, 2001 has been a year of great progress in our pursuit of organized shinty here in California. Since our membership has grown significantly during the summer and autumn, our current objective is to field four six-a-side teams for next summer's Highland games circuit (with some games as far as three hours away). If we are successful in this, then establishing a regular league in the region may be possible in the future. Due to the limited numbers, we are playing with mixed sides, though we realize this is not usual in Scotland. Our practices, held fortnightly, are divided between drills to improve our fundamental skills and scrimmages. For now we provide our own competition!
Our recruits come from many sources. Some found us through other Scottish activities (dancing and music mostly), and some through other athletics (field and ice hockey, among others). Our one veteran player from Scotland is Jane Patrick, née Campbell, of Campbelltown. She was a side captain there, having learned the game from her father. It has been a help to have her guidance on the rules and basics of the game.
We were asked how we connected with the Kingussie club. It all started with our present effort to get serious about shinty. We purchased camans from Munroe Camans (with thanks to Matthew Sloggie who was instrumental in coordinating communications with Munroe). Balls were purchased from the Beauly Shinty Club with the help of David Calder. We started practicing regularly and we posted queries on several camanachd club sites. The Kingussie club gave us the most helpful responses, although Edinburgh also offered assistance. Alasdair Rothe (of Edinburgh East Lothian) has been a great aid in answering questions about rules, and the Celtic Craft Centre in Edinburgh assisted with the financial transactions involving conversion of US and UK currency.
Our most recent epiphany came with the viewing of the Kingussie vs. Newtonmore championship match that Alasdair Cameron kindly sent to us. It was very inspiring, both confirming what we thought and providing more insight into the sport. As one of our regular spectators commented, "Their game improved markedly after watching the videos!" Post viewing we took to our own shaggy, pitted field (we covet your well manicured and close cropped pitches!), and enjoyed an energetic practice. The weather was a bit cool for this time of year, at a nippy 55 - 60°F, but we had fun despite the unseasonable cold. Doesn't sound like winter weather? Well, this is California!
Anyone coming to the West Coast for school, work, or a holiday would be welcome to look us up. We can most easily be found on the internet via the NCCC website, via our Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nccc/, and we can be reached by email too. We practice in Fremont, 30 miles south of UC Berkeley, and in Santa Clara, the Heart of Silicon Valley, amongst other locations. There is also a group practicing in the Santa Rosa area. We expect to be able to play year-round, so come anytime!