STUART FRASER

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SHINTY
CAMANACHD CUP SEMI FINAL DRAW
Freelance Article
By Stuart Fraser
Tuesday 9^th June 2009

HOLDERS Fort William have been drawn against Bute and Kingussie will take on either Oban Camanachd or Kyles Athletic in the semi finals of the 2009 Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup.

The draw was made yesterday morning at Mossfield Stadium in Oban which will host the final on Saturday 19 September.  Both semi finals will take place on Saturday 8 August with The Winterton in Inveraray being a likely venue for Fort William V Bute.

Fort William’s An Aird park is being considered for the tie between Kingussie and Oban Camanachd or Kyles Athletic who are still waiting to play their quarter final match.  The tie was postponed last Saturday due to the swine flu outbreak which has hit the Tighnabruaich club.  One player was confirmed with the virus last week whilst another remains in quarantine.

The semi final draw coincided with the launch in Oban of a new sponsorship agreement between the Camanachd Association and Scottish Hydro which will see the company expand its support of shinty over the next three years.

Scottish Hydro will continue their support of the Camanachd Cup and Development Cup but the new agreement will see the company expand further into the development side of the game by investing in the Premier Division, the National Player Development Camp and the U17 Development Squad.

A Scottish Hydro Youth Development Fund will also be established to help clubs to encourage young people into shinty and this is an area the company was keen to be involved with.

Stuart Hogarth, National Development Director at Scottish Hydro, said: “The main attraction for us was working with the Camanachd Association trying to help develop the game at different levels.  There is more involvement in bringing the kids through and developing the sport in general.”

The announcement comes just weeks after Marine Harvest announced an increase in their support of the game and Camanachd Association President Duncan Cameron was delighted with the new Scottish Hydro sponsorship agreement.

Mr Cameron said: “We are delighted, not just in their investment, but by the range of support across different aspects of our game from youth development through the adult game to the Premier Division and the Camanachd Cup.”