SHINTY players may not be able to compete during the ongoing sporting shutdown but the athletes at Women’s Camanachd Association (WCA) will still be making the most of the time available to them by raising funds for charity.
On Sunday May 17 – the date that would have been the opening round of the WCA Camanachd Cup – two teams will compete in the “Mount Everest Step-up Challenge”, with all money raised going towards Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS).
The charity is one that resonates for personal reasons with a number of the WCA committee and it is hoped that the contest will raise some much-needed cash for the organisation.
WCA president Lisa MacColl has calculated that in order to “climb” Everest, which is 29,029 feet high, competitors will need to take 57,455 steps each. Individual times will be totted up and the team which walks it fastest will be the winner.
The teams are captained by Elizabeth McGregor and her twin sister Jeanette. Betty and Netty, as they are known in the shinty world, hail from Kingussie. The pair have gained international honours and both play for Badenoch in the women’s top division – and with brother Bob featuring as goalkeeper of Kingussie’s title-winning Premier side last season, they are fiercely loyal to their home-town club.
Team Betty includes MacColl (Aberdour), Camanachd Association director Lyndsay Bradley (Ardnamurchan), Karen Williamson (Invergarry), Taryn Neilson (Aberdour) and WCA Treasurer Natasha Andean (Badenoch).
Supporting Netty are Niamh Donnelly (Aberdour), an NHS worker; Tina Marshall, the first female to officiate as line judge at a Camanachd Cup final; Claire Delaney (Lochaber), Gillian Brown (Aberdour) and WCA secretary Melanie Williams (Bute).
The contest might only be for charity but that does not mean that the stakes aren’t high, with the losing side made to pose for photos wearing the blue stripes of rivals Newtonmore.
Donations to the cause can be made at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/womens-camanachd-association
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