Shinty in the United States
Shinty was played in its original form throughout North and South America by Scottish settlers until the early 1900s when the practice died out.
[1] Shinty, and its close Irish relative hurling as well as the English bandy, are recognised as being the progenitors of ice hockey[2] and are an important part of North America's modern sporting heritage.
Despite this tradition, shinty itself went unplayed for almost 100 years at any serious level until the mid-1980s when Scottish Americans once again took an interest in the sport, with the first club being established in northern California.
The Camanachd Cup itself made the long trip to New York City for the Tartan Day celebrations.
Steps are afoot to open franchises in Oregon, Utah, Alabama, Louisiana and Arizona.
The first ever All-American competition was held in September 2010 with Northern California, Washington and Oregon meeting at the Kelso Highlander Festival.
It is a significant step for the sport of shinty to spread to new markets such as the United States and Canada which have large Scottish Gaelic communities.
[3] US Camanachd operates as a body for fostering and assisting the spread of shinty within North America.
Northern California Camanachd Club AKA NCCC is a shinty team based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
It was the first shinty club of the modern era in North America being founded in 2001 and has been instrumental in the spread of the sport across the United States.
Set up by Americans with Scottish heritage, including Michael Bentley, who trained with Skye Camanachd in 1983, Elheran Francis and Karl Davis.
The NCCC officially came into being in 2001 as a means of fostering and developing an authentic Scottish sporting activity in northern California.
The event was hosted by the Blairgowrie Highland Games where the Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC) played a series matches against Tayforth.
The club played its first twelve a-side fixture in Scotland against Skye Camanachd on 6 September 2007, they were defeated 9–0.
Houston Camanachd Club was the third shinty team to be established in North America in the modern era in 2005.
Dunedin Camanachd was founded in the Spring of 2006 by an Ex-Pat Scot, being the First East Coast club in a century.
