Pairc nan Laoch is a

shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

stadium in

Portree Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.W.H. Murray, Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and lies ...

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is home to

Skye Camanachd Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It plays in the Premier Division and has a reserve team in North Division One, as well as a Ladies team in the WCA National Division One and a ...

History

Skye Camanachd originally played at Home Farm in the village of Portree and then moved to the

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

Park in the centre of the village where they attracted large crowds. They also used a park at

Skeabost Skeabost () is a township, at the head of the sea loch, Loch Snizort Beag in the southern end of the Trotternish peninsula on the island of Skye in the Scottish Highlands and is in the Scotland, Scottish council area of Highland Council area, Hig ...

from time to time when the King George V was unavailable. The King George V surface was unfortunately of a poor standard and therefore from the mid-1990s, efforts were made to secure a dedicated shinty stadium in the village. This resulted in the construction of Pairc nan Laoch (

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongside both Irish and Manx, developed ou ...

for "Field of Heroes") on land to the west of the town. Despite being created out of rocky and boggy moorland and only being played on first in 1998, the park is now considered to be one of the best in Scotland. The financial repercussions of building a large clubhouse with a bar, kitchen and gym has been a major burden to the club but in recent years steps have been taken to deal with this. In early 2011 the pitch suffered vandalism. Although the stadium has yet to be awarded a

Camanachd Cup The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd Cup (or less commonly the Scottish Cup) is the premier competition in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shi ...

final due to a lack of grandstand, the park has hosted the

Balliemore Cup The Balliemore Cup is a knock-out cup in the sport of shinty. It is the Intermediate Championship run under the auspices of the Camanachd Association and only first teams competing in the National, North Division One and South Division One are elig ...

final in 2011 as well as the Balliemore and Sutherland Cup finals in 2005. The park is used by both Skye Camanachd senior teams, the ladies team and all youth teams from U-17 to Primary Age

References

{{Reflist

External links

Skye Camanachd Official Website
Shinty venues Buildings and structures in the Isle of Skye 1998 establishments in Scotland Sports venues in Highland (council area) Portree