Hockey is up and running again in Thurso with numbers on the rise
Hockey is "good fun" and "great exercise" as well as being a highly sociable sport, according to the man leading its revival in Thurso.
Since starting Thurso Hockey Club a few weeks ago, Kenneth McElroy has seen a steady increase in numbers at coaching sessions and in the longer term he sees potential for other teams to be formed in the county.
For now, though, his focus is on getting the Thurso club established and he will be seeking sponsorship and grant funding to help cover equipment costs.
Kenneth (33) got involved in the sport in 2015 when he was living in Orkney, where there is a thriving hockey scene.
“It's a big sport over there,” he explained.
“I was just looking to supplement my football and keep fit so I tried hockey. I remember doing it once in high school, and I remember enjoying it – and I never did it again.
“I guess there wasn't a team established here.”
After a spell studying archaeology at Glasgow University, Kenneth became reacquainted with hockey last year when he was living in Argyll.
“That was after I graduated from university," he explained. "I went to work with Kilmartin Museum and lived in Oban.
“Again I was just looking to meet people, looking to have a social life, and also have a run around.
“It's a great sport to be playing – very sociable and great exercise. There is something about running bent over that just absolutely wrecks you!
“I'm never as tired playing football as I am playing hockey. It's good fun.”
Kenneth is well known for his work with the archaeological charity Caithness Broch Project and earlier this year he was appointed as manager of the John O'Groats Trail, the long-distance coastal walking route. On the amateur football front he founded High Ormlie Hotspur, who won the 2022 Highland Amateur Cup, and he assists with Caithness Ladies.
“For me, hockey is very similar to football – it's just a smaller ball and you use a stick to get the ball about," he said. "The tactics are really the same and team sizes are the same, so I just latched onto it and enjoyed it.”
I was just looking to meet people, looking to have a social life, and also have a run around.
While there are obvious parallels between hockey and shinty, there are key differences too.
“The sports are very similar but they are different enough to warrant people playing one or the other, or both," Kenneth said. "There's not as much charging and bashing as shinty."
Kenneth is not aware of any organised hockey in the county over the past few decades but has seen a Thurso High School yearbook from 1969 featuring a photo of a girls' hockey team.
“At some level it was played here, and enough for them to feature in the yearbook," he said. “I think the sticks that we've purloined from Thurso High School actually date to about then.”
Coaching takes place at the Naver all-weather pitch on Tuesdays from 8.15 to 9.15pm. The sessions are mixed and involve players aged 14 and over.
Five people came along for the first week, but the latest session attracted a turnout of 16. "We had eight versus eight which was almost a full game," Kenneth pointed out.
There is a network of teams around the Highlands and Islands that take part in competitive games and tournaments, although no region-wide league structure exists.
Kenneth said: “Maybe there would be an opportunity to start something up which would add another level of excitement and competitiveness and would help to develop these teams.”
He is keen to gauge interest in getting clubs set up in Wick and in the south-east of the county.
“I'd love it if we could get three teams," Kenneth said. "If that was the case, it would be brilliant if we could get some regular games where we didn't have to travel far.
“But I'm just going to make sure that we've got a steady number attending the Thurso side and then after that maybe we can look at expanding into other parts of Caithness and further south.”
Individual players have provided bibs, balls and sticks but the Thurso club will look at sponsorship and funding possibilities. For example, the club would like to acquire proper hockey goals instead of the seven-a-side football nets that are being used at present – or cones, if the teams are small.
"We've basically borrowed the equipment from the high school and that's really indoor hockey – it's not quite fit for purpose," Kenneth said. "It's quite old equipment and it's not really used very much.
"This is why we're looking at sponsorship options and we'll probably put in a grant application to Caithness Sports Council. As with almost all sports, it's quite expensive to start something up."
A Thurso Hockey Club Facebook page has been created and Kenneth would like to hear from any local businesses that might be able to help.
He has also been in touch with Scottish Hockey, the national governing body, as he continues to build up his own knowledge of the sport.
"To be honest I haven't played hockey that long," Kenneth admitted. "Really this is the first time I've ever had to coach it, and I'm kind of learning on the job – I'm just trying to keep one step ahead.
"Everyone seems to be really enjoying it.
"It has been really cool speaking to some people who have said, 'I've not played this in years!' They're usually from Edinburgh or further south and it's played more there.
"Someone said, 'Oh, I didn't think I'd get the opportunity to play it again.' So that has been really encouraging to hear – that people are very appreciative of the fact that they're getting the opportunity to play a sport that they've either never tried, or they've wanted to try, or they played many years ago.
"It's a nice thing for the area, I think."