Shinty

Shinty (or camanachd or iomain in modern Scottish Gaelic) is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played almost exclusively in thbal do balh ]] of Scotland, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas where Scottish Highlanders migrated.

Whilst comparisons are often made with field hockey, the two sports have several important differences. In shinty, a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, a practice called hacking.

A player may tackle using the body as long as this is shoulder-to-shoulder as in football.The sport was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling but has developed different rules and features.

These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association.Shinty is also one of the forebears of ice hockey: in 1800, Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia played a game on ice at Windsor. In Canada, informal hockey games are still called shinny.