• 4 days ago
Transcript
00:00Right well obviously it's coming on remarkably well I mean is it still on
00:04track for it's I think it was March next year I think it was originally mentioned
00:07so it's on track to be ready for that? Yes I believe so yeah and
00:12shinty matches for Inverness shinty club with a bit of luck starting in March I
00:16believe. Yeah and I overheard a little earlier as well you mentioned
00:19obviously you know some of the purposes of the building are before once it's
00:24fully open and international you know events like that what sort of events
00:28have you got like geared up in the near future once it opens I presume we've
00:31already got like a list of pretty pretty spectacular events lined up? Yeah so we
00:37have a couple of showpiece events next year we're going to focus on we've got
00:41the MacTavish Cup final will be hosted here the Tulloch Holmes camera Cup final
00:452025 will be here which will be a really exciting showcase of the very best of
00:49shinty and then after that working with partners the GAA in Ireland to host the
00:54Hurling Shinty International here as well and really excited about that
00:58development because the the ambition is to host the Women's International and
01:01the Men's International on the same field on the same day so that'd be a
01:04great opportunity to showcase the very best of shinty. Yeah and a purpose built
01:09facility like this in you know in the Highland capital it's going to be a big
01:13boom for you know for for shinty in general over the you know over the over
01:18the Highlands and Islands really you know I mean there'll be people coming
01:21from you know obviously hopefully from miles and miles around to watch the big
01:24events obviously yeah the Cup finals and stuff you mentioned it must be a
01:27very exciting time for yourselves. It is yeah I mean obviously having a new
01:32innovative and modern facility such as this where people within our community
01:36can come and enjoy the sport is fantastic and part of that is the
01:39challenge for us is to try and attract a new audience to our sport as well and to
01:42talk to other parts of the community that aren't as familiar with shinty as
01:46other people so how we sell that story and we share that story and one of the
01:50ways we'll do that is with the shinty story downstairs the the exhibition
01:54space that we'll be utilizing and that'll be a great way that we can tell
01:58people the very best about our sport right through from some of this
02:00ancestral and heritage roots right through to modern day and how the sport
02:04is played by our communities. I was going to ask you about the shinty museum
02:08downstairs I mean you've obviously mentioned it's going to cover the whole you know
02:11history of the sport are there any sort of particular exhibits or any concepts
02:15that you've got lined up for that you're particularly excited about or would like
02:18to share at this time? Yeah well at the moment we're really in that consultation
02:21phase with with Lateral North who are leading that project with us and we're
02:25doing a lot of work with our community to understand what they would want and
02:28feel from that space and but we're collating a lot of artifacts right now
02:33some of the historical pieces about some of the balls that were involved in
02:36original games a lot of medals that have been accrued over a number of years
02:40that celebrate some significant events and in the shinty calendar so they'll
02:44they'll be on exhibit here and we're looking to do a lot of kind of
02:47digitizing of that as well so there'll be experiences where people can
02:51interact with them and even if the actual artifacts not here on the site
02:53they'll be able to learn and understand about that so yeah right through from
02:57the history of the part the shinty played in our rural communities and how
03:02that's developed that community and the strength of that and how it's become a
03:05hub for those people and right through to the modern day and how shinty is
03:10enjoyed by everybody right now. So it's going to become a real hub for the
03:13sport like a like a prestige location for it obviously with the amount of
03:19visitors to the Highlands increasing all the time we must be very excited
03:22about what that could mean for exposure for the sport obviously within Scotland
03:26but also with all the international visitors coming in as well. Yeah yeah it's
03:30a great opportunity for us to work closely with High Life Highland on
03:33connections with the castle for example and how we we attract that new audience
03:37to come here and learn and understand about shinty so that's what we hope the
03:42space downstairs will be an opportunity to in a modern and innovative
03:46environment learn about the sport engage in the sport and go away
03:50hopefully converts to wanting to take part in it and it's fantastic for the
03:54city and the sport as you say and what we want to do is to broaden that reach
03:58to the whole of that shinty community and our membership we want we want
04:01everyone who's part of our community to feel part of this so we want to try and
04:05engage as many of those people as we can and that's why we want to see every club
04:09in some way or other reflected in the museum downstairs then everyone who's
04:13part of shinty can come and see themselves reflected here. Excellent and
04:16I'm speaking obviously about all the various different shinty clubs and stuff
04:20I mean what's the sort of feedback you've been getting like so far I mean
04:22obviously it's coming together you know I mean the building's really starting to
04:25take shape now yeah I mean what have various members been saying as it's
04:29been sort of pulling itself you know pulling together? There's a real
04:32excitement and buzz around I think people are really excited to see what
04:35the the finished pavilion looks like in its entirety and the grandstand behind
04:39me and I think it's difficult when you see things as bricks and mortar to
04:43really understand what the space is going to look like but we are doing a
04:46range of consultations with our members right now as I mentioned on what the
04:50shinty story museum can look like and how they can be part of that so that's
04:53generating an interest and a buzz and an excitement around what that can be and
04:57people obviously want to showcase the best of their club and to a wider
05:01audience and it's a great opportunity for them to do that. So it's a great
05:04almost like a great shop front for each of their clubs really to put
05:10themselves out there and obviously attract interest from people visiting the
05:14Highlands and the Highland Capital who may not necessarily be going near
05:18their particular community yeah because obviously there's quite you know the
05:22shinty clubs are quite you know dispersed around obviously got a way
05:25down on the Kyle's Abute and things like that so it's quite a you know so it's a
05:30great sort of shop front to really increase their coverage or spread
05:37with the wider world even though people might not
05:41necessarily be traveling down to where those particular clubs are so it's a great chance to.
05:44No it's a real opportunity for us to do that and to profile those clubs
05:48in some of our more rural communities and and newer communities that aren't
05:52traditionally from a shinty background and heritage and yeah it's a real
05:56opportunity to just talk about that cultural piece that heritage piece with
05:59some really interesting historical things that the sport has been involved
06:03in and we want to tell people that who are coming to the city for the first
06:06time and then and then might want to go into other parts of the country in
06:09Scotland whilst they're here to better understand what that looks like.
06:12And finally I mean any particular things that you'd like to add that I may not have
06:16asked you about you know any particular things you're particularly excited about
06:19or any things you're like looking forward to seeing once the building and
06:23all the facilities are up and running. Yeah I think there's two things for me
06:26really first and foremost is the shinty story in that exhibition and to
06:29start seeing members of the public coming and utilising that space as I
06:34mentioned that's a there'll be a fantastic place to learn and to
06:36understand about the sport of shinty and the power of our sport within our
06:39communities that will that will be really exciting and then beyond that of
06:42course it'd be great to then suddenly see some some shinty matches taking
06:45place on this pitch which is there's a lot of history here as well and and and
06:49what a great vantage point to come and watch those matches take part and we
06:53hope there'll be real community opportunities to engage with with young
06:57audiences older audiences and families to be part of that experience and that's
07:00what we hope that we can do.