Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SHINTY SPOTLIGHT: 10 questions for Glen Urquhart assistant manager and player John Barr

John Barr, right, in action for Glenurquhart against Lovat's Greg Matheson. Picture - Neil Paterson
John Barr, right, in action for Glenurquhart against Lovat's Greg Matheson. Picture - Neil Paterson

John Barr is assistant manager and a “utility” player at Glen Urquhart – and he’s next under our Shinty Spotlight.

Here, the 39-year-old, who most recently plays up front, describes his ups and downs in the sport he loves.

What is your earliest shinty memory?

I was given my first shinty stick by my grandfather and I played out in the back garden with my dad. My grandfather carved it from a bit of hazel.

Who was senior debut against and what was the result?

I got called up from the under-14s squad to play against Strathglass in the Ali Ban Cup, which was my second team game.

My first team debut was away to Oban in the Premier League. I can’t remember the result, but I think we lost and, on the back of that result, we were relegated that season. That was a good number of years ago.

What is your best moment in shinty so far?

Winning the first major trophy for Glen Urquhart (in 2012) was a milestone and a monkey off our backs. That was the Macaulay Cup down in Oban, and (a 6-0 win) against Oban, so that was a good one.

The pinnacle of my career was captaining Scotland and winning against Ireland (in 2015). You have the country and the home crowd behind you – it’s such a good atmosphere.

And the worst?

Losing to Kingussie in the (2014) Camanachd Cup final was the low point for me. We underperformed and we knew that as players.

Kingussie were deserved winners, but we just didn’t compete to the level we would have hoped to in order to win that game.

What is the worst injury you have suffered?

I fractured my pelvis and needed surgery, which kept me out of shinty for half a season. Even on my return, I struggled to get back to full fitness.

It was actually not as a result of playing shinty – it was a stress fracture from doing the running section of an ironman competition.

John Barr, left, competes for the ball against Newtonmore’s Drew Macdonald.

Who is the joker in the team?

We have a few clowns in the team, but probably top of the list is Connor Golabek. You have to keep your eyes on him.

What is your favourite away ground?

Certainly, The Dell at Kingussie is a great surface to play on, but also you can’t beat the Bught (in Inverness) on a finals day. There is always some atmosphere and both sets of supporters give as good as they get on a cup final or an international day at the Bught.

Who is the rival player you would have loved in your team and why?

I’ve had some really good tussles through the years against James Clark from Fort William and Glen MacKintosh from Newtonmore, who knows how to find the back of the net and has a great desire to compete.

However, the most prolific goalscorer was Ronald Ross. If he was playing for Glen Urquhart, he would certainly have helped us succeed in winning far more silverware. He’s the man I’d pick to have in my team.

What is the favourite goal scored by you or a team-mate?

From my own point of view, it would have to be scoring points in the international to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

When we’ve been in finals, the players who have taken the opportunities to score are always important. It’s difficult to pin down a specific goal throughout the years.

I’ve been a defender 95% of my career, so I’ve been at the other end, trying to prevent goals against us.

Describe the sport in three words?

If I was describing shinty to a tourist I would say skillful, competitive and community.

To describe it to a shinty colleague I’d say community, passion and friendships. You build up fantastic friendships over the years, and when playing opponents, all over Scotland.

Conversation