Glasgow Mid Argyll’s Kirsty Rodger is the latest player to fire back answers in our weekly Shinty Spotlight series.
The 23-year-old defender, who plays for the club in both WCA Mowi National Division and South Division Two, shares her top sporting moments so far.
What is your earliest shinty memory?Â
I actually had a bit of an unconventional introduction to the game.
I hadn’t held a shinty stick until I started university, so my first go at the sport was a wee taster session at the Glasgow Uni ground at Garscube.
It was a good session – although I got absolutely halved by Jan-Hendrik Ewers, who now also plays for GMA, but I kept on playing and here we are six years later.
Who was your senior debut against and can you recall the result?
My first university game was quite a brutal jaunt away to play Robert Gordon University, or RGU, in Aberdeen.
At that time, their side was full of Scotland internationals and I think the score was something like 13-0 before we stopped counting, so that was hard.
Club-wise, I had a brief spell at Aberdour, so my first National League game was for them and my first game was against Glenurquhart in Drumnadrochit. I played wing centre, which I haven’t played since, and I was marking my old university captain Tara McClelland, but we won 2-0, so that was it was quite exciting nonetheless.
I came to Glasgow Mid Argyll full-term around two years ago and we had lots of round-robins in the Covid years. I finally got my first full game against Aberdour.
I’m from Fife, so it was quite nice to play against them back in “the Kingdom” in what was a 1-1 draw, nice and simple.
What is your best moment in the sport so far?
I was really excited to be chosen for the representative Scotland university select squad.
We went over to Limerick and it was nice to play competitive combined shinty/camogie.
I got to meet club players from all over the country, which was new to me – being a university player.
In terms of my favourite game, that would be the Valerie Fraser Cup quarter-final against Lochaber last year.
We had been training really hard for it and it had been a hard time for the team, but we managed to pull out of the the bag and win 2-0.
I managed to score as well, so that was really exciting.
We felt like one big family and it was a really good game.
And the worst?
Staying with the Valerie Fraser Cup, it was the semi-final last year against Skye.
We were in the lead until the 73rd minute and we ended up losing 2-1, which was pretty gutting.
We had worked so hard, but Skye put on an absolute show that day. They were different class.
But we learned a lot from that defeat. It reminded us that you must keep working until the final whistle. I don’t think we will forget that experience.
What is the worst injury you have suffered in shinty?Â
I’m probably tempting fate, but I’ve actually been pretty lucky in terms of injuries.
I had a brief stint in a moon boot after injuring my ankle at training.
But I’m not very good at resting, so I was out of it a week-and-a-half later to play Edinburgh Sixes. I live to tell the tale, but overall I’ve been lucky on that front.
Who is the joker in your team?
Our wing-centre Evie Coultas.
She always managed to put a smile on everyone’s face, whether it’s socially, at training or during a game. She’s got a great attitude, she’s great craic.
Her whole ethos towards shinty is really inspiring for us all.
What is your favourite away ground and why?Â
I enjoying going to Spean Bridge (Lochaber). The pitch is in great condition and it’s really atmospheric.
The girls up there are so welcoming, which adds to the whole experience.
Who is the rival player you would love to have in your team and why?
There are so many people I’d want to mention here for so many different reasons, but a stand-out for me would be Mairi Stewart from Badenoch.
She’s a great player with so much experience. She always has a smile on her face and loves what she’s doing.
I remember her and her sister Rhona playing in that first game I played against RGU and I was so amazed watching them play – it’s now a bit surreal for me to now be playing in the same league against them.
What is the favourite goal scored by you or a team-mate?Â
As a life-long defender, I’ve spent about three years in the back line, so scoring a goal – like the one I scored against Lochaber in the cup quarter-final last year – is like a massive novelty to me. It was such a great feeling.
In terms of a team-mate, I’d say Abi Kirkland, who also plays in defence. It was at the Littlejohn and McHue Porter university tournament and she scored an absolute belter of a goal from behind the halfway line into the top corner.
We both took one another out in the celebration and landed on our faces! It was a great memory.
Describe shinty in three words please?
Practice, community and passion.
Conversation