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D. Leask

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  1. D. Leask

    Shetland Hockey

    Orkney beat Shetland 10-0 in the intercounty junior hockey today and as a dad of one of the players I am going to have bit of a rant. I don’t mind them losing when all is square and fair but as a dad of three girls I am a bit fed up about how sports in Shetland seem to be focused on boys and men. Kids need team sports, doesn’t matter how good they are but being part of a team prepares them for life. Having to compromise and adjust to all your fellow players in a competitive environment when you win and lose together as a pack is such an education and one you don’t get in school. We all know the legendary names of older football players and hockey players who have committed to their sports and will always be people who we respect and admire in Shetland. At present we are only going to have men in that bracket in future and I don't think that is fair. Sport is an incentive that keeps kids fit, gives them a good perspective on life, creates friendship and keeps them on the straight and narrow. Somehow hockey in Shetland has become neglected. We have one dilapidated pitch in brae that we have to be up early doors on Sunday to run our kids to and without doubt, nobody south of Lerwick can be bothered with. Yes we can all go for swim whenever we feel like it but having to drive 20 miles for a game of hockey? Something has gone wrong here. Orkney doesn’t seem to have some of the issues with young folk we deal with and I wonder why! Is that because they have invested in team sports and taken the girls with them? Team sports for kids; training and development, learning to get along, is a huge benefit whether the girls become brilliant or not, but in Shetland I feel girls are currently missing out at this formative stage. Imagine how Orkney young girls are feeling tonight. They’ll all want to be picking up a hockey stick and desperate to get into that team. In Shetland however, young lasses will to want to stay well clear of anyone who mentions hockey training. Totally not the way it should be! We used to be good at hockey and had loads of girls and women playing when we had two pitches in Lerwick, but since artificial pitches became mandatory we seem to have given up. If the charitable trust is seriously about benefiting Shetland then build an artificial pitch in Lerwick and one at southend. Get another few hundred girls playing hockey, getting healthy, developing life skills and maybe we can step up to the mark against Orkney in a few years and I won’t be so worried about sending my two younger daughters to an intercounty where they will be devastated for losing the Stuart Cup!
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