Womens Camanachd Association - SWOT Analysis and Open Forum STRENGTHS National 1(8) - High standard of shinty - competitive games (3) - some competitive games - good relationship between players - 10 a side - Fun North 2 (12) - lots of games (4) - North 1 teams reaching Valerie Fraser Semi finals - varying levels of competition - only second season so been great learning how other teams play. - Improved skill level (2) - less travelling - fun/friendly/banterful - good numbers South 2 (3) - No more than 2 1/2 hrs travel - Good Craic - Even level of play/skill. WEAKNESSES
National 1 1/ Size of league (9) - want more games/not enough (6) - season is very long with long gaps between games (3) 2/ Travel (6) - long journeys/distance (3) - all day taken with travelling (1) - lots travelling (2) 3/ Standards (2) - there can be very large gaps in standards - As 1 team club difficult to introduce players to game. 4/Other issues (3) - Games played in school holidays - development camps need to be for developing players not Internationalists - Sundays North 2 1/ League size and games (8) - it's only 8 a side - 8 a side jump to 10 - fixture dates, too much messing about from set dates - problem with Saturday games (2) - referee appointment - gaps between games - play off late in season
2/ Standards (3) - teams not moving up dominate - not really a development league anymore - there are teams ready to move up 3/Other issues (3) - Not much - lack of publicity - No feed in players due to high school gap South 2 1/ league size and games (4) - low motivation to build player base with few games - lack of games - gap between games big issue - fixture changes 2/ Other issues (2) - Fear of south being left behind - Lack of players OPPORTUNITIES (within all leagues) 1/ DEVELOPMENT (12) - Womens development officer (2)
- making more of the CA resources (dev officer / publicity) non volunteers - If no DO need more help and support developing from CA - club development support (from who?) - Clubs to identify a club member to look at development and recruitment (need support in this from?) - clubs need help to increase number to create 2nd team (who can support?) - clubs to help build shinty in area (who can support?) - more development days (who could lead on?) - training days but not always in holidays - Clubs more involved in running development days - clubs hosting north/south development days 2/ OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT (10) -Tasters in school - better transition from primary to secondary to club (2) - encourage schools to start teams and have a school league developing youth players - more school links - school teams - high school league - high school sixes events used to be great but where are they now - create u18 league to run along with leagues - U18 sixes friendliest 3/ INCREASE COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITIES (6) - more friendliest - more tournaments - getting more games by playing u17 teams - encouraging teams to move up a league - possibility to play ladies fixtures before or after a men's game,generating more interest
- clubs to hold a mini league in their area. Each team plays each other. Few games in one day 4/ RECRUITING PLAYERS(4) - lots of potential players in Oban - lots of girls in argyll - recruit more students through better promotion in argyll - better links with other clubs ( ie Youths, Men's) 5/ MARKETING (3) - Promotion of sport in papers - raise profile of womens shinty - Raise awareness in national media (TV, newspapers, FB, YouTube) 6/ OTHER - Improved facilities - Equipment for new players - funding THREATS (within all leagues) 1/ PROFILE (9) - parents view shinty as 'less important' than other sports - lack of support from CA - lack knowledge and awareness of shinty (2) - wrong perception of sport seen as rough
- seen as insular village club (when is for whole of west fife and surrounding area) - womens shinty not respected in the men's game - male dominated views in some areas - schools can be team bias not just boy bias 2/ GAME DAYS (8) - Saturday games - young girls have sat jobs in tourist season, also lots other sports on sat - religious convictions playing on Sunday - club cannot play home games on Sunday - Playing in school holidays not good, especially with so few games (2) - girls working weekends - Sunday then Saturday games hard to juggle. Need to stick to one day. - Work - not everyone works mon - fri so when fixtures change hard to get off 3/ OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING PLAYERS (7) - Low number of potential players - teams not being equally matched - movement of players away for jobs, uni etc - Drop off in teenage girls playing sport - not enough motivation for some players - lack of games hard to get players to commit every now and again. Easier if regular - No clubs moving up 4/ OTHER SPORTS / CLUBS (5) - pathways in football - competition for resources from other sports - not as popular as well known sports like football
- lots girls would rather play football every week than shinty once in a blue moon. - all sports vying for same players 5/ SCHOOL SHINTY (5) - no high school team - No shinty in schools - Shinty noton curriculum - No girls playing in high school, yet primary excellent - interest of staff, only promoted if staff are involved in shinty 6/ TRAVEL (4) - Distances - Geographical spread - the cost of players travelling back from uni or where they live for a game - cost of travel for only a few games **Distance NOT a threat to Skye! 7/ FACILITIES - lack of facilities in winter WHERE ARE WE NOW & WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? The forum then had a chance to wander and read all sheets again. We looked at the key issues based on SWOT and discussion and came up with the following priorities for the WCA over the next few years! 1/ Top priority Development Resourse To help develop local areas Camps/dev days Link to active schools
Positive Awareness /PR 2/ Leagues (Lack games etc) 3/ School development In relation to priority 1 the following was raised as key: In the meantime how do we fit in with existing CA DO's? There is a need for it to be measured & specific to WCA targets. The reasoning behind the final KP order agreed at forum : 1/ The WCA need a way of helping and supporting clubs/area groups to develop strong clubs, more volunteers. The WCA are all volunteers and need assistance planning and running development days/camps/local forums/club
development resources. It was agreed that a development resource in some form ideally a Women's Development officer or dedicated officer time is crucial to this. 2/ The leagues are then our bread and butter and without supporting existing senior provision then there will be no pathways in future for youths. It is a must that we try to get this right for all clubs/areas. 3/ Schools development is a huge opportunity, as is an u14 girls league proposed by Gillian Currie. However the two other priorities need priority work first to create the future links/volunteers/strong clubs and pathways. However a development resource would help us achieve this! It was then agreed that if we got the 3 key priorities right we would create a more positive awareness of the Women's game leading to better PR opportunities! Next steps: 1/ - Revisit talks with CA to look at liaising with Sportscotland regarding a potential Regional Development Manager or Regional Development Officer (either Women's Development Officer or an area RDM/ RDO with a remit for women's shinty)
2/ - Write a WCA development plan from above Key Priorities. 3/ Vote on new league proposals for 2014 to ensure plenty of competitive shinty opportunities for all. To aim to get leagues right for all teams/areas in current situation. This may change in future years to fit with future developments in women's game as it grows. In order to do this for this year we need to aid all teams in all areas and ensure other areas don't fall behind resulting in a loss of more female teams. League Proposals There will be two proposals to vote on at the AGM as recommended by clubs after consultation and forum discussion. Option 1 (preferred option by many as teams discussed really keen to play other clubs, competitive national league with lots games, competative national 2 allowing developing teams to play at their own ability and get a variety of games) National Division 1 GMA
Badenoch & Strathspey Lochaber (indicated keen to move up) Skye (indicated keen to move up) Glengarry (indicated keen to stay up if above move up) Aberdour Strathglass?? (Not represented at forum so unsure if keen to move up) National Division 2 Cowal & Bute GMA 2nds Dunadd Ardnumurchan Lovat Skye 2nds (if games do not clash) Strathglass?? Oban? Inverness? * A stipulation for Nat Div 2 - play all games in area (ie within North or within South) on a home and away basis - when North team play a south team they play two games at neutral venue (so teams not travelling more than they would within their own area. Ie never over two and a half hours) WCA to look into help covering neutral pitch hire. Option 2 National Division 1 (10 a side) GMA Badenoch & Strathspey Lochaber (indicated keen to move up) Skye (indicated keen to move up) Glengarry (indicated keen to stay up if above move up) Aberdour Strathglass?? (Not represented at forum so unsure if keen to move up)
South development League (8 a side) Cowal & Bute GMA 2nds Dunadd Oban? North Development League ( 8 a side) Ardnumurchan Lovat Skye 2nds (if games do not clash) Strathglass?? Inverness?