New Skye Camanachd skipper backs squad ahead of tough opener
Written by MartyM on 4 March 2026
By Jamie McDonald
Skye Camanachd’s season gets underway on Saturday with a trip to The Dell to face Kingussie.
The Pairc nan Laoch side are hoping to build on last year’s fifth place finish in the MOWI Premiership.
This year marks Ryan Harrison’s first season as captain. It’s the fullback’s third year at the club after moving to the island.
Men’s First Team Manager, Kenny MacLeod said:
“It was a really positive decision for us. A lot of players showed strong leadership qualities last season, so there was no shortage of captaincy options. With three internationals in the squad and a good mix of experience, it led to some healthy discussions within the management team.
“Since arriving on Skye, Ryan has really immersed himself in the club and the wider community. He’s a well-liked individual, respected in the dressing room and around the club, and he consistently leads by example through his attitude, standards, and performances.”
On whether his new role will change how he plays, Ryan says it’s business as usual.
“It’s going to be pretty much the same. Kenny always speaks about looking for leaders across the pitch. Let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone knows me for my skilful prowess on the shinty pitch. It’s more because they can hear me from a mile away. Because I play at fullback, he’s looking for somebody just to steer the ship a bit. We’re trying to build leaders all over the park now. I’m trying to pass on some of my knowledge that I have that the younger boys maybe don’t have yet.”
This Saturday’s tie against champions Kingussie will be a tough opener. But Ryan’s confident his team can put in a good performance.
“When the fixtures come out, that’s probably not the one anyone particularly wants, but we’ve got to play them at some point. We finished on a real high last year up here drawing with them. We’re hoping to carry that momentum on at the start of this season and give them a good game. We’ll see what happens on Saturday.”
With a long season ahead, the new captain reckons his side are well equipped for what’s in store.
“We’re pretty confident. At the end of the season, we were playing into October. I think the first couple of weeks, everyone is pretty glad to have a break from shinty. A couple of weeks after that you’re starting to get the itch back and now everyone’s just raring to go. We’ve been training hard, three nights a week since January. Everyone’s looking pretty fit, everyone’s looking pretty sharp so we’re all excited to be getting started.”
“Last year, most teams in the Premiership set the goal of either doing really well in the league or getting to a cup final. We had a really honest conversation with each other at the end of last season and asked ourselves what we were expecting. We decided to take it game on game. The potential that we’ve got is there and it’s just about us getting the right attitude for each game. We’re not going to say we want to get to the final of x, y or z, or we want to get in this place, I think we’re just going to focus on ourselves each week and put out as best a performance as we can.”
Elsewhere this weekend, Skye Camanachd Ladies travel to Spean Bridge to take on Lochaber. You can read captain Sarah Yoxon’s interview with Radio Skye here.
