Pairc nan Laoch
Encyclopedia
Pairc nan Laoch is a shinty
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...

 stadium in Portree
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....

, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is home to Skye Camanachd
Skye Camanachd
Skye Camanachd is a shinty team from the Isle of Skye, Highland, Scotland. It plays in North Division One and has a reserve team in North Division Two. The club is based at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree.-Early history:...

.

History

Skye Camanachd originally played at Home Farm in the village of Portree and then moved to the King George V Park in the centre of the village where they attracted large crowds. They also used a park at Skeabost
Skeabost
Skeabost is a township, at the head of the sea loch, Loch Snizort Beag in the southern end of the Trotternish peninsula on the island of Skye in the Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland....

 from time to time when the King George V was unavailable. The King George V surface was unfortunately of a poor standard and therefore from the mid-1990s, efforts were made to secure a dedicated shinty stadium in the village.

This resulted in the construction of Pairc nan Laoch (Scots Gaelic for "Field of Heroes") on land to the west of the town. Despite being created out of rocky and boggy moorland and only being played on first in 1998, the park is now considered to be one of the best in Scotland. The financial repercussions of building a large clubhouse with a bar, kitchen and gym has been a major burden to the club but in recent years steps have been taken to deal with this.

In early 2011 the pitch suffered vandalism. Although the stadium has yet to be awarded a Camanachd Cup
Camanachd Cup
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup AKA the Camanachd Cup or Scottish Cup is the premier prize in the sport of shinty...

 final due to a lack of grandstand, the park has hosted the Balliemore Cup
Balliemore Cup
The Balliemore Cup is a knock-out cup in the sport of shinty. It is the Intermediate Championship run under the auspices of the Camanachd Association and only first teams competing in North Division One and South Division One are eligible for entry.-History:...

final in 2011 as well as the Balliemore and Sutherland Cup finals in 2005.

The park is used by both Skye Camanachd senior teams, the ladies team and all youth teams from U-17 to Primary Age
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