Keir moves from shinty to hockey

Derek Keir has been appointed the new chief executive officer and Scottish Hockey bosses believe his leadership will guide them to greater heights.

He joins from the Camanachd Association who administer shinty and he starts his new role this summer, taking over from Barry Cawte.

Keir said: “Meeting with some of the staff, directors and volunteers was a brilliant insight to the ambition and expertise that already exists in Scottish Hockey and I cannot wait to meet the wider team and get started in the role.”

He began his career in disability sport with Yorkshire-based football team Sheffield Wednesday before studying for his post graduate certificate in physical education.

During this time he took part in a programme with UK Sport for the International Development of Excellence and Leadership in Zambia and subsequently co-founded a charity to support young sports leaders with their education.

He trained as a teacher and had roles in school and club sport before starting with sportscotland as a partnership manager, leaving after four years to become CEO for the Camanachd Association.

The team delivered a £10m investment for ten new changing rooms and a shinty experience in Inverness, a performance camp for 43 teenage girls just outside New York City, a residential camp for 95 young people with disabilities in Aviemore, arranged continued sponsorship for major events across the sport and continued coverage of shinty through podcasts, website and YouTube.

Shinty also enjoyed live match coverage on on MG Alba and BBC Scotland and he was involved in a strategy to extend network support including the deployment of 196 training teachers in shinty playing communities.

Edinburgh-based Martin Shepherdson, chair of Scottish Hockey, said “Derek brings a wealth of experience that will undoubtedly strengthen our organization as we embark on the Build Phase of our Vision. We are confident that his leadership will guide us to even greater heights.”

PICTURE: from our library of the Scottish over 60s celebrating success