Strathmore
Highland Games
Junior Highland Games
One of the core values of the Strathmore Highland Games is to develop , support and encourage the next generation of Highland Games athletes and spectators. This has been a long term commitment of the committee for many years. We believe by working to instil a love of Highland Games in the younger generation from an early age, by giving them the opportunity to try out
Highland Games sports we can work towards achieving just that.
This will hopefully protect the longevity of the Games not just for us at Strathmore, but across the Highland Games circuit
throughout Scotland.
Image courtesy of D C Thomson/The Courier
Image courtesy of DC Thomson/The Courier
Image courtesy of D C Thomson/The Courier
Over the course of the last 10 years, Strathmore Highland Games, in partnership with Angus Council’s Active School Co-ordinator, Magnus Moncrieff, have organised School Highland Games for nine Angus primary schools & one secondary school. Almost 1000 children now get to join in Highland Games activities in the run up to our main Highland Games, a number which we are very proud of.
Our main event takes place a few days before the main Games, in the grounds of Glamis Castle, where we welcome nearly 400 primary school children from seven Angus Schools, to our Rural Schools Junior Highland Games. The children have such an awesome day taking part in throwing cabers and shotputs, competing for a tug of war trophy and medals for the relay race. It is a very inclusive event for the children – not everyone loves sports day, yet the children always find an activity that they can enjoy and thrive at.
We also host a Tug of War competition in the grounds of Glamis Castle, where teams from 8 primary schools take part in some hotly contested battles, to see who would win our Cochrane Shield. Every year the teams skill level improve & develop, which is amazing to see.
We also take our mini Highland Games events up to two schools in Kirriemuir to Northmuir and Southmuir. It takes a hard heart not to be affected by the smiles on the children’s faces, they truly love taking part in these events, it’s such rewarding work for all involved in their running and organisation.
Our events couldn't run without the support of pupils from Webster's High School, parents, volunteers, Highland Games competitors, former pupils, along with sponsors, Agrico UK Ltd, Valhalla WLC & Mr James Arnott.
Over the last few years, teachers Jim Milton and Ashley Sparks have been working with youngsters at Webster’s High School to build a Tug of War team at various ages. In 2024 we saw our team take on a Blairgowrie High School in a development event at Webster’s HS which was great fun. In 2025 we were delighted to hold an exhibition competition within the ring for our Secondary and 3 of of our Primary School teams. We’d love to hear from any interested Secondary Schools to continue this development, to help support these young athletes to help them feed into the adult Tug of War teams in due course.
For further information about our Schools Highland Games events, please get in touch. We’d love to see more of these events taking place throughout Scotland, it’s the future of our sport and events that we’re invested in after all – let’s get the Highland Games spirit flowing through Scotland.