The Weight of Tradition: The competitors who keep Highland Games alive
- Lola Lea
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
By Lola Lea
The Highland Games have been around for centuries, and are gaining popularity around the world, but what does it take to compete?
When it comes to the Highland Games, the first things many people think of are cabers, kilts, and the Quaker Oats man. For Kyle Randalls, a frequent fixture on the podium at various games, these stereotypes don’t ring true. “A lot of people have watched Outlander and Braveheart and think it’s to do with clans, competing against each other, killing each other and blah, blah, blah. I think, for want of a better word, that's total bollocks.”
For competitors like Kyle, the Highland Games is a year-round commitment. While the season generally runs from May to September, the winter is spent lifting and throwing, building strength for months of weekly competitions. “It's weird because you’ll probably find a lot of people who put the amount of time and commitment into a sport that we do are probably professional athletes, and we are definitely not that.” Finding a balance between training, competing, working, and family can be a struggle. “I'm about to have my second child, so I think I'll probably be reassessing in the next year or two how much time I want to continue sort of contributing to it. I think for everyone, it's just different priorities. As you get older, your perspective shifts, and the reward is still there for me.”
This year, Gourock was home to the first games of the season. The train to Fort Matilda heaves with families, photographers and tourists, a sea of tartan, pipes and picnic hampers. With over 12,000 in attendance and the sun shining, Battery Park was home to an afternoon of pipe bands, highland dancing, food vans and amusement rides. In the centre of it, the Heavy Arena. The crowds along the barriers hail from Canada, America and Australia, all gathered to see what the Highland Games are all about. A common question among them seems to be, “How does one discover that they have a knack for throwing a giant pole and making it land straight?” For many people, their connection to the Highland Games is inherited, with generations before them passing the 19-foot baton for their children to toss. For some, it is purely accidental.
Kyle was a young wire hammer thrower when his coach brought him to his first heavy events. “He lured me into going to a Highland Games, which is perhaps not the best descriptive word to use, but he told me I was going to an athletics competition, turned out to be a Highland Games, and it sank its teeth into me.”
“There's not really a way to learn to do it where there's not thousands of people watching. So, it's quite an intimidating thing to try. So, it takes either a certain strong-minded person or perhaps weak, depending on how you look at it.”
Liz Elliott first became interested in the Highland Games 20 years ago, when she met her husband Neil, who also competes. “For a good few years, I would just come along. I always went to the gym anyway, so I was quite strong, and I was asked to compete as there were a couple other ladies taking part.”
Originally, the highland games were a way for men to cement their status within society. If they performed well, they could be selected by clan chiefs to become warriors or messengers. The feats performed, however, are believed to have more humble roots. As Kyle said: “I think this sport has been a working man's game with things that are lying around us. It’s weights, stones, shot putts and essentially hammers. Someone's picked them up, started throwing them, and just looked around and said, I'm the big man here. None of you can beat me. And over the years, it's led to sort of competition.”
For women, there’s still a fight to be included in more Scottish events. Liz said: “It’s not equal, men and women; however, the Highland Games and the committees are loving it, they’re realising that of course women can do this.”
Nowadays, the games have become a global event, with championships held around the world. The current world champion is Vladislav Tuláček from the Czech Republic, where Highland Gatherings have been seen to attract crowds of over 10,000 people. In America, games are held across the country every year, from Alaska to Arizona. Kyle describes: “If Scottish folk ended up somewhere, there's some sort of tie-in with Highland games. So, if you look at any former colonies America included in that, there's Highland games because Scottish people either went there willingly or were sort of dragged there.”
In these little pockets of Scottish tradition spread around the world, the common binding factor is community. While it may seem that 6’5”, 20 stone men who throw hammers like Kyle may not exist in large numbers across the world, from organisers to spectators and comperes, these communities thrive. “You're obviously competing against each other. So, it's like you're tipping the friendship dial, but you're not fully friends. You're forced to spend time with people that you maybe normally wouldn't. So, you have friends from all walks of life.”
Some people may view the Highland Games as a caricature of swirling kilts, constant bagpipes, and the perfect recipe for a concussion. However, if not for these gatherings, a great tradition would be lost. In sacrificing months every year to training, competing and travelling, the dedication of competitors such as Kyle Randalls, Liz Elliott, and many more around the world ensures that these traditions will live on for centuries more.
With the season only just beginning, there’s plenty of opportunities to attend a Highland Gathering. At least once a week for the next four months, a town in Scotland will come out to watch the heavy competitions. The next games take place this Sunday, the 7th of June, in Markinch.
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