Perthshire Highland Games chief's optimism for a brilliant 2022 season

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Perthshire Highland Games Association (PHGA) recently released the dates for all 13 member Highland Games for the coming season.

Having seen a complete cancellation of all Perthshire Highland Games over the last two years due to the COVID-19 virus, there is now a real sense of enthusiasm to see Highland Games back on the events calendar - coupled with a genuine belief that this season will actually happen.

Ian Stewart, PHGA chair, told the PA: “We are not entirely out of the woods yet as far as the virus is concerned and there may be issues to overcome, however things don’t look as bleak as they have done.“There is no doubt we have concerns surrounding possible restrictions, one of those being the possibility of vaccine passports still being a requirement to enter large-scale gatherings and this in itself would obviously bring a challenge to all our members.“We had hoped that the recent announcement of a lowering of restrictions would be a welcome one, however the lowering of attendance numbers to 1000 for events to require 50 per cent vaccine passport checks could prove difficult.“Until the season actually gets under way, we are unsure what possible restrictions may still be in place.

I can assure everyone though that all Perthshire Highland Games organisers will be taking the utmost care to keep all our visitors and competitors safe while they attend our events.This is Ian’s first year as PHGA chair: “I hope we will see Perthshire Highland Games bounce back in 2022 with a real bang. “Having stayed in Crieff my entire life, I have a real enthusiasm for Perthshire and all it has to offer but Highland Games are my passion. “It has been said that Highland Games are basically men in kilts, they are what you see on the side