The Rocky Mountain Scottish Athletes (RMSA) brings a full-day competition to the Margaret Carpenter Park multi-purpose fields on July 24th.
Starting at 9 am, athletes will rotate through nine events, wearing kilts that represent family tartans, countries, and organizations like firefighters or the U.S. Air Force. They will be joined by dancers and bagpipers throughout the day, in an inclusive cultural celebration.
Admission is FREE! The festivities will continue from 9 am through 4:30 pm, with a lunch break for the athletes around noon.
On June 5th, RMSA demonstrated various events at Carpenter Park during ThorntonFest and gave spectators an opportunity to try their hand at the caber toss, stone put, sheaf, and weight-for-distance. The City was impressed by the level of engagement and invited RMSA back for a competition with a full contingent of athletes, overseen by certified judges.
After two Highland Games in May and June, RMSA faced an unusual summer break because the Elizabeth Celtic Festival in July and Colorado Scottish Festival in August were canceled early in the year by COVID restrictions in place at the time. The athletes welcome the opportunity to stay in shape before the Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Festival in September. Athletic Director Hank Bradshaw encourages spectators to come out on July 24th to see what the Games are all about. “RMSA is excited for Thornton’s new Highland Games with a full athletic competition. These throwers love to throw things!”
History of the Highland Games
Scottish Athletics started 1,000 years ago as a way to test and train armies and were later incorporated into Highland Games, along with Scottish music, dancing, food, dogs, and other aspects of Celtic culture. Hank Bradshaw’s grandfather and namesake brought the athletic competitions to Colorado fifty years ago, and his father Greg founded RMSA in 1978. Despite its growth, Hank is proud that RMSA still feels like a family. The athletes are donating their registration fees to the Rocky Mountain Police Chaplains to support one of their own, as he battles cancer.
RMSA welcomes new members! More information is available at www.rmsa.org and on Facebook.
