Scotland + The World Cup

I'm not a big sports fan in general, it's not something I grew up with, and I didn't see my first professional sports game until I was in my thirties. Granted, that was a baseball game in St. Louis, and I got to see the great Bo Jackson hit a home run, so not bad for my first time!

My brother, on the other hand, was the athlete in our family. I grew up watching him run track and play football (American) throughout his high school and college career. Jim is still an athlete, and he coached his daughter through her early football (European) days until repetitive head injuries ended her journey - she was a goalie. I love to watch sports with Jim now. He knows all the ins and outs of whatever he's watching - be it football (American or European), bicycle racing, or anything else that catches his fancy, and he freely shares his knowledge with those around him. So, by osmosis, I've become something of a football fan. Well, I occasionally pay attention to scores, I recognize a few players' names, and I'm aware that the World Cup is coming to North America, at least.

All that has led me to get excited about Scotland making it into the World Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years. The Tartan Army is coming to America! My friends at Chicago Scots were worried that their first match, on Saturday, June 14 against Haiti, would cut into their Highland Games activities, so they decided to scrap their original evening event and have a giant watch party instead! I was contacted by a journalist who discovered that we have a Scotland County right here in North Carolina, and that the Scottish team would be based in Charlotte, so he wanted to talk to someone from Scotland County who was excited about Scotland being based in Charlotte. It wasn't easy, but I think I found someone for him to talk to ("soccer" isn't all that big in that part of our world).

Today, an email came through our contact page on the website that caught my attention, mostly because I've begun doing a bit of public speaking on the connections between Scotland and America, and telling the tale of the Scots' journey across the ocean.

"Hi, We have just released a World Cup USA 2026 song and video focusing on Scots who emigrated to the US. It's about the pain and loss of leaving the Old World, and the hope of building a life in the New.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz98-Sqzw28

We hope you enjoy it and might consider sharing with your members.

To all our friends and family in the USA – see you in the Final!

Sinclair McLay, Aurora Shore

So, I clicked.... and I cried.... my heart wept with the sadness, the sense of loss, the poignant imagery. Yes, they captured it well. And yet, there was hope. Always, there was hope. I was rewatching the great Ted Lasso the other day, and the episode's theme was "It's the hope that kills you." I thought, what a distinctly English sentiment, and how sad. But what I saw in this video, and in my research into our ancestors' journey is hope. Eternal, soul-deep hope. Perhaps this is what has always separated the Scots from the English. We have hope and it DOESN'T kill us. You can change your life, you can be something other than what you were told you should be. You can begin again, and still have hope.

With my YouTube set for autoplay, the next song that came up was also about Scotland in the World Cup, with a distinctly upbeat message, and then another, and then another! I encourage you to listen to some of this great new music coming out of Scotland prompted by this momentous occassion. And maybe plan a watch party of your own to cheer Scotland on in their match on June 14 (they're playing in Boston)! If you're in the Charlotte area, you might run into some of the lads, and I'll hope that you'll make them feel welcome. After all, some of their family probably ended up in North Carolina, too.