A north shinty club is hoping councillors will boost its efforts to fund a new clubhouse by backing its application fro grant aid.
Lovat Shinty Club is aiming to upgrade its crumbling facilities and wants to replace the ageing pavilion at Balgate Park in Kiltarlity.
The project is expected to cost £440,000.
The club has now applied to Highland Council, asking for £60,000 to be released from the authority’s capital discretionary budget.
The club said it would help its project “tremendously”.
The fundraising effort was launched with an anonymous donation of £100,000 from a north businessman.
The club has also been in talks with SportScotland and has applied to the Leader programme for support.
It had been hoped work on the revamp could start as early as March, but club president John MacRitchie said it was now more likely to be around May or June.
He said: “We just need to keep waiting. We’re being told that we need to wait until the new tax year for funds to be allocated.
“Until then all we can do is be patient and fight for every penny we can.
“It’s not just for the club, this would be a great facility for the community.”
The club has recently enjoyed success on the field, including winning the sport’s most prestigious trophy, the Camanachd Cup, in 2015.
But its current pavilion is in extremely poor condition and cannot cope with the club’s expanding sporting and social offering.
The club believes improved facilities would help attract some of the game’s prestigious competitions – such as the Balliemore Cup, Sutherland Cup and the women’s Camanachd Cup – to Kiltarlity.
The new pavilion would also be used as a community facility, with NHS Highland having already expressed an interest.
Balgate Park, which sits on the outskirts of the Inverness-shire village, was previously part of Lovat Estates.
The council’s resources committee will consider the grant application later this week.
Council leader and local ward member Margaret Davidson has previously praised the project, saying the club has shown “drive, flair and imagination”.
