Wednesday 7 March 2007
The events of Melbourne 2006 will live long in the memory, with the Scottish Team winning 11 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze medals to become the most successful Scottish Team in Commonwealth Games history.
Nearly one year on, sportscotland today announced annual investment of £110,000 for the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland (CGCS) towards the administration involved in selecting and preparing a Scotland team to compete in both the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games.
Scotland has a long tradition of participation in the Commonwealth Games, the only multi-sport event where Scotland gets to compete as a nation in its own right and has competed in every Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. Edinburgh has hosted the Games twice, in 1970 and 1986 and was again chosen to host the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in 2000. It is now the turn of Glasgow to go forward as Scotland’s bidding city to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games with an eagerly awaited decision in November this year.
sportscotland’s investment will enable the CGCS to continue its preparations for the 2008 Youth Games in Pune and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, ensuring Scotland’s athletes are best placed to enjoy continued success on the international stage.
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair sportscotland said: “The Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland plays a key role in high performance sport in Scotland. The organisation has gone from strength to strength over the last eight years, matched by the performances of the team and we are delighted to give them our continued support.
“I would also like to commend the part the CGCS are playing in the bid to bring the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow. Winning the bid would create a huge opportunity for Scottish sport, for our aspiring young talent and for the people of Scotland as a whole. I join the 1.5 million supporters of the bid in wishing them the very best of luck for November 9th.”
Jon Doig, Chief Executive, CGCS said: “sportscotland’s continued support is critical in enabling the Games Council to both build on the success of Melbourne last year, whilst also meeting the new challenges of planning for the next Games in India.
“Maintaining this level of support for our infrastructure is also crucial to enable us to play our part in a successful Glasgow 2014 bid. These are exciting times for Scottish sport and sportscotland’s investment ensures we can continue to lead developments in this area.”
- The Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland is the national sporting organisation charged with entering a Scottish Team in the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games every 2 years along with 71 other Commonwealth countries, territories and dependencies.
- Membership of the Games Council consists of representatives of the 26 sports in the Commonwealth Games programme from which the host city selects up to 17 sports for each Games.
- The Commonwealth Games is the only multi-sport event in which Scotland competes as a nation in its own right.