Lottery provides increased sports opportunities in Scottish Schools

Tuesday 11 April 2000

sportscotland is continuing to provide increased sporting opportunities for Scottish school children, with the announcement that Lottery funds will be used to employ school sport co-ordinators at 15 more schools across the country.

Already, sportscotland Lottery Fund’s awards have been used to employ 213 co-ordinators in 19 local authorities in Scotland.

Co-ordinators help to develop extra-curricular school sport programmes and aim to integrate these with sport in the wider community.

The types of duties undertaken may include: co-ordinating the extra curricular school sport programme; organising teacher and coach development and education programmes, improving links with community clubs and associated primary schools; and monitoring participation levels.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said:  "By working in tandem with local authorities, sportscotland, using Lottery funds, aims to have a school sport co-ordinator in place in every secondary school in Scotland by 2003.

"If we are to improve the health of the nation, we must encourage children into sport at an earlier age by providing options that they enjoy and that they are good at.  Getting in to sport at a young age creates a pattern for the rest of people's lives.

"The recently-launched TOP programmes will complement the school sport co-ordinator programme, providing increased sporting opportunities for our children right through their primary and secondary school years."

The awards cover 50% of the employers' supply salary cost, up to £2,600 per year, for one day per week, for up to 40 weeks per year.  Up to £500 per year will cover operational expenses such as travel, promotional materials, community programmes and coaching.