Area Institutes of sport to put Scottish athletes on fast track to success

Monday 2 April 2001

Scotland's most promising young athletes are for the first time to benefit from structured access to essential support services throughout Scotland, with the announcement of a second phase of Lottery funding for Scotland’s six Area Institutes of Sport.

"With this announcement we can all look forward to a future where all of the Scottish Institute of Sport athletes will be the product of the programmes and services provided by the Scottish Area Institutes of Sport."

From today, over 400 of Scotland's most talented young athletes will begin to access services in their local area, as part of individually tailored programmes designed to help improve their performances, achieve selection to the Scottish Institute of Sport and ultimately create more Scottish winners on the international stage.

Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Sports, the Arts and Culture, was at Scotstoun Leisure Centre today to announce the new phase of funding as well as the first young athletes to benefit from the network.

Allan Wilson said:  "The establishment of a network of quality services for our most promising young athletes will help us to ensure that Scotland becomes a nation which recognises and develops world class potential, and ultimately produces more world class athletes."

"The first phase of funding helped to establish the necessary infrastructure and appoint Area Institute Managers, but with this latest award we will begin to see the benefits filtering through to the athletes themselves for the first time."

Services for identified athletes will include; facility access, coaching, including  strength and conditioning, sports science support, nutritional advice and sports medicine support including physiotherapy and sports massage.  In addition, the six Area Institutes of Sport will offer career development and educational advice through the Athlete Career and Education (ACE UK) programme.

Athletes selected will have to meet strict selection criteria including demonstrating the potential to become a future Scottish Institute of Sport athlete and making a commitment to compete for Scotland.

The Area Institutes will focus initially on the top talent in six sports - athletics, badminton, curling, hockey, rugby and swimming.  Individual athletes who meet the appropriate performance criteria will also be considered and other sports may be added in time, provided that they have the structures in place to support comprehensive programmes of athlete development.

Scottish U21 badminton singles champion Alistair Casey, who will be one of the athletes in the West of Scotland benefiting from the services, commented:  "These new services will provide me with essential support which will allow me to take a more professional approach to my sport.  As well as providing a good structure to support developing talented athletes, the Area Institute will also act as a more achievable goal for lower ranked athletes to aim towards."

Ian Robson, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said:  "With both the Scottish Institute of Sport and the Area Institute network up and running we now have a  structure of athlete support which will benefit our talented athletes at all stages of their development.

"sportscotland has committed up to £20m of Lottery funds to create this system which will help to ensure that Scotland produces athletes capable of achieving and sustaining world class performances in sport."

Alistair Gray, Chairman of the Scottish Institute of Sport, said:  "The Area Institute network can now develop to ensure that the needs of Scotland's emerging talent, wherever they may be living or training, are met through quality services and an integrated national system.  The many partners that form the area institute network in Scotland, bring to the table a range of experience and resources that is vital in our endeavours to make Scotland’s best athletes even better.

"With this announcement we can all look forward to a future where all of the Scottish Institute of Sport athletes will be the product of the programmes and services provided by the Scottish Area Institutes of Sport."

• The six Area Institutes of Sport are:  West of Scotland; East of Scotland; Central Scotland; Tayside and Fife; Highland and Grampian Institute of Sport.
• sportscotland has earmarked up to £20m over five years, of which £8m is for capital and £12m revenue expenditure, for the complete Institute network, including £2.4m set aside for the Area Institute network over four years.  Annual awards of up to £100,000 per Area Institute have been made.
• Area Institutes are run by partnerships or consortiums of local agencies who provide the things that athletes need.  These include Local Authorities, Universities, National Governing Bodies, Colleges, enterprise companies, local sports councils, health boards, facility owners, individuals and of course athletes and coaches themselves.  In each of the six areas appropriate partners have formed into a constituted body which can make corporate decisions and access resources.  In each case there is also an appointed Area Manager with administrative back up to run the Area Institute on a day to day basis.
• Set up by sportscotland, the Scottish Institute of Sport has the aim of creating Scottish winners in international sport.  Currently supporting over 150 athletes, the Scottish Institute of Sport provides athletes with individually tailored programmes to help them develop as truly world class athletes.
• The Scottish Institute of Sport and the six Area Institutes of Sport are part of the UnitedKingdom Sports Institute, which by 2002 will consist of an operational network throughout the UK.  This will ensure that Scottish athletes have access to the very best of support wherever they are based.