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Press releases in reverse chronological order.
With the 2004 Olympic Games only days away, sportscotland is pleased to confirm that 24 Scots have been selected for Team GB and are en route to Athens via final preparation camps in a range of venues including Cyprus, Barcelona, and Manchester. The selected athletes are from eight sports: athletics (5), canoeing (1), cycling (3), hockey – men (4), judo (1), rowing (1), sailing (1) and swimming (8) and include five times Olympian swimmer Alison Sheppard and 17 rookies who are looking forward to their first encounter on the Olympic stage.
The vision of a network of world class training and competition facilities across Scotland looks set to become a reality and will include Scotland’s first ever full size indoor football training pitches (5), a 5,000 seater national indoor sports arena and two 6,000 seater municipal stadia for multi-sport use and a range of other facilities. Provision has also been made to achieve the long-standing need for a national curling academy, an indoor velodrome and an upgrade to Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool.
CALLING ALL SCHOOLS…. IN THE week when BADMINTONscotland named Diana Koleva as their new Junior High Performance Coach, there is another big boost for badminton youngsters in Scotland.
Clydesdale Bank and basketballscotland scooped the top award at the Scottish Business in Sport Dinner in Glasgow last night (Tuesday 23 March 2004) for their youth basketball programme. They won the Best Sponsorship for Young People category and then went on to collect the overall Scottish Sport Sponsorship of the Year Award 2004 presented by Matthew Pinsent CBE, triple Olympic rowing gold medallist and supported by Shepherd and Wedderburn.
The seventh annual BP National First Shinty Festival will take place at the Nevis Centre, Fort William at 12 noon on Saturday 13 March, with 16 primary aged teams from across Scotland competing for the title of national champions.
Clyde Cruising Club’s Dinghy Section, based at Bardowie Loch near Glasgow, voted RYA Scotland Club of the Year in 2003, has yet more to celebrate in 2004. Tuesday 25 May will herald the official opening of the stunning new clubhouse and training complex on the banks of the loch by Boyd Tunnock MBE, well known Clyde yachtsman and Managing Director of the family owned biscuit maker Tunnock’s.
Around 80 coaches from the Highlands will come together this weekend for the fourth annual coaching conference for the Highlands. The Highland Coaching Conference, which is being held in Inverness on Friday 27 February at the Thistle Hotel and on Saturday 28 February at Inverness College, will offer a quality coach development programme to local and regional coaches from a diversity of sports.
Twenty Girvan Academy pupils were given to opportunity of a lifetime today when they met up with Scotland’s top golfer, Colin Montgomerie, at his golf academy in Turnberry. On the agenda was expert coaching and a chance to find out what inspired Montgomerie to become a professional sportsmen.
Nine years of tireless community campaigning has finally paid off today following the start of construction to build a new community sports and leisure centre in Lochinver. Local MP John Thurso and MSP Jamie Stone will be lending their support to the project, which aims to develop an infrastructure of quality sports facilities within the local area for people of all ages and abilities.
17-year-old skating enthusiast and local resident Gary Watson is delighted to see his dream turned into reality this weekend following the start of work to create a new skateboard park in Dingwall. Watson helped to form Extreme Wheels, a voluntary group to lead the campaign for the development of this facility, which would enable youngsters to train and improve their techniques in a safe and suitable environment.
Crossford Recreation And The Environment (CREATE) are delighted to announce a turf cutting ceremony to mark commencement of work on the all weather sports multi-court at King George V Memorial Park, Crossford, Fife, on Friday 11 June 2004 at 10am.
sportscotland is delighted to announce funding totalling over £363,000 across a range of sports from badminton to boxing. These awards support the high performance programmes for each governing body, focusing on athlete support and coaching provision with the ultimate aim to increase the number of medallists on the world stage.
The Ayr North Sports Initiative is delighted to invite families from Ayr North to join them to celebrate the International Day of Families this Saturday (15 May) at the John Pollock Centre Playing Fields. The day is part of a European Union initiative to bring families together and is the only event of its kind happening in Scotland.
The revolution for sports coaching in the UK continues apace as 22 sports have been formally invited to be part of the first wave to implement the new National Coaching Certificate (NCC).
HRH The Princess Royal will unveil a plaque at The Recreation Park, Portsoy on Thursday 11 November, as part of celebrations to mark the official opening of the brand new multi-sport and changing facilities at the grounds.
Ice sport fans in Inverness will be celebrating today as Inverness Ice Centre Limited officially relaunches the Inverness Ice Centre at Bught Park, to mark the purchase of the facility, securing the continuation of the centre as a hub for curling, ice skating and hockey in the Highlands.
Quote from Alastair Dempster, Chairman, sportscotland: “We would like to warmly congratulate John and Sinead Kerr on their 10th place at the European Championships this week, which is a marvellous achievement and we hope that their future performances continue to reflect their current form.
Following their impressive tenth place at the European Championships in Budapest last month, sportscotland has met recently with ice skaters John and Sinead Kerr along with a representative of the National Ice Skating Association of UK (NISA) to discuss their application for funding from the Talented Athlete Programme and their ongoing performance plan towards the 2006/ 2010 Olympic Winter Games
sportscotland, National Centre, Inverclyde in Largs, Ayrshire is to receive a substantial award from North Ayrshire Council as a part of a programme funded from Landfill Tax Credits.
The communities of Fintry in Dundee and Embo in the Highlands are celebrating today’s announcement of Lottery investment totalling over £96,000 from sportscotland’s Building for Sport programme.
Lochcarron Golf Club has a new £116,000 clubhouse which was officially opened today (Tuesday 25 May) by long term member and former Chairman, Roddy ‘Butcher’ MacLennan.
The most successful female distance runner in British athletics history, Liz McColgan MBE will take her place in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame (SSHOF) today (25 November). McColgan’s outstanding career has spanned more than two decades and included winning two gold medals at the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 1998 Seoul Olympics.
sportscotland Lottery Fund’s Junior Groups Programme is delighted to announce the latest round of awards totalling just over £69,000 to Triathlon Scotland and Scottish Women’s Rugby. For Scotland to achieve future sporting success on the international stage we must continue to support grassroots development and encourage our young Scots to realise their full potential.
sportscotland is delighted to announce a sixth consecutive year of funding to BADMINTONscotland with an award of £146,998 from the Lottery Fund’s Junior Groups Programme. This two year award has supported the appointment of a new Junior Performance Coach as well as this year’s training programme, which will focus on game preparation for forthcoming national and international tournaments.
Fresh from junior world championships in Canada last week, bronze medallist and Grampian Institute of Sport curler Graham Smith will lend his support today (5 April 2004) to mark the start of construction of a new regional training and competition venue, for curling in the North East of Scotland. With an investment of £800,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund Sports Facilities Programme, this project will provide the Aberdeen curling fraternity with an excellent new facility designed to encourage more people to experience the game and helping to strengthen the sport in Scotland.
Cumnock Rugby Club will be celebrating the completion of their long awaited clubhouse extension project on Friday 27 August, with a pre-season friendly rugby game, followed by an official opening ceremony, conducted by Bill Nolan, General Committee Member of the Scottish Rugby Union. Thereafter there will be a prize giving ceremony and buffet and dance for members of the club and the local community.
A host of boxing enthusiasts from around North Ayrshire will join Craig Docherty, Commonwealth Super Featherweight Champion on Saturday 31 July, as he cuts the ribbon to mark the official opening of the newly refurbished Garnock Valley Amateur Boxing Club. Supported by an award of £26,147 from sportscotland’s Lottery Fund Sports Facilities Programme, the club now boasts a permanent boxing ring, a fully equipped gym, a fitted sauna and brand new changing and shower facilities.
Frank McAveety, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, will cut a ribbon to mark the official opening of the long awaited football multi-courts at Kilwinning Community Sports Club on Monday 20 September. To celebrate the completion of the new facilities, the club has organised a number of fun sporting activities for the whole community to enjoy, including, a staff 5-a-side match, a netball session and a training demonstration by Kilwinning’s ladies football team.
A revolutionary pilot scheme using sport to raise self-esteem and motivation in three Scottish comprehensive schools received a massive lottery cash boost today. Sports Minister Frank McAveety announced the award to Scotland’s first ever sports comprehensives from the New Opportunities Fund, the Scottish Executive and sportscotland Lottery Fund.
The Scottish sporting community is being given an excellent opportunity to become more integrated with Europe, Sports Minister Frank McAveety said today.
Frank McAveety, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and Tom McCabe, Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care teamed up in Edinburgh today to launch the nine implementation strategies, which have been developed to deliver the targets set out in Sport 21 - Scotland’s national strategy for sport 2003-2007.
The Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC), in partnership with sportscotland, is very pleased to announce the appointment of Colin Grahamslaw to the newly created position of Chief Executive. Colin, who has been the General Manager of the Scottish Hockey Union for over five years will take up post at the end of November 2004.
Lord Ewing of Kirkford will join members of East Fife Indoor Bowling Club to celebrate the completion of the final phase of works at the club, on Wednesday 22 December at 7:30pm.
Dumfries & Galloway Council are pleased to announce the opening of the new build Profiles Plus Fitness Suite at The F.U.N. Pool, Sanquhar.
sportscotland, Scotland’s national sports development agency, has recently published new design guidance : ‘Primary School Sports Facilities’. This document, a companion to last year’s ‘Secondary School Sports Facilities: Designing for School and Community Use’ is the latest in a series of technical digests which aims to help local authorities provide quality school sports facilities suitable for both school and wider community use. It has been produced with the help of many practitioners and experts in the field of physical education and school sport, and in consultation with all the key agencies in this field.
Local Councillor Fred Murray will perform the official opening of a new Profiles Plus Fitness Suite at the Ryan Centre in Stranraer. Supported by an award of £75,000 from sportscotland’s Lottery funded Sports Facilities Programme, the fitness suite will add a new dimension to existing leisure provisions in the local area, ultimately making it easier for people to participate in sport on a more regular basis.
The people of South Edinburgh will be celebrating 40 years of Gracemount Youth and Community Centre on Saturday 12 June with the official opening of the eagerly awaited sports multi-court by former chairman, Allan Blacklaws, OBE.
Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland announced today that Ian Taylor has been appointed as the new chief executive for the organisation following the departure of Ian Robson last July.
Olympic, World European, Commonwealth gold medallist, Steve Cram MBE will unveil a new sports pavilion at Newcastleton, marking the completion of the second and final phase of the Newcastleton Polysport Project. The well-known sports personality has been a strong supporter of the project for many years and is delighted that the local community will significantly benefit from the upgrade of leisure and sports provisions.
Four times equestrian Olympic silver medallist, Ian Stark OBE will officially open the long awaited indoor riding centre at The Orkney Branch of the Pony Club on Sunday 19 September. As part of a day of celebrations, Ian will be taking part in a riding demonstration, followed by a mounted pageant by club members, a polo demonstration, a display by Orkney Carriage Drivers Group and a demonstration of Pony Club Games.
Frank McAveety MSP, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport will officially open Shetland’s brand new athletics track and field facilities at Clickimin Leisure Complex on Friday 30 April 2004, as part of his two day visit to Shetland.
sportscotland is delighted to announce their support to the Scottish Royal Yachting Association (RYA) with an award of £39,690 from the Lottery funded Junior Groups Programme. This investment will ensure the RYA remains firmly anchored at the pinnacle of grassroots development, helping youngsters to achieve their potential at a junior level.
The sportscotland Lottery Fund is delighted to announce an award of £75,157 from the Talented Athlete Programme (TAP) to the Scottish Football Association (SFA), for the Scotland Women’s National Squad Programme.
With the athletics season now well underway, sportscotland is delighted to announce a sixth year of funding to Scottish Athletics with an award of £50,000 from the Lottery Fund’s Junior Groups Programme, providing essential funding to some of Scotland’s most talented young athletes.
Former Scottish title holder and current international bowler Gary Mackie will deliver the first Jack and bowl to mark the opening of the new eight-rink indoor bowling centre. The facility will be the first of its kind in Fife and aims to improve the quality and accessibility of leisure provisions in the area.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA), together with the Scottish Executive and sportscotland, has launched a £31.1m action plan to increase the number of players in Scotland and raise standards at all levels of the game.
sportscotland is delighted to announce further support to the development of junior talent with an of £41,200 to Scottish Squash. The investment comes from the Lottery Fund’s Junior Groups Programme, which provides talented young athletes in a range of sports with the opportunity, to participate in a co-ordinated programme of training and competition.
Four of Scotland’s aspiring Olympic hopefuls, Gemma Nicol (athletics), Shane Charlton (cycling), Lewis Smith (swimming) and Janine Dickie (canoeing) will be representing sportscotland in London today as they join over 100 medallists for the Parade of Heroes to recognise the achievements of Team GB during the Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Following a major overhaul of its Lottery funded programmes designed to support Scotland’s elite athletes, sportscotland today announced funding to seven sports under a new system of ‘Athlete Support’ totalling £127,893.
Ian Robson, Chief Executive of sportscotland and Chair of the Judging Panel today announced the shortlist of sports organisations and businesses who have been nominated in the search for Scotland's top sports sponsorships.
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