Our head office comprises four delivery teams Widening Opportunities, Developing Potential, Achieving Excellence and Facilities Development. These delivery teams are supported by our Policy, Communications, Support Services and Human Resources teams.
Achieving Excellence
The Achieving Excellence team focuses on performance sport and works with the Scottish Institute of Sport and the Area Institutes to gain medal success for Scottish athletes in key sporting events on the world stage.
The role of the team is to invest time and money into those sports that can best deliver the Achieving Excellence goals and the over-arching goal of increasing participation in sport in Scotland.
The team also provides support for identified elite athletes and coaches and acts as a facilitator in discussions between the Institutes, governing bodies, coaches and non-Institute talented athletes.
The team develops sportscotland’s policy with organisations such as the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, the British Olympic Association, the National Sports Medicine Institute and other partner sport service agencies.
The team is also responsible for the development and co-implementation of a national sports medicine and sports science support network.
Developing Potential
The main focus of the Developing Potential team is to increase the number of people adopting sport as part of an active lifestyle and the creation of opportunities that allow them to develop and achieve their potential.
The team is responsible for co-ordinating the organisation’s investment in Scottish governing bodies of sport and assists these bodies with the preparation and implementation of strategic and business plans for their sports.
The team leads the development and support for coaching and volunteering, increasing the quality and quantity of effective coaches and volunteers active locally and regionally in sport in Scotland.
Supporting and developing ways to help Scotland’s young sportsmen and women develop their potential and improve their performances in sport are also key goals for the team.
Facilities Development
The Facilities Development team is responsible for all issues concerning planning, design, construction, access and use of sporting facilities in Scotland.
The function covers the aesthetic, functional and environmental aspects of buildings, installations (such as pitches) and the use of natural resources.
The team provides the necessary technical support to all delivery divisions and the National Centres and an integrated advisory service to those developing facilities in Scotland.
In addition it has responsibility for delivering sportscotland’s Exchequer and Lottery capital programmes.
Finance and Support Services
Finance and support services includes the Finance, Monitoring, Compliance, ICT and Office Services teams.
The Finance team is responsible for ensuring that an integrated planning and budgeting process is developed and implemented.
The Monitoring and Compliance team is responsible for ensuring conformance with Lottery and Exchequer rules, regulations and legislation
Human Resources
The Human Resources Team provides advice, guidance and support to sportscotland’s managers and staff on a wide range of issues that include employment legislation, recruitment and selection, training and development, employee relations and staff welfare and benefits.
Communications
The team’s focus is on co-ordinating external and internal communications in order to grow understanding and belief in the work of the sportscotland group.
Policy
The Policy Unit includes the Policy Team, the Research and Evaluation Team.
The Unit has responsibility for liaising with the Scottish Executive on all policy issues and for developing sportscotland’s corporate planning processes.
Widening Opportunities
The Widening Opportunities team’s goal is to increase participation in sport, particularly by those currently excluded.
The team focuses on informing and supporting sports development among communities for people of all ages and backgrounds, and contributes to improvements in physical activity, health and social inclusion.
The team promotes the role of sport and physical recreation as a contributor to community development and regeneration.
The development of joint plans and strategic alliances with partners such as COSLA, NHS Health Scotland, Social Inclusion Partnerships and others underpins the team’s work.
Together with partners the team also strives to develop a strong culture of lifelong participation amongst the young.
