Sports Minister at Lockerbie

It was a big day for curling in Lockerbie as Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell and sportscotland Chief Executive Stewart Harris were in town to officially open the upgraded Lockerbie Ice Rink, which received sportscotland funding. Also announced officially today was the sportscotland annual investment in the governing body for curling, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

As previously reported (see here and here), Lockerbie Ice Rink received a sportscotland investment of £214,151 to enhance their facilities including the upgrade to the refrigeration plant and changing rooms, improving the insulation and installing energy efficient light and a lift for wheelchair users.

I liked the header for today's press release, 'Leaving no stone unturned - sportscotland supports curling development!' £385,000 has been granted for the development of the sport across the country. This investment will play an important part in enabling the Royal Club to grow and develop the sport at every level. To quote from the press release, "A drive to increase participation at grassroots level is complemented by a strong coach development programme to ensure that curlers are given every opportunity to progress, becoming the stars of the future who will carry on Scotland’s proud curling tradition."

This is the money that goes towards ACDO salary contributions, all the aspects of the Royal Club's development and coaching programmes, and the National and Regional Academy initiatives. In addition, the Scottish Institute of Sport, the high performance arm of sportscotland, receives an additional £200,000 to support the national coaches and the elite teams.

The full text of today's press release can be found here.

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland said, “Curling is one of Scotland’s most successful sports with thirty-five medals on the world stage over the last ten years but investment in the sport is essential if we are to continue that excellent track record. The sportscotland funding of £385,000 to the RCCC will allow them to build on this success and nurture the champions of the future."

In 2007-08 sportscotland invested over £11.5 million in forty-one sports governing bodies.

Stewart Maxwell addresses a large number of guests at the rink.

After a short lesson from David Murdoch and Euan Byers, the Sports Minister lines up for his first ever curling delivery, with young curlers Thomas Sloan, Alice Spence, Hannah Fleming and Lisa Jardine in attendance. Needless to say, his stone finished in the four foot!

Mind you, it could not have been easy with all these lenses pointed at him. Our Sports Minister is definitely a good sport!

Pics by Bob.

Mike Hay and sportscotland

Now here's something you may not know. Former National Curling Coach Mike Hay MBE is now a member of the Board of sportscotland. You will remember that Mike left the Scottish Institute of Sport in October 2006, after eight years, to join the British Olympic Association as Olympic Performance Manager for Winter Sports. He became a board member of the Scottish Institute of Sport in September 2007.

The Scottish Institute of Sport controversially 'merged' with sportscotland earlier this year. The original note about that is here.

Institute chairman Dougie Donnelly was 'stood down', and sportscotland chair Julia Bracewell also lost her job in the reorganisation. Louise Martin CBE, an existing sportscotland board member, was announced recently by the Scottish Executive as the new chair of sportscotland, a popular choice.

Louise is reported as saying, “I have enjoyed a long association with sportscotland both as a Board Member and in my capacity as Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and believe the organisation has a significant role to play in driving Scottish sport forwards. I am delighted to have the opportunity to take up the position of Chair at this crucial time for the organisation, as it prepares to relocate to Glasgow and at the same time, ensuring it is well placed to lead the delivery of a sporting legacy from the 2014 Commonwealth Games.”

Mike Hay is on the Board of the new merged organisation. A couple of months ago Mike was asked along with Sir Bill Gammell and Louise Martin, former Scottish Institute directors, to take places on sportscotland's new Board of Directors. He has attended one meeting so far and is due up in Scotland at the end of the month for another.

He says, "It's obviously a challenging time with all the changes that the Scottish Government has made, but therein lies opportunities for all of us to make positive changes. Winning the bid for Glasgow Commonwealth 2014 will give huge focus for sport in Scotland in the interim period."

We wish Mike best wishes in this new challenge.

Talking of Mike brings the 2010 Olympics to mind. (What a link!)

Want to be in Vancouver? Tickets for the Men's and Women's curling competitions will be allocated to various National Olympic Committees who will contract a ticket agency in their own country to distribute these. Although tickets will not be available until October 8, 2008, registering an interest now is recommended. For information and tickets in Great Britain the contact is Sportsworld Travel, Windrush Court, Blacklands Way, Abingdon, OX14 1SY. Phone 01235 554844.

Paralympic Winter Games ticket package information should be obtained directly from the VANOC website (www.vancouver2010.com).

Top: Mike Hay in action in his days as National Coach. Photos by Bob.
Above: The Hillcrest stadium where the Olympic curling will be staged in 2010, under construction at the beginning of April this year. It is due to be completed by the autumn. When the games are over it will be turned into a community centre with a public library, skating rink and will be home to the Vancouver Curling Club. Photo by Hugh Stewart.

Lockerbie rink to receive funding from sportscotland for improvements

Curlers and skaters who use the South of Scotland ice rink at Lockerbie have been hoping that their fund raising efforts to upgrade the facility would be seen sympathetically by sportscotland, the sport funding body. The good news of the success of their grant application was made public this morning. The full release is here.

The five sheet Lockerbie rink will receive £214,151. The upgrade will include improved insulation, the installation of an upgraded refrigeration plant (the plant is the original from when the rink was built forty years ago), installation of energy efficient lighting, a lift for wheelchair users and the upgrading of changing facilities.

There are currently fifty-three curling clubs using the rink which has produced a number of Scottish, European and World champions. It is the home rink of the current European gold medallists David Murdoch and Euan Byers. A significant percentage of the juniors playing in the Scottish Finals this past weekend were from the Lockerbie area.

Alistair Stevenson, Chairman of the Lockerbie Ice Rink, said, “All those involved at Lockerbie Ice Rink are absolutely delighted with the news that sportscotland has chosen to support the rink. The ice rink has been an asset to the community for over forty years and this announcement will ensure that it will continue to be enjoyed for many years to come.”

With many curling rinks throughout Scotland needing investment to improve their facilities, today's announcement will be seen as an important development by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and curlers throughout the country.

Captain Jack Anderson, Vice-president of the Royal Club, throws the opening stone at the rink on January 20, 1967. From the Scottish Curler archive. Other pics by Bob.

Reorganisation of sport funding bodies in Scotland

It has been announced today (Wednesday Jan 9) that sportscotland is to merge with the Scottish Institute of Sport to create a new national organisation. The full press release is here. 'New Dawn for Scottish Sport' is the headline.

Sport Minister Stewart Maxwell said that the new organisation would be "leaner and more efficient, removing the layers of bureaucracy of the previous structure, while making sure the interests of sport remain paramount." However, no redundancies are expected.

The new organisation will retain the name sportscotland but the headquarters will move to Glasgow. The Boards of sportscotland and the Scottish Institute of Sport are to merge. The new body will be responsible for overseeing the development of sport at all levels in Scotland, dispensing both Government and Lottery funding.

The Scottish Institute of Sport as an entity will apparently remain intact at their Stirling HQ. The SIS supports the 'elite' curlers in Scotland.

The ramifications of the announcement and its effect on our sport of curling, which receives considerable funding from sportscotland for many purposes, remains to be seen.

However, Mike Ferguson, the Royal Club's Chairman said, “The Royal Caledonian Curling Club has been involved with the consultations which have been taking place over the last few months regarding the future of sportscotland. We are pleased that the Scottish Government have listened and that the views of the Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport including the Royal Club have been taken into account when shaping the way forward for sportscotland and that a National Agency has been retained. We look forward to working with the merged sportscotland/Scottish Institute of Sport to ensure that curling remains one of the most prominent sports for the nation and for the delivery of national sports policy in Scotland. To this end meetings have already been arranged with senior figures to discuss matters in greater detail.”

There is a thread on the topic on the Scottish Curling Forum here.

Money for sport in Scotland

A sum of £6.5 million is to be invested in Scottish sport to increase participation, improve elite performances and deliver world-class facilities, Stewart Maxwell, the Communities and Sport Minister, announced today.

The full sportscotland press release is here.

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club is one of eleven sports governing bodies which jointly receive over £2 million. Curling's share is £391,500. This funding pays for a number of salaries at Cairnie House and programmes such as Curling's Cool and the new National Academy initiatives. More details are available on the RCCC website here.