Team Scotland
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A number of Team Scotland athletes are competing around the world this weekend – we spotlight three events to look out for.

The EuroHockey Championship 2021 takes place in Amsterdam, Netherlands from Saturday 5th – Sunday 13th June. Scotland Women face Spain, Ireland and the hosts in Pool A, with a 19-player squad selected for the tournament. Full competition info can be found here.

5th June 2021: Spain v Scotland 17:00 BST
7th June 2021: Ireland v Scotland 11:30 BST
9th June 2021: Netherlands v Scotland 19:00 BST

How to watch: Matches are being streamed live on EuroHockey TV

There are Olympic places on the line at the British Swimming Glasgow Meet, the final consideration event for those hoping to secure selection to Team GB for Tokyo. Some of the top names already selected will be using it as preparation, as will a host of athletes with their sights on the Paralympics.

With Tokyo preparations in mind, finals are in the morning sessions (starting at 10am), with heats hosted from 5.30pm in the evenings and junior races taking place in a mid-afternoon session.

How to watch: The meet runs until Sunday 6 June and is being live-streamed on the British Swimming YouTube channel

Lisbon will host the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series opener this weekend, with Scotland featuring in Pool C alongside Spain and Portugal.

Scotland’s team boasts a mix of experience and youth with Shona Campbell and Coreen Grant looking to receive their first Scotland 7s cap, while Megan Gaffney, Helen Nelson and Chloe Rollie are also named in the squad, having recently returned from GB Sevens training camp.

5 June 2021: Scotland v Portugal 10:44 BST

5 June 2021: Scotland v Spain 14:44 BST

How to watch: Matches will be streamed live on Rugby Europe TV

Three-time Commonwealth Games silver medallist Eilidh Doyle has announced her retirement from athletics.

The 34-year-old has called time on an illustrious career which included medal success at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Having made her Commonwealth Games debut at Delhi 2010 she captained the Scottish Athletics team at Glasgow 2014 and was Team Scotland’s flagbearer for the Opening Ceremony at Gold Coast in 2018, winning silver over the 400m Hurdles on each occasion.

She retires as Scotland’s most decorated track and field athlete and holding the national record in the 400m Hurdles at a time of 54.09 seconds.

Announcing her retirement on her social media channels, Doyle said: “The sport has brought me so much more than just medals. I have made lifelong friends, experienced incredible atmospheres, made history and even met my husband because of it.

“Athletics will always hold a special place in my heart and now I get to enjoy it from the other side as a fan.

“What an adventure it has been and now I look forward to the next one, whatever it may be.”

With today marking the start of Birmingham 2022’s search for the 13,000 volunteers who will make up the ‘Commonwealth Collective’, we get a behind the scenes look at what that experience was like for three of Glasgow 2014’s ‘Clydesiders’ and how their volunteering has led to a whole host of opportunities beyond the Games.

Apply to volunteer at Birmingham 2022

While the athletes are the star attraction in the arena, the success of any Games hinges on the dedication and upbeat attitude of an army of volunteers working behind the scenes, making sure everything runs smoothly across venues, transport, uniforms, the Athletes’ Village and so much more.

As the journey begins for the Commonwealth Collective of Birmingham 2022, with applications to volunteer now open across a huge range of roles, here’s what Andrew Miller, Marion Robinson and Chris Quinn had to say about volunteering at a Commonwealth Games.

How did you get involved in volunteering at Glasgow 2014? What role did you take on?

ANDREW: I was really lucky to just by chance help out as a London 2012 volunteer interviewer for the Scottish Gamesmaker applicants at Glasgow Science Centre. It was a fascinating experience and led to a lot of us having the chance to be Frontrunners, the early volunteers who interviewed the candidates who would become Clydesiders.

At the Games themselves I was a member of the Protocol team in the Games Village. Our job was to look after the Games Chieftains, a group of prominent athletes who were the figureheads for events in the Village. Our ‘VIP’ tent was in the international zone where the athletes came for a drink but we spent a lot of time in the village running errands and showing visitors around.

MARION: I was lucky enough to be part of the Frontrunner team undertaking almost 21,000 interviews to find the 15,000 Clydesiders needed to make 2014 the success it was. I spent almost 15 months as part of the interview team, the training admin team and ultimately as a Clydesider at Games time.

CHRIS: I seem to remember seeing it in a newspaper, not too sure. I never thought I’d be in with a chance. I began as a Frontrunner, then, during the Games, was a T2 Driver.

If you had to pick one personal standout moment of those Games, what would it be?

ANDREW: Being a Frontrunner was probably one of the best things I’ve ever done – a year of uplifting events and laughter. Meeting such a wide range of people and feeling the buzz as it grew in the Albion Street offices and in Glasgow generally, it was just awesome.

In my Games role I got to look after Sir Chris Hoy when he was chieftain playing host to the young Royals at the Athletes’ Village and another day I ended up not so glamorously holding Katharine Grainger’s piece of gum in my hand which she had to very quickly spit out to make a welcome speech! However my favourite moment was when the entire team from Kiribati took over the VIP lounge to celebrate their first ever gold medal. They gave it laldy all afternoon!

MARION: High-fiving almost every member of Team Scotland as they left the pitch at the Closing Ceremony in Hampden Park! During the Games themselves I worked with a great group of volunteers from all over the UK and still keep in touch with them via social media or occasional meet-ups when paths cross at other volunteering events. I also got to witness some fabulous sporting performances at the Squash and Table Tennis events.

CHRIS: Choosing one is difficult. As a T2 driver, I carried many important passengers. The wife of a top Commonwealth Games official, athletes, coaches. But the passengers that stick in my mind were the parents of the young Scottish swimmer, Erraid Davies. They were the BEST people in the world. They are so proud of their daughter and they loved talking about her. The whole event brought a buzz to the city that I had never experienced then, or since. That summer was Glasgow’s happiest summer, ever.

How special was it to be a Clydesider and do you still keep in touch with others?

ANDREW: Beyond words really.  Being part of something so unique and special was amazing. Through Facebook I’m still in touch with dozens of people and I hope we’ll have a proper reunion again soon.

MARION: It was an absolute honour and privilege to have been chosen as a Clydesider given so many people had applied for the volunteer roles. I still keep in touch with lots of my Frontrunner and Clydesider colleagues and many of them are now very good friends. We meet socially and at other events that we might be volunteering at.

CHRIS: I consider my time as a Clydesider to be one of the best chapters in my life. I was fortunate to be one of the volunteers for the Games and it’s something I will proudly tell my grandkids, when they ask. I’m still in touch with a huge number, especially through the volunteer group Vamos 2014. Also a fundraising group that meets once a year to raise funds for charity, mostly made up of 2014 Frontrunners as a social gathering.

What has being part of Glasgow 2014 meant for you personally?

ANDREW: It made me realise how important it is to give something – your time, some effort, no matter how big or small – to your community and society. It was a very special time. Since then I’ve had lots of brilliant experiences volunteering and probably the one I least expected was being part of a group of athletics volunteers, Track Team 500, that were formed after the Games. We’ve helped out at the World Athletics in 2017 and Euro Indoors in Glasgow in 2019 and I’m now a fairly accomplished hurdle placer and long jump fluffer and raker!

MARION: It was the most amazing experience and I was very lucky to be part of it. It was hailed as the best ever Commonwealth Games and I was privileged to be part of it. Since then I’ve volunteered at a number of the major events which have taken place in Glasgow (Badminton World Cup, Glasgow 2018 European Championships, Glasgow 2019 Indoor Athletics championships) as well as being a long-term volunteer with Scottish Athletics at their indoor season in Emirates, volunteering at the Davis Cup and long term volunteering with the Kiltwalk.

CHRIS: When I started my role as Frontrunner, then driver, I was quite shy, hated being under the spotlight and uncomfortable talking in front of a group of people. Being involved in Glasgow 2014 changed all that. I became confident in many things, learned new roles and was recently asked to be the trustee of a charity. I am 54 just now and, at work, have just completed an apprenticeship that I approached management to do. This will make a huge difference to my life and is something I’d never have done before 2014.

Does volunteering at Birmingham 2022 sound like something for you? Applications are now open for a wide range of roles. Find out more and apply at: Volunteering | Birmingham 2022

Commonwealth Games Scotland are pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Barsby and Nigel Holl as Board Directors of the CGS Board, following a member vote at Thursday’s Annual General Meeting.

Jennifer starts a second term in position having completed an initial four-year stint. She has also served on the board of the Team Scotland Youth Trust, and as Equality lead on the CGS Board.

Working for Scottish Disability Sport as Opportunities and Equalities Manager since July 2013, Jennifer has also been responsible for the Village Operations for Team Scotland as part of the General Team Management at the 2018 Gold Coast and will perform this role at the forthcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Jennifer said: “I am delighted to have been elected to serve for a second term on the CGS Board. I have a huge passion for sport and the Commonwealth Games movement and look forward to contributing to the success of Team Scotland ahead of Birmingham 2022 and beyond.”

Nigel is the Executive Performance Director for British Curling, and also serves on the Scottish Cycling Board of Directors. He has a wealth of experience across at executive leadership, board governance and performance director level in Scottish and UK sport.

Nigel said: “It is a great honour to be elected to the Board of Commonwealth Games Scotland.

“I know my career experiences and background across several sports can be of benefit to Team Scotland, and am excited about working with my fellow board members and wider colleagues to build a strong and successful team for Birmingham 2022 and future Games.”

Paul Bush, Chair of CGS, said: “Congratulations to both Jennifer and Nigel – both bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Board of Directors.

“I and the rest of the Board look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.

“We would like to pass our thanks to Sue Beatt and Richard Tawse, who also stood for election. It is reassuring to see the strength of interest and quality of individuals volunteering for these positions, and we are sure they will continue to support the efforts of Team Scotland in the build-up to Birmingham 2022.”

CGS would also like to thank Margaret Ann Fleming, who steps down from the board after eight years.

In recognition of the impact of COVID on our sporting world over the last 12 months the Team Scotland Youth Trust (TSYT) would like to announce a one off ‘Return to Sport’ fund to assist our young and talented athletes in their return to training and competition.

Over the past 9 years TSYT has given financial support to more than 50 athletes through several of its programmes.

The link below will allow you to download the fund criteria and complete the application form, requiring input from both the athlete and their sport governing body. This is to be returned to TSyouthTrust@teamscotland.scot no later than 12:00 on 11th June 2021. We encourage applications from rural/remote communities, ethnic minorities, para-athletes and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Download application form here

For any queries regarding the application, please get in touch at TSyouthTrust@teamscotland.scot

For latest updates from the TSYT, be sure to follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/team-scotland-youth-trust/

On 30 April 1931 the Scottish National Sports Federation was formed to lead Scotland’s involvement in what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games. 90 years on and now known as Commonwealth Games Scotland, we continue to support, prepare and lead Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games. To celebrate our anniversary, we are delighted to share this blog from Professor Richard Haynes on the origins of Team Scotland…

Scotland’s involvement in the Commonwealth Games goes all the way back to the origin of the first British Empire Games in 1930. The reasons why Scotland had a separate team for the Games rather than a Great Britain team, as was the case for the Olympic Games, has its roots in the political manoeuvres of a Canadian journalist. Scotland’s sport administrators of  the time quickly moved to establish what we now know as Team Scotland.

There had been musings of a pan-Empire sporting festival in the late-Nineteenth century proposed by Sir Astley Cooper in The Times in 1891, but the formation of the Olympic Games in 1896 effectively undermined the idea. The concept resurfaced following an inter-Empire sport competition as part of the Festival of Empire in 1911, but the First World War soon destroyed those thoughts.

In the shadow of the First World War, and wanting to develop its independent profile, the Canadians saw sport as an important vehicle of both international diplomacy and influence. Canadians had been key advocates of the introduction of the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924 and had also proposed the idea of introducing lacrosse as a ‘demonstration sport’ in the Summer Olympic Games in 1928. It was during those Games in Amsterdam that the Canadian’s proposed the introduction of a British Empire Games to a small group of track and field administrators to be hosted in 1930, in an alternate cycle to Olympic years.

Driving forward the idea for an Empire Games was Canadian journalist and sport administrator Bobby Robinson who had secured the support of his hometown of Hamilton to host the first games. In the midst of trade wars between the United States and Canada, Robinson turned to the idea of using sport to strengthen Canadian ties to the British Empire and self-governing  states of the emerging Commonwealth of Nations formed under the Balfour Declaration in 1926. Although an Empire Games would be “designed on an Olympic model” he remarked:

“These games will be very different. They should be merrier and less stern and will substitute the stimulus of a novel adventure for the pressure of international rivalry.”

Australian, New Zealand and South African representatives agreed to confer with their respective federations, but the British were less convinced of the idea. Through the 1920s strong Olympic performance had come to signify the prestige of the British Empire and the British Olympic Association were concerned a competing international event would undermine fund-raising efforts to send a British team to the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. As Robinson later wrote, “the support from the leaders of the Old Country was but lukewarm – the result of a thought that an effort was being made to supersede Olympic competitions with a purely Empire show.”

Robinson made plans to travel to London with the aim of reassuring the BOA and associate members that their concerns were unfounded. He took with him the promise of $30,000 in travel grants from the people of Hamilton who had paid an additional ‘Games’ tax to fund the event. Although Robinson was persuasive, the BOC remained steadfast in their opposition.

A newspaper clipping in the CGS Archive from The Evening Dispatch in  February 1930 carries the headline, “A Team For Canada: Inducements for Scots to Go Separately”. The article reports on a meeting of various Scottish sporting bodies on 25th February 1930 in Edinburgh to consider the prospect of joining the Empire Games being set up in Canada. It reported that, “the Canadians want a separate Scottish team, and are prepared to help financially if one can be got together”.

Bobby Robinson as the instigator of the Games addressed members of the Scottish sports federations in the Free Gardeners Hall, Picardy Place, Edinburgh. James Warlaw, president of the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association presided over the meeting, where the initial idea for the Games to be exclusively based on track and field events was overturned following pressure from representatives of boxing, wrestling, rowing, swimming, lawn bowls, tennis, yachting and football for inclusion of their sports.

They had estimated the cost for sending each competitor from Scotland would be £60 per athlete, with a total £200 being donated by the Canadians. The article states: “The United Kingdom is now in the show with both feet. When the national committee was formed in London, the idea was to have a British team. They (the Canadians) had rather surprised them by saying that it was Canada’s desire to have teams from England, Scotland, Ireland, and possibly Wales.” The Canadian move to ‘divide and conquer’ had won the day and smoothed the way for the creation of a Scottish representative team.

The 1930 team was hurriedly put together with next to no financial resources, and heavily dependent on the generosity of the Canadian hosts in Hamilton. The photograph is one of a few surviving images of Scottish competitors at the inaugural British Empire Games of 1930. At this time, there was no overarching federation of Scottish sports associations, so a lot of trust and faith fell upon team manager George Ferguson who was one of Scotland’s most prominent amateur sports administrators of the era.

On 6th August 1930 the Scottish team consisting of 13 competitors, team officials, and Ferguson, left Liverpool on route to Montreal aboard the Cunard liner Andania. Two months earlier, the same liner had taken Glasgow Rangers across the Atlantic on a tour of North America, and now for eight days was home to the Scottish British Empire Games team. Recalling the journey in 1970, athlete Dunky Wright remembered how the athletes kept fit during the cruise:

“We were happy and excited at the thoughts of taking part in a pioneering adventure. The crew responded quickly to our mood and made a temporary swimming pool by stretching a huge tarpaulin across the hold with each corner fixed to an iron stanchion and filled with seawater. In it, the bonnie lasses of our swim team wiggled like tadpoles in a bowl right across the Atlantic. We all had our different ways of keeping in trim. For my part, I pounded round the top deck, taking the corners in the Charlie Chaplin manner, for a couple of hours each morning. The ‘heavies’ and the boxers did their training in the gym, encouraged by friendly passengers who were also willing to have a go.”

Wright, one of Scotland’s most successful long-distance runners appearing in three Olympic Games would go on to win gold in the marathon. Canadian journalist and writer M. McIntyre Hood later recalled the moment Wright entered the Hamilton stadium and a rather unusual happening in international competitive sport:

 “After a lapse of 40 years, it is not possible to recapture in memory all of the thrilling moments of the 1930 Games, but a few still linger. Greatest of all is the memory of the tremendous ovation given to Scotland’s Duncan Wright as he entered the stadium to finish the gruelling marathon race, half a mile ahead of his nearest competitor, Ferris of England. Hamilton is noted as being a city with a predominance of Scots in its population. The ‘Hampden roar’ has nothing on the tremendous wave of cheering which arose as Duncan ran around the stadium. As he was passing the stadium entrance on his second lap, Ferris entered, and stopped to shake Dunky’s hand in congratulation before going on to take second place.”

The only female representatives sent to the first Games in 1930 were Warrender swimmers Jessie McVey, Cissie Stewart and Jean McDowall, and former club member Ellen King. King won individual silver in the women’s 100 yard freestyle and bronze in the 200 yard breaststroke. She won a further bronze medal in the Scottish 4×100 yard relay team with Stewart, McDowell and McVey.

Scotland’s other medals in the Games included a silver for Willie Francis in the 100 yard backstroke, in boxing, gold for James Rolland (Lightweight), silver for Tommy Holt (Bantamweight) and bronze for Alex Lyons (Featherweight), and a bronze for the Scottish bowling fours. The Scottish bowling team included a Canadian, Tom Chambers, who was brought in as a replacement for John Kennedy who sadly died in the United States during the journey to Hamilton.

It was not until after the first British Empire Games, on 30th April 1931, that the new Scottish National Sports Federation (now Commonwealth Games Scotland) was formed, its first Chair was Dr John Orr, who had captained the Scottish bowls team in Hamilton. It’s first Secretary, George Ferguson, took delight in the knowledge that Scotland had formalised its association with the British Empire Games ahead of his English counterparts. In a letter to Evan Hunter of the English federation in April 1932, Ferguson writes:

“I am delighted to hear that England is at last awake and about to follow the good example of Scotland and form a Council for England of the Empire Games Federation. I accordingly, and with the compliments of Scotland, send to our weaker brother a copy of our Constitution with the advice “Go ye and do likewise”.

A fantastic bit of bravura from the Scot to the English administrators of sport. The letter notes a general agreement to form a Federation as early as 1928, and certainly by 1930, but that a constitutional arrangement was not in place until 1932 when they met at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The first ever meeting of the Council of the British Federation took place in London in January 1933.

So the answer to the question, ‘why Team Scotland?’, is that the British Olympic movement, which was dominated by the English, was usurped by the Canadian journalist and sports administrator Bobby Robinson in his attempts to rally support for the Empire Games in Hamilton by directly engaging the Scots, Welsh and Irish to establish their own teams and circumvent any attempts of blocking the Games by the English.

Professor Richard Haynes

April 2021

We are united with the sporting community against online abuse and discrimination.

Inclusion is central to all we do, with people respected, engaged and valued regardless of their background, identity or circumstance.

Team Scotland’s social media accounts will join other sports and athletes and cease activity from 3pm on Friday 30 April until 11.59pm on Monday 3 May in support of this stance.

Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS), in conjunction with Table Tennis Scotland, has confirmed today the sports specific selection standards required in Table Tennis and Para-Table Tennis for nomination to Team Scotland for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

These are in addition to the criteria laid down in the General Selection Policy published in January 2020. This means that 18 of the 19 sports on the programme have now agreed the sport specific standards required for athletes to put themselves in the frame for competing at Birmingham 2022.

For all Table Tennis events, participation in the Games is subject to receiving an invite to compete from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). Invitations will be accepted in line with the CGS Selection Policy, with the requirement to demonstrate the potential to place in the top six in the Games.

Teams may qualify through Direct Qualification based on ITTF World Rankings, by winning a Regional Qualifying event or by finishing as the highest ranked nation, not otherwise qualified for Birmingham 2022, at the Commonwealth Championships.

Individual qualification will be through results at a Regional Qualification event and the Commonwealth Championships.

Participation in the Para-Table Tennis events is also by invitation from the CGF, with a maximum of two athletes per country per event. The men’s competition will comprise Standing (Classes 8-10) and Wheelchair (Classes 3-5), while the women’s events will be Standing (Classes 6-10) and Wheelchair (Classes 3-5). Qualification will be based on the ITTF Para Table Tennis Ranking List as at 1 March 2022.

View the full policies here.

The overall Team Scotland selection period detailed in the CGS General Selection Policy is 1 March 2021 to 15 May 2022. This policy, along with the detailed selection standards for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in all sports published to date are available to download at: https://www.teamscotland.scot/games/birmingham-2022/team-selection/

Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) is seeking to appoint a dynamic individual as Head of Physiotherapy, who will lead on the provision of physiotherapy services for Team Scotland during the XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

This will include preparing for the Games, as part of the overall medical team and working with CGS staff, partners, clinicians Scottish governing bodies of sport (SGBs) and sportscotland from appointment in June 2021.

Applicants should have at least five years’ experience of working with elite level sport (national and international standard) and be able to show a track record of management and Team preparations. In addition to proven ability in a leadership role within a multi- disciplinary team, good time management and the ability to work for extended periods under pressure are required. Applicants should have a good working knowledge of the Scottish sporting landscape.

Our General Team Management is characterised by a diversity of backgrounds in a variety of sectors and with different functional skills in their careers. A belief in sport and a desire to play a key role in a unique global event will be important to you.

Applications close at midday on 14 May 2021 with interviews to take on Wednesday 2 June 2021.

Click here to find out more about the role and to download an application form.

Following World Earth Day, we at Commonwealth Games Scotland reinforce our commitment to playing our part in building a more sustainable future.

Our vision is twofold:

  • Commonwealth Games Scotland becomes one of the most sustainable sporting organisations in Scotland
  • Commonwealth Games Scotland uses our extensive range of relationships with other organisations to initiate sustainability conversations within the wider sporting community.

 

We have identified four key areas that will be the focus of our efforts to deliver on our vision, aligned with both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Scottish Government National Performance Framework.

  • We will promote good health and wellbeing
  • We will actively work to reduce inequalities
  • We will take positive action to support our climate
  • We will collaborate with other organisations in delivering our sustainability policy, seeking to prompt sustainability conversations within the wider sporting community

 

As part of our commitment we have joined over 200 sports organisations from across the globe in signing up to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, agreeing to adhere to a set of five principles:

  • Principle 1: Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility
  • Principle 2: Reduce overall climate impact
  • Principle 3: Educate for climate action
  • Principle 4: Promote sustainable and responsible consumption
  • Principle 5: Advocate for climate action through communication

 

We are now working with our athletes and other stakeholders to shape our Sustainability Action Plan to be delivered in the lead up to Birmingham 2022, a carbon-neutral games, and beyond.

If you wish to find out more or be part of the conversation on sustainability in Scottish sport, please contact info@teamscotland.scot.

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