As the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games approach, Paul Bush OBE, Chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland, looks ahead to the excitement and challenge of an overseas Games:
The Commonwealth Games is the only multi-sport Games in which Scots get to compete under the Scotland flag, making it extremely special.
Incredibly, it is nearly four years since our home Games in Glasgow and not only was it publicly declared as ‘the best Games ever’, Team Scotland delivered its best performance ever, winning 53 medals and creating numerous memorable moments that will live on in Commonwealth Games history.
So as we make our final preparations for Gold Coast 2018, our mission is clear and we head ‘down under’ aiming to win more than the 29 medals we won at Melbourne 2006, which would represent our best overseas Games ever.
Given a number of changes to the sport programme from Glasgow and the fact that for many sports they are competing out of season in the southern hemisphere, this will be no mean feat. However I am confident we have selected a fabulous team of 224 athletes that will rise to the challenge and perform with distinction.
Our research continues to show how important the success of Team Scotland is to the Scottish public and how they strongly associate with our Team values: Proud, United, Ambitious, Inspirational and Inclusive. I am sure Team Scotland’s performance in Gold Coast will continue to excite and inspire the nation.
Good luck to all the athletes and staff and I look forward to watching you in action and meeting the many family and friends who are going out to support you.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners especially the Scottish Government, sportscotland, CGI and Emirates for their magnificent support, helping to ensure we can provide our athletes with the best possible environment to excel at the Games.
Here’s to a great Games on the Gold Coast!
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) is currently preparing for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 with the target of delivering our most successful overseas Games.
We are delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity for the right person to join us in our preparation for Gold Coast 2018 and beyond to the 2022 Games cycle.
The successful candidate will work with colleagues to deliver the objectives set out in our Marketing and Commercial Strategies. Central to our success will be the delivery of a range of event support programmes for Team Scotland members which help showcase our values and partnerships, as well as developing and supporting relationships with sponsors and other key partners.
The term for this fixed term post will be until the end of June 2018. Salary range £20,000- £25,000 pro rata depending on experience.
Further information can be found by contacting: info@teamscotland.scot or 01786 466 480
Closing date is: noon on 14th January 2018
Interviews will be held in January 2018
We are an equal opportunities organisation and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age. Further details of our Equality policy can be found on www.teamscotland.scot/about-us/
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) is currently preparing for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, targeting delivering our most successful overseas Games.
Central to this success is having a well structured and operated organisation, with our Board working effectively with staff, volunteers and partners in their respective roles.
Following a recent vacancy, we are recruiting for the position of a non-executive Director with responsibility for Governance, who shares our ambitions for Team Scotland and Scottish sport.
This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to help shape our future direction and decision making as we prepare for Gold Coast 2018 and beyond to the 2022 Games cycle.
The term for this voluntary post will be until the conclusion of the current Board appointment period at the CGS AGM in 2019.
Information, including role description and application form, can be found on the Board section of our website or by contacting: info@teamscotland.scot or 01786 466 480
Closing date is: noon on Sunday 14 January 2018.
Interviews will be held in January 2018
We are an equal opportunities organisation and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age
Further details of our Equality policy can be found on www.teamscotland.scot/about-us/
Two former Team Scotland athletes have been named as part of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s first-ever Athletes Advisory Commission, as the initiative was launched with under six months to go until the Gold Coast 2018 Games.
The Commission will be chaired and represented on the CGF Executive Board by Rhona Simpson, Scotland’s most-decorated Hockey player who competed at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. Rhona will be joined on the Commission by Colin Gregor, Scotland Rugby 7s’ highest capped player and third highest points scorer of all-time. Colin represented Team Scotland at two Commonwealth Games, including as captain at Glasgow 2014.
With the aim of engaging and representing athlete views and helping understand and grow the profile, meaning and impact of Commonwealth Athletes, the Commission will form an integral part of the CGF governance and management structure and will be an influential voice to strengthen the links between athletes, administrators and Games organisers.
CGF Athlete Representative and Athletes Advisory Commission Chair Rhona Simpson said: “We have been given a far-reaching mandate to not just participate in Games and board decision-making but empower Commonwealth athletes to advance the aims and objectives of the Commonwealth Sports Movement. I’d like to sincerely thank all of the newly-appointed Commission members, and I look forward to working alongside them to help develop and deliver the best and most inclusive-possible sporting experience for Commonwealth athletes at all levels”.
Colin Gregor added: I’m excited to join the Athletes Advisory Committee, the Commonwealth Games played such a massive part of my life as an athlete and it’s great to now have the opportunity to ensure athletes’ priorities are included on such a wide scale. I look forward to working with the other members from across the Commonwealth, and Rhona as Chair, to ensure that athletes continue to be at the forefront of CGF actions.”
The inaugural commission was selected at the recent CGF Executive Board meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after a regional nomination process, bringing together a highly-accomplished group of Commonwealth athletes and medallists with significant previous Games and sports, civic and academic leadership experience.
CGF President Louise Martin CBE said:
“Commonwealth athletes are ambassadors of a great movement whose purpose has been carried and shared across decades, across generations and across borders. As we recognised in Transformation 2022, the creation of an Athletes Advisory Commission affirms our commitment to being an athlete-centred, sport-focused movement. We are thrilled and thankful that such a diverse and decorated group of inspiring sports leaders, representing each of our regions, will help shape the future direction of this vitally important initiative through Gold Coast 2018 and beyond.”
In addition to Rhona Simpson and Colin Gregor, the Commission members are:
- Ms Natalie Du Toit (para-sport representative): South Africa, Swimming, seven-time Commonwealth Gold medallist at 2002, 2006 and 2010 Games;
- Dr Nicole Forrester: Canada, Athletics (High Jump), Commonwealth Gold medal (2010) and Bronze (2002);
- Mr E Niluka Rushan Karunaratne: Sri Lanka, Badminton, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Games;
- Mr Lechezdani Luza: Botswana, Boxing (51kg), 2006 and Commonwealth Silver medallist at 2002 Games;
- Ms Alison Shanks: New Zealand, Track Cycling, 2006 and Commonwealth Gold medallist (3000m Individual Pursuit) at 2010 Games;
- Mr Brendan Williams: Dominica, Athletics (High Jump), 2010 and 2014 Games.
The Commission was selected to ensure an optimum mix of skills and competencies and balanced representation in relation to region, team and individual sports and para-sport. Women and men are equally represented with four positions each, supporting the Federation’s commitment to gender equality. Members will hold office for a period not exceeding four years and shall be eligible to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The Commission will meet in person for the first time on the Gold Coast next April.
Commonwealth Games Scotland is pleased to announce a new partnership with Glasgow based dental clinic, The Park Practice, who have become the first ever dental services supplier to Team Scotland.
Principal dentist, Mike Blackie, launched the association at Scotland’s Commonwealth Youth Games Team Camp in June, providing an informative briefing for the young athletes about the important part dental health plays in their overall health and wellbeing and how it is an essential part of their preparations ahead of international travel to competition.
This will be followed by engagement with athletes selected for Gold Coast 2018, to ensure they are in peak dental health and that those in contact sports have the best possible dental protection.
Delighted to be working with Team Scotland, Mike Blackie said: “The opportunity to work with Team Scotland combines my dual passions of dental health and sport in an exciting way. I am looking forward to developing the partnership over the next few years and seeing how I can support Scotland’s Commonwealth Games athletes to optimise their dental health.”
A former rugby player with GHK and Glasgow Hawks, Mike Blackie started The Park Practice Dental Clinic in 1999. The practice has a holistic approach to its patients and has always had a high proportion of patients with sporting backgrounds. Over the years the team at The Park Practice has treated various trauma injuries in professional rugby players and have passionately encouraged rugby and hockey players, especially, to wear correctly fitted sports mouth guards.
Mike also has a good understanding of the needs of teams participating in multi-sport Games, having worked as part of the medical team for the London 2012 Olympic Games supporting combat sports and was also involved at Glasgow 2014 with Rugby Sevens.
Through his work Mike has developed a passionate interest in the oral health impact on performance in professional sport and as a result has worked with two of Scotland’s Premiership Football Clubs.
Mike added: “My role has developed to include oral health assessments, education on the potential impact of sugar levels on performance and increasing the understanding of the impact of trauma injuries. Whilst we are still some way off from persuading all athletes in contact or combat sports to wear proper dentally fitted sports mouth guards, thankfully awareness of the benefits is increasing.
“More sporting bodies are realising the importance of looking after the ‘whole’ athlete to improve chances of success and I feel that this link up with Team Scotland will be one of the extra percentage points the athletes need to fulfil their performance potential.”
Jon Doig OBE, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “We are delighted to have The Park Practice on board as our dental health supporter. Many aspects combine to deliver a top performance and dental health is an important component, ensuring athletes get to the start line in the best possible shape. We are already seeing the impact of the messaging from The Park Practice on our Youth Games athletes and we look forward to a long association with Mike and his team.”
To find out more about Mike and the team at The Park Practice Dental Clinic go to: https://www.parkpracticehealth.co.uk/
The Park Practice’s agreement with Team Scotland was brokered and contracted by the rights marketing team at The Sports Consultancy. The Sports Consultancy is representing Team Scotland to secure commercial partners and related legal services in the build up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and beyond.
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) is saddened to note the passing of our former Vice Chair, Dr Fiona McEwan after a short illness.
A mentor and friend to many Team Scotland athletes , staff and Board members, Fiona was Team Scotland Badminton Team Manager in the 1994 Victoria and again at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games where Scotland won a bronze medal in the Badminton Women’s Doubles.
At the 2000 Millennium Youth Commonwealth Games, Fiona took on the role of overall Village Manager at Heriot Watt University, helping all the young athletes from around the Commonwealth to feel at home, ensuring these inaugural Games were a great success which have endured to this day.
In 2002 she took on the role of Team Scotland Assistant General Team Manager with responsibility for Village operations at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. At these Games, daughter Kirsteen won a bronze medal in the Badminton Team event alongside her teammates, which included her other daughter Deirdre’s future husband, Craig Robertson.
Initially a Badminton Scotland delegate to the Council of Commonwealth Games Scotland, Fiona was first elected as a Board director in 2001 then subsequently served two terms as CGS Vice Chair standing down in 2015. Fiona brought with her an analytical mind and a strong commitment to the needs of the athletes, reflecting her position. Outwith sport, Fiona had a successful career as a scientist and lecturer.
During her time with CGS, Fiona was a delegate to the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly and European Commonwealth Games Association meetings, as well as a trustee of the Scottish Commonwealth Games Youth Trust. In 2010 and 2014 Fiona chaired the CGS Team Scotland Games selection panel, implementing many of the procedures to ensure selection of our most successful Games team ever. In her position as a CGS Board member Fiona took an active role throughout the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games bidding and delivery process.
A leading national sporting administrator with Badminton Scotland becoming their first female president from 1999-2001. Fiona also had a deep interest in philately and was an enthusiastic photographer, a passion which she shared with husband Duncan, who was a strong supporter of Fiona in all her Games and other activities.
Fiona will be sadly missed by all her friends at CGS and beyond. Duncan’s great loss, along with that of daughters Kirsteen and Deirdre, son-in-laws Mark and Craig, and her grandchildren, Ewan, Ruaridh, and Isla is shared by us all. All of Scottish sport owes Fiona and her family a huge debt of gratitude for her commitment and passion for sport in Scotland.
The McEwan family have asked us to advise that Fiona’s funeral will be held on Thursday 6th April, 11.00am in Bishopton Parish Church, then 12 noon at Woodside Crematorium, Paisley.
Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) is proud to be part of a new UK wide collaboration to make anti-doping education a mandatory requirement of selection for a major multi-sport Games. The “Clean Games Policy”, facilitated by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), covers all athletes and athlete support personnel who will be part of any Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth Games team.
CGS joins the British Olympic Association (BOA), British Paralympic Association (BPA), Commonwealth Games England (CGE), Commonwealth Games Wales (CGW) and Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council (NICGC) in showing firm commitment to protecting clean sport by formally signing the Clean Games Policy.
As signatories to the Policy, those responsible for selecting and managing teams for major multi-sport Games will ensure that the appropriate measures are in place so that anyone on those teams, between now and the end of 2020, are in the best possible position to compete and win clean.
The Clean Games Policy requirements will be met through the implementation of the Major Games Programme, “Clean Sport, Clean Games, Clean Conscience”, led by UKAD.
UKAD Chief Executive, Nicole Sapstead, said: “This is the first time that such a policy has been put in place in the UK. It sends a strong message from our leading sports organisations that there is a firm and unwavering commitment to protecting everyone’s right to clean sport.
“The Clean Games Policy forms a critical part of our prevention strategy. It will help to ensure that all athletes and support staff heading to a major Games over the next three years will receive the appropriate support and education, in order protect them from inadvertent doping.
Commonwealth Games Scotland Chief Executive Jon Doig OBE, said: “We are delighted to sign up to the Clean Games Policy and believe that this joint initiative sends out an important message across the world about our commitment to clean sport.
“As part of this, all Team Scotland athletes and staff for Bahamas 2017 and Gold Coast 2018 will have undertaken anti-doping education as a condition of selection, in a clear demonstration that they are committed to participating in a clean Games.”
UKAD’s Major Games Programme was initially developed ahead of London 2012 to support athletes and support staff attending the London 2012 Games. The Programme has since been implemented in the build-up to the Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2014, Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014, and more recently the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games where every athlete who represented Great Britain was educated prior to the Games.
The first Team Scotland athletes to come under the new policy will be those selected for the Commonwealth Youth Games taking place in the Bahamas in July 2017 and will undertake anti-doping education as part of their build up to the Games.
Commonwealth Games Scotland is saddened to learn of the passing of double Paralympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist John Robertson on 21 December 2016 at the age of 75.
Active in several sports, after a cycling accident at the age of 16 left him with spinal paralysis, John competed for Scotland at the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth, Australia in 1962, Kingston, Jamaica in 1966, Edinburgh in 1970 and Dunedin, New Zealand in 1974.
His two Paralympic Games appearances stand as testament to the remarkable longevity of John’s sporting career at the top level. Making his debut at Tokyo in 1964, his second Paralympic Games came an incredible 32 years later at Atlanta in 1996, where he finished 5th in the lawn bowls Singles event. A bronze medal in Pairs followed at the 1998 IPC World Championships, but John’s finest hour came at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 where, in monsoon-like rain, he joined forces with Ivan Prior and David Heddle to win gold for Team Scotland in the Triples.
With a vision for inclusion ahead of his time, John was a pioneering voice in early efforts towards equality and access to sporting provision. John and his wife Val, a six-time Paralympic gold medallist, worked to develop a strong bowls community in and around Edinburgh and to widen access to participants with severe mobility challenges.
John will be remembered as an outstanding all-round sportsman who helped to lay the foundations for disability sport as we know it today.
Sir Peter Heatly, Patron of Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) until his passing in 2015, has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF).
Nine members of Sir Peter’s family attended an ‘Honoree Enshrinement Dinner’ in Santa Clara, California on Saturday 29 October, hosted by Olympic gold medallist Agnes Kovacs of Hungary and multiple Olympic champion and world record holder John Naber of the USA.
Representing Great Britain at the 1948 London Olympics and winning five CommonwealthGamesmedals for Scotland including three gold in Diving between 1950 and 1958, Sir Peter had a distinguished career as an athlete culminating in his role as Scotland Team Captain at the1958Games.
In a lifelong association with Scotland’s Commonwealth Games team, he went on to fill rolesfromTeam Manager to Chef de Mission, attending every Games from 1950 through to the Glasgow 2014 Games.
Sir Peter was a central figure on the Organising Committee of the 1970 Commonwealth Games in E
dinburgh, serving as Chairman of CGS and later of the Commonwealth Games Federation. Appointed a CGF Life Vice President, Sir Peter was also Chairman of the Scottish Sports Council (now sportscotland) and an inaugural inductee of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. He was awardeda CBE in 1971 and knighted in 1990.
Heatly’s son Peter collected the ISHOF award on stage from 1964 Olympic champion SteveClark of USA. Following the induction ceremony he said:
“I had the honour, privilege and pleasure to receive the award on behalf of Dad as he was inducted posthumously as an ‘Honor Contributor’ into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
“President/CEO Bruce Wigo and his colleagues put on a very successful number of events over a memorable weekend. As a family we are very proud to have been there and it was a fitting tribute for Dad.”
Commonwealth Games Scotland Honorary Medical Advisor Joan Watt has been awarded an Order of Merit by the Commonwealth Games Federation in recognition of her outstanding service to sport and a 45 year commitment to the Games movement.
A chartered physiotherapist, Joan contributed at her first Commonwealth Games as a Village Physiotherapist in 1970. Subsequently, Joan served the Scottish Commonwealth Games team as a physiotherapist at each Games from 1982 to 2002, taking the role of Senior Physiotherapist in 1994 and Joint Head Physiotherapist in 1998. In 2002 Joan took on the role of Head of Medical Services, based at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, which was followed by two Games as Team Leader for Shooting at both 2006 Melbourne and Delhi 2010.
Appointed to the Commonwealth Games Scotland Board in 2003 as Honorary Medical Adviser, Joan was the first non-doctor to take this post. She was the Vice Chair of the Medical Group for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid and a member of the Medical Advisory Group for those Games.
Joan has also served as lead physiotherapist at Olympic Games, World and European Championships for athleti
cs and shooting, amongst other sports. Instrumental in establishing the British Sports Massage Association, she helped set up the Chartered Physiotherapists in Massage Therapy professional network and has been active in Anti-Doping education and testing for many years. A former Chairperson of Scottish Athletics, Joan was also the organisation’s first female President.
Congratulating Joan on the award, Paul Bush OBE, Chair at Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “I am delighted that Joan’s 45 year service to Commonwealth sport, and to Scotland’s Games teams in particular, is being recognised in this way. Her commitment has been truly remarkable and, having had the privilege of working with her on many occasions, this award could not go to a more deserving person.”