Meeting of the Parliament 07 August 2014
It has been a good debate. We had the revelation from John Mason that he is too old to be responsibly left in charge of a foam finger and Sandra White has confirmed that Glasgow people are great at telling people where to go. Both those things are true.
This excellent debate has not only paid tribute to the wonderful success of our Commonwealth games athletes but, just as significant, covered how the success of the games can be consolidated, sustained and built on. I am proud that these have been Glasgow’s games, but they have also very much been Scotland’s games, as we have heard. Such has been the success that most communities feel that they have some connection to a successful sportsman or woman.
I know how excited my nieces, who are both keen swimmers, were when Ross Murdoch won his gold medal, as he is a Vale of Leven lad. He trained at the swimming pool where Beth and Emily, my two young nieces, swim with the local club. As a Vale boy originally, I felt a little civic pride. I started my swimming experience at the Vale baths at the age of six, although I should put it on the record that I did not learn to swim until I was 16, in the Brock baths in Dumbarton—I was a late bloomer.
We should not underestimate the boost that such success will give young sportspeople across Scotland and the civic pride that will be fostered across Scotland’s towns, cities and villages by not just the medal-winning sportsmen and women but all those who participated. Tavish Scott made that point well.
I pay tribute to the partnership work between the Scottish Government, local councils and sportscotland to develop about 150 community sport hubs. That is already a lasting legacy. The hubs bring together sports clubs, community assets and volunteers from clubs to work together and get a greater outcome for young people who are involved in sport. That is already showing some wonderful successes.
To build on that, I commend the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill as an opportunity for community assets such as community centres and sports facilities, which do not always appear to have a long-term strategy or use in communities, to provide community-owned, community-developed and community-led sports initiatives. That could be a significant success in a number of places in Glasgow; it could improve the quality of facilities, which could be enhanced, and they could be used more. I am sure that the Scottish Government, sportscotland, Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life would be very much on board with that. That approach is in keeping with the bill’s aspirations across society.
It is only right to mention the fantastic job that Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life and all the civic partners in the city that I represent did in contributing to a wonderfully successful games. I merely comment on where opportunities to build further on that sit.
With national governing bodies of sport, the Scottish Government and sportscotland have invested greatly in developing club sports to boost grass-roots participation and—just as important—to ensure that our most talented sportsmen and women excel. How wonderful that programme has been—it was greatly successful. We had 19 gold medals and 53 medals in total.
Just as significant is the fact that Scotland had the largest team ever. Having the opportunity to compete at such a level is vital for the confidence of our sportsmen and women and for society in general. Scotland has never seen anything like it.
In the time that is left, I will talk a little about sporting pathways. A similar point was made about volunteers. As with anything in society, those from more middle-class backgrounds who have a little more money find it easier to access, identify and progress on pathways in life. Sport is not necessarily any different.
In my intervention on John Mason, I mentioned that I was going to the women’s weightlifting at the Commonwealth games when he, as a volunteer, directed me so ably to the venue. I am following weightlifting more and more because of my association with the Gladiator Programme in Easterhouse. It is already having wonderful success with young boys and girls going to Europe and winning gold medals for Scotland at the ages of 12, 13 and 14. The hope is that, in August 2015, participants will be at the under-15 European championships to represent Britain. There is the potentiality of an athlete pathway award to enable them to go there. I also note that, in Samoa in September of the same year, there will be another event in which they will have the opportunity to represent Scotland.
I raise that for a specific reason. Will the minister look at where the sporting pathways are for those young boys and girls from Easterhouse and beyond to progress to the next level in weightlifting, as the volunteers do a wonderful job? They have had support, but it is about that extra push and nudge to support them to go to the next level. I am sure that there are stories across the country, and I know that money has to be spent in the wisest possible way, but that is an area that I am passionate about.
In conclusion, the Commonwealth games were clearly a wonderful success, but they will have a true legacy only if we work at it. The real hard work starts now. It is wonderful to cheer people over the finishing line and to win medals, but the tough bit is developing things from here on in.
It has been a pleasure to take part in the debate.
15:45