FEW organisations symbolise the increased professionalisation of sport in Scotland as effectively as Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS). A decade ago, the organisation charged with selecting the Scottish team, and taking it to wherever the Games were held every four years, relied heavily on volunteers and resembled a local sports club rather than a national body.
Since then it has changed out of all recognition, and it is about to expand by a third again, having last week advertised for a new full-time Games Team Operations Manager, as well as voluntary deputy manager and team managers for Delhi 2010.
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lications close next month and the new employee will be in post "as soon as possible," says CGS chair Michael Cavanagh. It will take the organisation to three full-time staff, alongside an office manager and chief executive.
The demand for more hands on deck is due in part to Glasgow 2014. But not only that. "The last couple of Games we've been stretched," says Cavanagh, "and with the youth games, we now work to a two-year cycle rather than four-year."
As Cavanagh also says, the landscape has changed considerably over the past ten years. In Kuala Lumpur, in 1998, it was still the case that the management was appointed on a fairly ad hoc basis. The tradition was that these jollies – sorry, important roles – were allocated as a reward for long and committed service to a sport; or, sometimes, because nobody else was available. "It was nice," says Cavanagh, "but not always appropriate."
The cultural change in the organisation owes much to the previous chair, Louise Martin. By 2002 things were changing. Manchester was the first Games for which there was a formal process of appointing staff, even if, still, there was an over-reliance on volunteers.
Now, though, with more full-time coaches and performance directors, those involved with the Scottish team are virtually all professionals. The results in Melbourne two years ago were a testament to this.
By Delhi, in two years, another change is planned. The 'chef de mission' will no longer be "an outsider" – in Melbourne it was Paul Bush, the chief operations officer at EventScotland – but Jon Doig, the CGS chief executive.
As the next hosts, Glasgow will have a presence in Delhi, possibly in the form of a physical centre – a la London House in Beijing, though perhaps without the lavishness and multi-million pound budget – though not necessarily. "The 2014 board has people working on it," says Cavanagh, "but nothing's been finalised."
Then, of course, there will be the small matter of Glasgow's contribution to the closing ceremony. They will have eight minutes to fill with whatever snapshot of Glasgow culture, and Scotland's sporting culture, they wish to present to the rest of the Commonwealth. Suggestions on a postcard to the Glasgow 2014 office.
Stumbling block for BBCTHE BBC's plans for Britain's Olympic cycling team at last night's Sports Personality of the Year programme had to be handled sensitively.
The idea was simple and apparently straightforward: they would ride in their Olympic gear on to the stage, then, like Superman in reverse, throw on their smart clothing and join the audience.
Two problems. One: the clothing they wore in Beijing was produced after years of research and development. So secret was the formula that went into making their rubberised suits that – a bit like the recipe for Coca-Cola – the team behind it was anxious to keep it that way. And so, post-Beijing, the suits were shredded.
Two: the helmets they wore, which the riders kept – they'd be difficult to shred – have, since Beijing, undergone a makeover. They have been decorated with the logo of the team's new sponsor – Sky+HD. The problem: such blatant advertising of Sky would not play too well with the BBC.
This is being written before SPOTY, but I'm sure that, in the end, a solution was found.
Athlete Cooke a sleigh belleTHE early signs are that Gillian Cooke's switch to two-woman bobsleigh racing is proving a success, finishing seventh in the season-opening World Cup in Altenberg, and then sixth at the weekend in the second event at Igls.
The Scottish long jump record-holder is taking a sabbatical from athletics in a bid to make the Winter Olympics. Realistically, she knows that it could be her best chance of appearing at an Olympics – she has already competed as a triple jumper at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2000, a pole vaulter at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, and a long jumper four years later in Melbourne – though she has said that she intends to return to athletics next summer.
Her regular updates on the Scottish Athletics forum also suggest that she remains committed to her first sport. But the coaching staff are hedging their bets, omitting her from their team of 24 funded athletes for 2009. Though she will continue to be backed by the East of Scotland Institute of Sport, it seems Cooke, despite a raft of national records and titles, will have to prove herself all over again when she reverts from the icy tracks to track and field.
Coe's hopes far fetchedSEBASTIAN Coe suggested last week that priority for Olympic tickets in 2012 could be given to members of sports clubs. His rationale is that this would help achieve one of the main priorities of the Games: to increase participation in sport.
But it assumes that sports clubs in this country are inclusive and that people would want to become members in the first place. Many have claimed that the commitment to increasing participation in sport through the Games is flawed. No major Games has ever significantly increased participation levels, they argue. Ironically, as Coe was making his comments, new research, published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, appeared to support the sceptics. When asked about how the 2012 Games might impact on their participation, only five per cent believed they'd be "much more likely to do sport." But 80 per cent of the five per cent – if you follow – already participate in sport.
In fact, according to the research, the London Games are more likely to lead to an increase in cultural activity. Five per cent believe they will make them more likely to go to the theatre and art galleries. Explain that one.
