Rugby players wanted

City primary schools on their marks for sports event

More than 1,000 primary school pupils will compete in one of the biggest ever school sports events in Edinburgh next week. The P6 pupils are taking part in the Games @ THE HUB event at Forrester High School Community Sports Hub next Wednesday (12 June).

Clyde, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games mascot, will also be making an appearance at the start of the event to welcome all the pupils.

This is the first event of its kind delivered by Active Schools and its purpose is to promote participation in sport in the build-up to Glasgow 2014. Pupils will compete in ten different sports: hockey, football, rugby, basketball, netball, gymnastics, cricket, volleyball, boccia and tennis.

As well as the pupils taking part over fifty volunteers from the Young Ambassador programme – which is delivered by sportscotland in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust – and school sports leaders from across the city will be lending a hand to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day.

Jodi McGinty, a platinum Young Ambassador and torch bearer at the Olympics, will be presenting the shields to the winning teams. Jodi is also on the Young People’s Sport Panel, which is led by sportscotland in partnership with Young Scot.

One of the events is the Paralympic Sport Boccia which 10 of the teams will be trying out. Boccia is related to bowls and was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other disabilities.

Primary schools will send teams of 10 P6 pupils, both boys and girls, to take part in a competitive session in the morning and then a participative event in the afternoon. These sessions will be run by Children & Families’ Sports Development Officers, National Governing Bodies and local community clubs.

Active Schools hope this will be the start of an annual event. Each year, primary schools across the city will be able to take part in the competitive session of each sport where the winner will be presented with a shield.

Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener for Education (pictured above), said: “Glasgow 2014 presents us with a fantastic opportunity to promote a variety of sports across the Capital and this event is a great way of promoting this. I’m going along on the day to see everyone taking part and am delighted that so many primary school pupils are getting the opportunity to experience Games @ THE HUB.

“The facilities at Forrester/St Augustine’s are second to none and I know everyone will have a great time. Hopefully many of the children will be inspired to take up some of the sports outside of school and I want to thank everyone involved especially all the volunteers.”

Jacqueline Lynn, sportscotland’s Head of School and Community Sport, said: “The Games @ THE HUB event is sure to be an action-packed day of sport and physical activity and it will by wonderful to see so many pupils taking part.

“We are committed at sportscotland to increasing the opportunities for children and young people to participate in school sport, and significant progress is being made through our Active Schools Network and Community Sport Hub initiative. The Active Schools team in Edinburgh has done an excellent job in organising this event and we commend them for their efforts.”

Extra time agony for Craigroyston

Commiseration to Craigroyston who lost 3-2 after extra time to Hillfield Swifts in the final of the Under 19s Division Two League Cup Final at Saughton Park last night.

Sorry, folks: council set to pull the plug on Leith Waterworld

The city council looks set to accept a £1m bid to convert Leith Waterworld into a soft play area, only months after agreeing to work with local campaigners to reopen the leisure pool as a community enterprise.

The decision will be formally made at tomorrow’s full council meeting, but speaking earlier today Culture and Leisure convener Councillor Richard Lewis said the “difficult decision” to support a proposal by Glasgow-based A&G Property Group to create a soft play and leisure centre at Waterworld had been taken.

Leith Waterworld closed in January last year, but supporters have campaigned to have the popular facility reopened ever since. Campaign group Splashback have worked tirelessly to get the facility reopened as a community asset – and felt they might be on the verge of success when councillors voted to support a feasibility study earlier this year – council officers have even been working alongside the Splashback group to firm up proposals.

However campaigners were concerned when news of the A&G bid emerged last week and Councillor Lewis’ comments today has confirmed their worst fears.

Councillor Lewis said: “This has been a very difficult decision and one that this Council does not take lightly. Firstly I’d like to thank Splashback for the work and commitment they have demonstrated in progressing the community bid. However this coalition feels that the potential purchaser will create a high quality leisure facility that will greatly benefit the community in Leith and the wider Edinburgh area.

“In recognition of Splashback’s commitment to creating affordable and accessible swimming opportunities for young people in the community, we’re proposing to commit £125,000 towards free swimming for primary aged children in Edinburgh.

“Ultimately this option ensures that the community in Leith has an accessible leisure facility for many years to come, that swimming opportunities are available and also that the Council gets best value for the taxpayers of Edinburgh.”

In a statement on their Facebook page, Splashback campaigners told friends and supporters: “Outraged to report to all our wonderful supporters that Coalition Motion for tomorrow’s Full Council meeting is to pull the plug on Waterworld and accept the other bid. We have, however, been working frantically behind the scenes in the last 24 hours to salvage SOMETHING for the city’s families.

“Consequently, the motion includes a commitment to ring-fence the £125,000 they promised us in the first year for a Council-led ‘programme of free swimming opportunities for primary aged children in Edinburgh, and other free swimming initiatives; and that the impact of these programmes will be monitored and assessed.’ SORRY FOLKS, that’s the best we could do …”

Commenting on the council’s decision to sell Leith Waterworld, Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone said: “This decision sends the worst possible message to communities trying to come together to protect services and improve facilities in their area. Despite all the warm words we hear on community empowerment and people power, when a developer comes along with a wad of cash, community efforts seem to count for little.”

She went on: “Families in Leith and right across the city made it very clear that they valued Waterworld as a unique leisure pool, and just five months after giving everyone hope that it would reopen, the Council have pulled the plug and campaigners will be feeling totally gutted.”

Broughton S1s on a high after Scottish Shield success

Congratulations to Broughton High School’s S1 football team, who beat Grange Academy 2-1 in the final of the Under 13 Scottish Shield at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock last night.

Big team, wee team?

Despite another season of trials and tribulations at Tynecastle, Hearts fans do still have something to cheer about – their average attendances still outperformed their local rivals by around 2500 per game. Hearts average attendance this season decreased only slightly on season 2011-12 – from 13 381 to 13 163 – while Hibs average increased to 10 543 (a rise of over 600 on the previous season).

Unsurprisingly, the figures produced by BBC Sport show that SPL attendances fell by 28% – from 13 855 to 10 020 – as the reformed Rangers played in the Scottish Third Division.

With Hearts’ future still in serious doubt, other ‘big’ clubs teetering on the brink and still no agreement in sight on league reconstruction these are indeed troubled times for Scottish football.

Spartans lift Scottish Youth Cup in five star show

Congratulations to The Spartans Under-17s, who lifted the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) trophy in their first ever national final on Sunday.

The North Edinburgh side produced a fantastic performance in a superb 5 – 0 win over Giffnock SC in the SYFA Scottish Cup final at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium, playing some excellent passing football throughout the 90 minutes.

Spartans started much the stronger and Sean Stewart gave the North Edinburgh side an early lead in only five minutes. That lead could have been doubled minutes later, but Scott Irving’s penalty was saved by the Giffnock keeper.

Spartans dominance was not to be denied, though, and Jordan Brown added to Spartans lead on the half hour with a powerful left foot drive into the top corner.

Spartans continued where they left off in the second half, and further goals by Blair Atkinson and Steven Havelin sealed a comprehensive victory, setting the seal on a fine performance.

The SYFA Cup may not be Spartans U17s last silverware this season. The local lads have their sights set on another three more trophies – two cups and the League title – before the season ends!

Spartans cup-winning team: Callum Speedie, Kerr Allan (Kyle Doig), Harry Oliff (Daniel McIvor), Duncan Player, David Scobie, Sean Stewart (Elliott Carruthers), Scott Irving, Jamie Dishington, Blair Atkinson (Steven Havelin) Andrew Mair, Jordan Brown (Bruce Scott)

Broughton men silenced by the Lambs

Broughton Rugby men’s game v Royal Dick Vet Students today (Sat 06th) is OFF due to the Students unable to raise a sidewrites Mark Brown

The Students have advised that they are now on their Easter break and most of the team are away on lambing placements and / or Vet practice.

No further date for this fixture has been confirmed at this time.

Broughton still have 6 ties to play in East 3. Queensferry so far are the only team to have completed all 18 fixtures.

Glennon sponsors Edinburgh Gaelic football school league

Timber processing firm Glennon Brothers has announced it is to sponsor the Edinburgh-based Gaelic football school league for three years.

The youth element of Dunedin Connollys football club was established in 2012 and Glennon Brothers will provide financial backing to fund new kits and equipment to support the newly named ‘Glennon Brothers School League’, giving something back to the Scottish community in which over half of its employees are based.

Glennon Brothers joint managing directors Mike and Pat Glennon, accompanied by David Roger, CEO of Glennon Brothers in Scotland, attended the launch event of the league on Thursday 14 March at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh where the sponsorship was announced.

The evening kicked off with a photo opportunity for the team and its new sponsors, followed by a networking event for key VIP guests including the Irish Minister of State for Small Business, John Perry and Consul General of Ireland to Scotland, Susan Conlon, as well as industry bodies Enterprise Ireland and Scottish Enterprise.

Mike Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the Edinburgh school league for Gaelic Football. We all know that involvement in sport is enormously positive for young people. Without the time, commitment, and patience of countless volunteers, and the team at Dunedin Og, many young people would miss out on the wonderful opportunities that sport can provide, and we are delighted that we can support this venture and give back to the Scottish community which is so important to the success of our business.”

Pat Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, added: “This sponsorship is a key part of our celebration of 100 years in business in 2013 and clearly marks the significance of Scotland to Glennon Brothers today. We wish the Edinburgh school league every success.”

Peter Dillon, Dunedin Connollys Chairman said: “We are very grateful to Glennon Brothers for their kind and generous financial support of the Gaelic school league. It makes a huge difference for the families and children involved in the league, creating a solid foundation for us to build upon following the clubs inception last year. We are excited about spreading the word about Gaelic football to the Edinburgh youth community and are hopeful that the club will now go from strength to strength!”

A sporting chance with Street League

Street League Youth and Community Coach Sam Faichney explains what the organisation’s all about:

“Street League helps 16-24 year olds get back into education employment or training, and we currenlty have street football events running across the city.

Street football is a fun based football session which is open to 16-24 year olds who are not in employment education or training (NEET), where the guys will have two hours of great football between 2pm and 4pm and this is ran from Sighthill powerleague on a Tuesday afternoon and Ainslie Park Sports Centre on a Thursday afternoon.

If you are someone who would fit in well with just getting out and taking part in some fun free football then we are here for you! Local organisations and agencies are also welcome to get in touch.”

To find out more contact Sean at sam.faichney@streetleague.co.uk or visit the Street League website at www.streetleague.co.uk