Team Scotland under starters orders – Go Scotland!

With the clear aim for Team Scotland being to have its largest and most successful team ever in Glasgow, and with many of our athletes having experienced first-hand the excitement of a home Olympic Games in London last year, with its venues full of a passionate home crowd, CGS is planning to replicate that national feel good factor here in Scotland.

To highlight the start of the build-up to the Games for Team Scotland, CGS today launched its new public engagement campaign ‘Go Scotland!’ The campaign aims to raise the awareness of the 17 sports in the Games and give greater profile to the athletes aiming for selection to the team. It’s also calling for the whole of Scotland to get behind the team by pledging their support at goscotland.org and through social media channels.

To mark the occasion a special edition set of athlete images are being published, showing prospective Team Scotland athletes in a different and unusual light, as they have never been seen before. Taken at the magnificent Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, the theme of the photographs is about sport meeting culture, which will be reflected in 2014 through the extensive cultural festival that is being organised as part of the Commonwealth Games and which will showcase Glasgow’s international reputation as a cultural as well as sporting centre of excellence.

The group shot shows the full range of sports in the Games and the strength and unity of the team, whilst each of the individual photos links the athlete and their sport to an exhibit or the architecture in Kelvingrove, drawing out the parallels between the two either in terms of the movement involved or key attributes of the sport. They aim to create a talking point and everyone will have their own favourite!

Calling for people to back the campaign, CGS Chairman Michael Cavanagh said: “Today marks the start of the journey to Glasgow 2014 for Scotland’s athletes as they strive to meet the agreed selection standards for Team Scotland and we are greatly encouraged by the performances so far.

“The athletes greatly value the support of their family and friends, but to know that they have the additional backing from the Scottish public as a whole, would mean a lot to them, just as it did to Team GB in London last year. This is why we have launched this campaign today to encourage everyone across the length and breadth of the country to actively support us in our quest for success in Glasgow and share our journey to the Games.”

Sport Minister Shona Robison said: “This is an exciting time for Team Scotland and all Scottish athletes who have been in training for the Games for years – now it’s crunch time. The Team has all the ingredients to succeed next year, with outstanding facilities, high standards of coaching and an extra £1 million Scottish Government funding this year for elite sport. Team Scotland will be the strongest and best prepared team possible and I want to see everyone in Scotland get behind all of our athletes and sign up for the Go Scotland! campaign. Together we can boost Team Scotland to win gold and deliver the best ever Commonwealth Games.”

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said: “It’s a really exciting time for sport in Scotland and today’s launch of ‘Go Scotland!’ represents another significant milestone on the road to Glasgow.

“The sportscotland institute of sport coaches, experts, and scientists work very closely with Scotland’s high performance athletes and, consequently, they are as well prepared as they ever have been going into a Commonwealth Games. All of Scotland will be fully behind our athletes, and it will be an incredible experience for them to compete in front of a raucous home crowd.”

David Grevemberg, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014, said: “The passion and enthusiasm of home support for Team Scotland will be a defining element of a successful Commonwealth Games for Glasgow and Scotland.

“This is a real opportunity for people in communities across Scotland to start connecting with a new generation of home-grown sporting heroes and heroines and share the journey with them towards success at our home Games.”

Councillor Archie Graham, Executive Member for the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow City Council, said: “In the summer of 2014, many of the world’s greatest athletes will come here to compete in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.  While clearly this will be a fantastic attraction for Glaswegians, Scots and our visitors, it should not be forgotten that the 11 days of competition will provide one of the biggest challenges Scotland’s finest athletes will ever face.  I am sure they will rise to the occasion and give us many performances to remember during the Games.  Let’s show our support by visiting goscotland.org or using social media to demonstrate how much we’re looking forward to Team Scotland doing us proud at the Games.”