PLANS are being drawn up to attract up to two of British sport's elite performance centres to Scotland ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in a move designed to attract investment and provide a showcase for the facilities and infrastructure being put in place in advance of the Commonwealth Games of 2014.
Scotland on Sunday understands judo and mountain biking are to be targeted to locate their centres of excellence north of the Border with support from the Institute of Sport, and probably from other public and private-sector partners. The ambitious m
ove would break new ground, literally, given that existing hubs for preparing Olympic competitors are all based in England, including the lauded cycling base at Manchester and the successful canoeing initiative in Nottingham.
How now to move things forward and grab a slice of the pie, and the glory? "We recognise that all the British programmes for the summer Olympics are there (in England]," Scottish Institute of Sport director Mike Whittingham acknowledges. "But there is scope to do that in Scotland. We've now got the intensive training centre for swimming in Stirling which could allow us to have a training group based there. There is definitely an opportunity to have world-class British programmes in a number of sports. Maybe in cycling, boxing, badminton, judo."
In the latter, discussions have already taken place between the Scottish and British governing bodies, with the existing performance centre near Edinburgh in competition with an earmarked site in Dartford. "We've got the only dojo with four- camera analysis and heart-rate systems in the UK, with all the strength and conditioning and other facilities," says Dougie Bryce of Judo Scotland.
"British Judo is keen to recognise this as their high-performance centre but, in every sense, it already is. I suppose we'd like some money with that. If you look at before the Olympics, you had the likes of Sarah Clark and Michelle Rogers relocating from England to base themselves here. But a lot's going to depend on the post-Olympic discussions on funding."
The lack of medals returned from Beijing, including any from Scottish hope Euan Burton, has injected a note of uncertainty. So, too, the relative lack of success from the competitors under the institute's umbrella. There is increasing competition to attract landmark centres, with Wales also thought to be pondering its own bids.
Duplication is no longer desirable, not with budgets squeezed and scrutiny doubled. "UK cycling is based in Manchester," states Whittingham. "It's successful. Could you have a satellite programme at the new velodrome in Glasgow? I'm not sure Dave Brailsford (British Cycling's performance director] would want that because of the system and standards they have in place. But maybe you could have a training group based up here. We were discussing mountain biking this week. We have a talent pool here already. Some great trails as we've seen from the World Cup up in Fort William. There are a lot of good things happening with 2014. But this is a chance to say to young competitors over the next five or six years that you can challenge yourself to reach the top and do it here."
British Cycling would give the idea due consideration. "It is not a facility-based sport in the same way the track disciplines are," says membership director Johnny Clay. "You need access to good trails. The Forestry Commission has invested a lot in the sport and so we should see great mountain bikers coming out of Scotland. It's the same with Wales, but not as common in England."
Having a single centre for mountain biking, however, is thought to be unlikely. "We do want specific high-performance centres," Clay adds. "But you could see maybe two or three."
Some cause for hope for Whittingham and the Sportscotland politicos who sit behind the ambitious initiative. The secondary benefit, they envisage, is that no longer will the likes of Chris Hoy and David Florence have to flee south in pursuit of the most lavish attention. "What we're starting to think, with 2014 coming up, is that it doesn't need to happen all the time," says Whittingham.
