2014 Games shooting is switched to single venue

Published on Thursday 11 November 2010 14:19

THE entire shooting programme at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will now take place at Barry Buddon, instead of being split between that venue and Jackton. In another change to the original plan when Glasgow submitted its bid for the Games, the boxing will be held at the SECC instead of the Kelvin Hall.

Both alterations have been approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation, the world governing body for the four-yearly event. Glasgow organisers believe the changes will be of benefit to athletes, spectators and the media.

In the case of shooting, the move from two venues to one follows extensive consultation with the Ministry of Defence, owners of the Barry Buddon site, which is near Carnoustie. Once the MoD agreed its venue would be able to host the pistol disciplines as well as the rifle shooting, Glasgow organisers decided it would make sense to move the pistol events from Jackton. Vac-ating Jackton, which is in East Kilbride and owned by Strathclyde Police, will also allow it to be used wholly for security purposes during the Games.

"The opportunity arose following conversations we had with the MoD to use Barry Buddon more fully," Glasgow 2014 chief executive John Scott explained yesterday. "The rifle events had to be there, but the pistol events were movable. They had not appreciated how much more could be done with their site.

"We've had consultations with Commonwealth Games Scotland and with the shooting authorities. They have a number of legacy aspirations which are hard to deliver for shooting. We have been able to demonstrate that there is an open door for a potential legacy at Barry Buddon, but it needs them to have that conversation with the Ministry of Defence about how that could work. We're encouraging that."

Scott added that confining the shooting to one venue would make it easier for spectators to attend, and also be of benefit to competitors. "It would be very difficult for someone who is really keen on shooting to commute from Carnoustie to Glasgow," he said. "And we will have a satellite athletes' 'village' to meet similar requirements to the one in Glasgow: we're looking at a number of hotels in Dundee, and we have reservations already in a Carnoustie hotel. It won't necessarily be in just one venue, but it will be in the same geographical location, and we will have an athletes' centre in Barry Buddon which will provide the village experience."

Having been in Delhi last month, Scott also noted that sports which clustered together tended to attract more spectators and media interest than those which were in venues on their own and in some cases further out of the city centre.While conscious of the Kelvin Hall's links with boxing, he decided it would be better for that sport to go ahead along with judo and wrestling at the SECC.

"Obviously the Kelvin Hall has a long history of staging major events, including boxing, and it is a significant building,'' he said. ''But when you look at making the Games as effective as they can be, and meeting the needs of the athletes, you begin to ask questions.

"Those questions were asked, and there were significant advantages to moving boxing into the SECC complex. We will be making better use of the venue.

"The more venues you have, particularly stand-alone venues, the more challenging it becomes. We've got tickets to sell, let's be honest. So having the maximum number of sports in one location not only helps with operational efficiencies, it also offers us a great chance to sell something different.

"We have not decided this yet, but we could look at a rover ticket - you can come to the SECC and taste a number of different sports, new sports.

"The SECC is also where the media are going to be based, so it's going to be a big focus. So the more sports we can get there, the better, really.''

The changes to shooting and boxing are the last alterations Glasgow 2014 will make to its venue plans, and Scott is confident they will be recognised as an improvement.

"The key to a successful event is being prepared to change, where the change improves the sporting, spectator and media experience. We are where we need to be now."