Youth Games squad takes flight

SCOTLAND will take a contingent of 50 athletes to the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man next month, with many team members nurturing hopes of graduating to the senior team for the Glasgow Games of 2014.

The importance of the Youth Games as a stepping stone to the Commonwealth Games themselves has become clear since they were first held in Edinburgh 11 years ago, and to date 47 Scots have progressed from the youth to the senior team. At last year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi several Scottish medallists were graduates from previous youth teams, including swimmers Robbie Renwick and Hannah Miley, shooters Jennifer McIntosh and Kay Copland, boxer Josh Taylor and weightlifter Peter Kirkbride.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Commonwealth Youth Games at Bendigo (in Australia] in 2004," said Miley, who followed up her 400-metre individual-medley gold medal in Delhi with silver at this year's swimming world championships. "It is such a great opportunity when you are a young athlete to be part of a huge competition and also to interact with athletes from all over the world."

All but two of the Commonwealth's 71 member nations are expected to take part in the Isle of Man, where there will be competition in seven sports - athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, rugby sevens and swimming. Only 1,000 places for competitors were available in total, with each country allocated a fixed number of places.

"Competition for the limited number of places has been fierce," Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh said. "Whilst winning medals is important, the major benefit of the Commonwealth Youth Games is the opportunity it gives to expose young athletes to this level of international competition in a multi-sport environment. I am sure we will see a number of these new faces emerge again in Glasgow in 2014 when the next Commonwealth Games are held in Scotland."

Scotland team for Commmonwealth Youth Games (Isle of Man, 7-12 Sept)

Athletics: Tom Holligan, John McCall, Nicholas Percy, Emma Brown, Zoey Clark, Bethanie Finlayson, Chloe Lambert, Yasmin Milne. Badminton: Matthew Carder, Josh Neil, Kirsty Gilmour, Caitlin Pringle. Boxing: Charlie Flynn, Mark McKeown, Rhys Pagan, Grant Quigley, Kieran Smith. Cycling: Jack Barrett, Grant Ferguson, Taylor Johnstone, Stuart McCluskey. Gymnastics: Jamie Carpenter, Liam Davie, Douglas Ross, Shannon Archer, Cara Kennedy, Carly Smith. Rugby: Adam Ashe, Chris Auld, Will Bordill, Chris Dean, James Farndale, Robbie Fergusson, Alex Glashan, Neil Herron, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Damien Hoyland, Shaun MacDonald, Scott Steele. Swimming: Craig Benson, Josh Booth, Gareth Mills, Alasdair Stirling, Mark Szaranek, Fiona Donnelly, Emily Jones, Charlotte McKenzie, Kirstin McKinley, Rachel Sharples.