Three of Scotland’s most successful sports governing bodies have confirmed an exciting collaboration which aims to build on the recent success that they have enjoyed. Several meetings have taken place over the last few months between both the Chairs and CEOs of Scottish Athletics, Scottish Cycling and Scottish Swimming; early discussions have focussed on the progress that has been made in developing the club and performance system in Scotland and the importance of building on this and secondly the desire of the SGBs to have a voice and play their part in the development of wider sport and physical activity policy alongside sportscotland. The SGBs will look to work with their colleagues in other sports in the coming months to build on this partnership.

Scottish Athletics Interim CEO Mark Munro said,

“All three sports have been successful in recent years and are in a very similar position in terms of club numbers, participants and performance outputs. As such it makes sense to collaborate across a number of areas and share good practice. However, it is increasingly important that the collaboration impacts positively in helping shape national sports policy as well as working collectively to influence the physical activity agenda.”

Craig Burn, CEO for Scottish Cycling said,

“By working together we can play a stronger part in influencing the future of Scottish sport.  As collaboration we will work with other governing bodies to have a collective voice.  Sport has great support from Local Authorities, Leisure Trusts and other local organisations but the challenging economic environment both nationally and locally makes collaboration like this even more important.   We all need to look for new ways to become more efficient and by sharing resources and best practice we can offer better value for our members and stakeholders. There is also a pressing need to find solutions to the long term challenges and ensure sport and physical activity continue to be adequately resourced. It's not an either or, we need a world class system that's properly resourced to support clubs and communities,  delivers a nation of champions to inspire Scotland to get active."

Forbes Dunlop, CEO, Scottish Swimming also commented,

“As National Governing Bodies our core focus and responsibility is on our members, teacher and coach education, and the competitive pathway. As such and with the support of sportscotland we have invested in our clubs, coaches and athletes, raising standards year on year and resulting in membership growth and performance results on the international stage. Our success has been built in a systematic way over 15 years, it is critical that we continue to develop and enhance that system if we are to continue to enjoy success in both the development and performance of our sport.”

The three governing bodies plan to work closely with senior members of sportscotland to ensure the sporting agenda (participants, clubs, events, coaches, performance) is recognised as an essential part of government’s policy on sport and physical activity going forwards, as well as collaborating with key influencers around participation and physical activity where all three sports are extremely active. 

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For further information please contact:
Peter Jardine, Head of Communications, Scottish Athletics: 07885 868164
Gillian Lambie, Communications Officer, Scottish Cycling: 07908670488
Kirsten Phillips, Communications Manager, Scottish Swimming: 07730661788

Notes to the Editor:

About Scottish Athletics:
Scottish Athletics is the National Governing Body for the sport in Scotland and covers all disciplines and events including track and field, cross country, road running, hill running and trail/ultra running.

Our clear goal is to increase participation across the length and breadth of Scotland in partnership with our clubs and coaches as well as improving performance at elite level by creating the right pathway for athletes, alongside those programmes run by British Athletics.

More information on www.scottishathletics.org.uk

About Scottish Cycling:
Based at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Scottish Cycling is the recognised national governing body for cycling in Scotland.

Scottish Cycling work across all six cycling disciplines: BMX, Mountain Bike, Cyclo-Cross, Road, Track and Cycle Speedway in 178 clubs throughout Scotland, with over 650 events across the disciplines providing lots of opportunities to participate.
From encouraging people to ride their bikes for the first time, to helping Scots compete on the international stage. Scottish Cycling also works in partnership with British Cycling to provide support across all levels of the sport in Scotland, as well as helping to nurture home-grown talent to compete at a world and Olympic level as part of a successful GB cycling team.

For more information please visit www.scottishcycling.org.uk 

About Scottish Swimming:
Scottish Swimming is the national governing body for swimming in Scotland. Scottish Swimming represents our clubs, swim schools, aquatic disciplines, athletes, coaches and thousands of talented and committed volunteers across the entire swimmer pathway. We are focused on delivering in the following key areas to reach our vision to ensure that everyone can swim: learn to swim, participation in aquatic activities, club development, coaching partnerships and performance.

For more information visit www.scottishswimming.com