Sitting right at the heart of their communities, three of Scotland’s top performing sporting initiatives have been named as finalists for Community Hub, Club or School of the Year at the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards on 28 September.

Awarded to the Community Sport Hub, Club or School which has made the most progress and impact on their community over the last year, the award attracted dozens of nominations across a wide range of sporting pursuits and from every region of Scotland.

Impressing the judges with their innovation and ambition, Aviemore Community Sports Hub, Tranent & District Community Sports Club and Tryst Community Sports Hub / Larbert High School will now go head to head for the top award supported by sportscotland.

Supporting over 2600 members, 25 clubs and 160 deliverers, the Aviemore Community Sports Hub has become the largest Hub in Highland region. This growth and success can be attributed to a number of projects including female cycling club ‘Petal Power’; local health walks aimed at the older generation and the Cairngorm Sports 4 All group, set up for those with additional support needs. Performance clubs are delivering athletes onto regional/national pathways and recently piloted“The Healthy Athlete” workshop utilising local experts in healthcare, physiotherapy & nutrition. Their partnership with Kingussie High School resulted in national recognition as an exemplar model.

Tranent & District Community Sports Club has developed into a cohesive organisation with the community right at its heart, and is now a key advisory group working to develop clubs, provide additional opportunities and improve local facilities. Activities include a sporting memories group to support people with dementia, Midnight league football to reduce anti-social behaviour in a problem area and a host of volunteering opportunities aimed at improving life-skills. The past yearhas seen the introduction of a new community tennis club to develop use of recently refurbished courts and a visit to Rwanda to provide much needed resources, run coach education courses and support education through sport.

Based at Larbert High School, the Tryst Community Sports Hub aims to lead a cultural changeinspiring the local community to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. The programme and projects delivered in partnership with local clubs and organisations are the most inclusive and with the most diverse range of sports in the Central Scotland area with opportunities for all young people and adults to receive expert coaching every weekday evening and Saturday morning. Their recent success has been recognised nationally with Larbert High School winning Scottish Sport School of the Year and being awarded a Gold Standard School of Sport by sportscotland.

Paul Bush OBE, Chair, Commonwealth Games Scotland said: “Community Sport Hubs, clubsand schools provide the vital base of Scotland’s sporting system, providing not just a route into competitive sport but also contributing to the health and well-being of the nation as a whole. The breadth ofactivities undertaken by our three finalists in the past year is phenomenal and they should be rightly proud of their achievements. They embody the ideals of collaborative working while meeting needs across all sections of their communities.”

The Community Sport Hub, Club or School of the Year award is supported by sportscotland, the lead agency for the development of sport in Scotland. Establishing community sport hubs comprising partnerships from across clubs, schools and local organisation partners was a key goal linked to Glasgow 2014. sportscotland’s mission is to build a world class sporting system for everyone in Scotland, making sport a way of life, placing it at the heart of society and making a positive impact on people and communities.

Winners across all twelve categories will be crowned at the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards in a star-studded celebration of Scottish sport on 28 September at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

For full details of the event visit: http://www.scottishsportsawards.scot/index.html