Scotland’s preparations for participating in the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa later this year are well on track and following a recruitment process, team staff appointments have now been made.
The team will be led by General Team Manager, Elinor Middlemiss, supported by David Somerville as Assistant General Team Manager and Catherine Goodfellow HQ Admin.
The medical team will consist of Jonathan Hanson as Team Doctor, Oliver Davies as Lead Physiotherapist, supported by Team Physiotherapists Kelly Horne and Joni Neilson.
Gillian Cooke, who manages social media for Commonwealth Games Scotland has been appointed as Media Officer.
Following consultation with the governing bodies of the eight sports in which Scotland will be represented, the following sports specific team manager appointments have been made:
Archery – Claudine Jennings
Athletics – Mark Pollard
Boxing – Mike Keane and Ray Gibson
Lawn Bowls – Ricky Taylor
Squash – Stuart Crawford
Swimming – Andy Figgins
Tennis – Toby Smith
Weightlifting – Georgi Black.
One particularly exciting appointment is Georgi Black, who will be the weightlifting team manager/coach. Georgi competed in Glasgow 2014, is also involved in coaching and this will be her first staff role at a multi-sport Games. This appointment epitomises the core principle of the Commonwealth Youth Games, which is about giving athletes and staff exposure to a multi-sport Games.
Welcoming the staff to Youth Team Scotland, Elinor Middlemiss said: “The Commonwealth Youth Games is an excellent development opportunity not just for athletes, but also for staff with the relevant skills and experience to step up and take on first time roles or more senior positions in the multi-sport Games environment.
“I am delighted that we have finalised all of the staff appointments and I look forward to commencing our preparation programme and building a cohesive and well prepared staff team to support our athletes.”
All appointments are provisional and dependent on the actual number of athletes selected.