20 February 2009

Top young athletes Excel with University scholarship programme

A sports scholarship programme offered by the University of Dundee is helping six of Scotland’s most promising young athletes combine their studies with dreams of sporting stardom.

The athletes, who have already achieved significant success in their chosen fields including national and international titles, championships and even an Olympic youth gold medal, are all part of the University’s Institute of Sport and Exercise (Ise) Excel Sports Scholarship programme.

The six athletes are middle distance runners Morag MacLarty and Eilish McColgan, sprinters Jamie Coull and Chris Lavery, curler Scott MacLeod and hockey player Becky Ward.

Each athlete is offered a package of support and advice including access to a range of sports facilities, nutritional, psychological and dietary advice, physiological testing and financial help for sports medicine, kit and competition expenses.

They are also offered lifestyle support to enable them to combine their academic studies with the demands of training at an elite level.

Becky Ward (20), a third year Sports Biomedicine student from Dundee, has just returned from the Youth Olympic Games in Sydney where she was a member of the Great Britain team that scooped hockey gold.

'It was an amazing experience,' said Becky who revealed that the scholarship programme was instrumental in making her inclusion in the GB squad possible.

'The selection camp was at the same time as my exams but the Excel team at the University were great in helping me get the exams moved so that I could do both. This is the first year I’ve had a scholarship and I have found it really helpful.'

The other athletes are equally enthusiastic about the programme and the benefits it offers.

'We have access to all the facilities here at the Institute of Sport and Exercise including the new gym which is great,' said Morag MacLarty (23), a first year dentistry student from Auchterarder and a former under-20 European 1500m champion.

'The facilities here are very good,' agreed Jamie Coull (23), a first year graphic design student from Dundee and currently Scottish 200m indoor and 100m closed champion and Scott McLeod (20), a third year town and regional planning student from Blair Atholl who won the Scottish junior curling championship last year.

For Eilish McColgan (18), a first year maths and accounting student from Carnoustie and a national record holder for 1500m and 200m steeplechase and Chris Lavery (19), a zoology student from Dundee and Scottish under 20 100m and 200m silver medallist the programme has also helped them through periods of injury.

'I’m just getting back from injury at the moment,' said Eilish, daughter of former world 10000m champion Liz, 'and the programme has really helped me with physiotherapy treatment.'

'I’ve been able to use the scholarship to pay for physio costs as well,' said Chris, 'and that has been a big help. It is also great being able to use the gym here. There is a gym at the track where I train but it is good having a gym on the campus so close to lectures. I would certainly encourage other athletes to apply for a scholarship.'

Helen Weavers, coordinator of the sports scholarship programme, said all the Excel athletes were already demonstrating considerable potential.

'The standard of applications we had this year has been higher than we have ever had,' she said. 'It is fantastic for us to have athletes of this calibre. They are already competing at national and international level and they are all expected to compete in the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. It is great that we can help them develop that potential.'

NOTES TO EDITORS
The students are:

• Jamie Coull (23) from Dundee. A first year graphic design student, Jamie is a 100m and 200m specialist and a member of Pitreavie Athletic Club. He is the Scottish 200m indoor and 100m closed champion and in 2007 at the Scottish Senior Championships he set the fourth fastest winning time by a Scot in 20 years of the competition when he won the 200m.
• Chris Lavery (19) from Dundee. A member of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers Chris is in his second year of a zoology degree. Last year he was Scottish Under 20 100m and 200m silver medallist and was invited to the 2008 Olympic trials.
• Morag MacLarty (23) from Auchterarder. A medical graduate Morag is in the first year of a dentistry degree. A member of Central Athletic Club she is a former 1500m Junior European champion. In December last year she competed for Great Britain in the Under 23 European Cross Country Championships, finishing fourth.
• Eilish McColgan (18) from Carnoustie. A middle distance runner Eilish is in the first year of an Accountancy and Maths degree. She is second on the British Under 20 all-time list for the 2000m steeplechase, 1st in the UK for 1500m steeplechase and 1st in Scotland for Under 20 3000m. Eilish is a member of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and is a national record holder for 1500m and 2000m steeplechase. She competed in the Commonwealth Youth Games in India last year.
• Scott MacLeod (20) from Blair Atholl. A third year Town and Regional Planning student Scott won the Scottish junior curling championship last year and represented Scotland at the junior world championships.
• Becky Ward (20) from Dundee. In the third year of a Sports Biomedicine degree Becky was a member of the Great Britain hockey team that took gold in the Youth Olympic Games in Sydney. A member of Dundee Wanderers hockey team she was also part of the Scotland Under-21 squad for the European Championships in Prague.

Ise (The Institute of Sport and Exercise) has provided the Excel programme for the past eight years with funding in excess of £50,000.

Former Excel athletes who are competing on the international stage include Alastair Dickinson (Scotland Rugby Team) and Laura Steven and Sarah Gill (both in the Scotland Women’s Rugby Team). All three are currently competing in the Six Nations Rugby competition.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk