Some of the north and north-east’s best young athletes will be among the first to experience the thrill of competing on the new track being installed at Hampden Park for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The Scottish Schools Athletics Association has brokered an agreement with the Commonwealth Games organisers and the national stadium to hold the 2014 secondary schools event at Hampden on June 20 and 21.
That means promising young athletes such as sprinters Kelsey Stewart and Alisha Rees (both Banchory-Stonehaven AC) and throwers Emma Bowie, Dionne Milne (both Moray Road Runners) and George Evans (Inverness Harriers) will be handed the opportunity of performing in the redesigned 44,000 capacity stadium.
Former Scotland footballer Christian Dailly, who played at Hampden on numerous occasions during a career which yielded 67 caps, is now an athletics coach and is enthused by the benefit this initiative will bring.
He said: “I think it’s a wonderful idea and great credit to those involved in driving it. It will be a huge carrot for the youngsters involved. The ones at secondary school this year have been handed a great incentive.”
Work has started on the £12-14million project to convert Hampden into a temporary athletics arena for the games. The new 400m track is being installed on a raised platform 6
Work is estimated to be complete by mid-May.