Great Scots say ‘aye’ to Sunshine Coast

Up to 300 athletes and support staff from Team Scotland will call the Sunshine Coast home in the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

The team will base their official overseas preparation camp at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort with athletes staying for up to three weeks before the Games begin on the Gold Coast on 4 April 2018.

Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig OBE said the Sunshine Coast provides a great range of facilities and the ideal environment to ensure athletes will be well prepared for the Commonwealth Games, where the team will aim to have its most successful ever overseas Games.

“The key to Scotland’s success has always been in our planning and preparation and the Team Camp has always played a vital part in developing our strong team ethos and ensuring everyone is in the best possible shape for the Games,” he said.

“We have spent considerable time with all 18 sports identifying the best possible location for their specific needs.

”For the vast majority, the facilities and environment on the Sunshine Coast and at Twin Waters, in particular, will undoubtedly provide the ideal home away from home for the athletes as they adjust to the travel, climate, culture and the unique multi-sport environment of the Commonwealth Games.

“Some sports will come out requiring full training facilities, while others will be looking for rest and relaxation ahead of competition, so it’s about different things for different sports.

“However, our priority is enabling them all to come through and acclimatise for the Games that will be held in a warm Australian Autumn when we are coming from a cold Scottish winter.

“Our role is to get the athletes to focus on the Games first and foremost and then they will be able to relax after competition and enjoy the fantastic scenery and hospitality in Queensland.

“I’m sure a few of the athletes will look to stay on after the Games and enjoy what Australia has to offer.”

Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman Paul Bush OBE added: “I’m delighted that we have now agreed our memorandum of understanding with the Sunshine Coast and we’re excited about working closely with colleagues here and on the Gold Coast to deliver our best ever overseas Commonwealth Games performance.”

The 2014 Commonwealth Games hosts will be joined by 32 athletes and officials from the Isle of Man at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort in the lead-up to the Gold Coast Games, while up to 60 athletes and officials from Wales will also be based in Brightwater for around two months leading into the event.

Mayor Mark Jamieson said council was exploring avenues to maximise exposure for the Sunshine Coast during the Scottish team’s visit.

“We’re currently working with Scottish Judo champion Euan Burton, who was a Gold Medallist and flag bearer for Scotland in Glasgow to shoot a commercial that showcases the Sunshine Coast for a competition that will run over in Scotland,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“We will look to partner with a Scottish media outlet and offer a trip for two to the Sunshine Coast with accommodation at Twin Waters and VIP visits to our leading tourist attractions as well as opportunities to meet their Scottish Commonwealth Games athletes, who will of course be training here.

“This is a tremendous honour for our region because Commonwealth Games Associations have an enormous amount riding on the decisions they make for their athletes, so a lot of time and resources go towards finding the best possible locations to base their athletes before such an important event as the Commonwealth Games.

“So for Scotland to choose to come here, like Wales and the Isle of Man, is a fantastic show of faith for the Sunshine Coast,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“We’re coming to the end of a hugely successful year in which our region has hosted an unprecedented 60 major sporting and lifestyle events that have brought around 150,000 national and international guests from more than 70 different countries.

“So it’s fair to say we’re getting accustomed to welcoming elite sports people and officials and providing them with the outstanding facilities and hospitality they need to feel comfortable and perform at their peak here on the Sunshine Coast.

“It’s very fitting that we’re here at the University of Sunshine Coast Sports Centre to make this announcement today because this is where a large number of Team Scotland athletes, along with those from Wales and the Isle of Man, will be spending much of their time during their stay.

“And they’ll certainly be well catered for here with the world class athletics track, the outstanding Aquatic Centre, the gymnasium and indoor stadium, and the state-of-the-art sports clinic.

“Council has worked very hard to attract the Commonwealth Games teams from Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man here and given the enormous following that elite athletes enjoy on social media nowadays, every photo and great experience they post about their time on the Sunshine Coast will also be seen by potentially millions of other people right around the world,”

Minister for the Commonwealth Games Stirling Hinchliffe welcomed Scotland’s best athletes to the Sunshine Coast for what would be an important period in their rigorous pre-Games training schedule.

“Team Scotland’s decision to base their training here on the Sunshine Coast is a testament to the region’s first-class facilities, and an example of the legacy the Games is creating,” Minister Hinchliffe said.

“The Sunshine Coast is set to see real economic and tourism benefits with up to 300 athletes and officials visiting as part of the training camp.”

Minister Hinchliffe said the Queensland Government and the Embracing 2018 Sunshine Coast Working Group had been working hard to attract countries to the region for pre-Games training.

"Earlier this year we announced Welsh Athletics and Isle of Man would be based on the Sunshine Coast prior to the Games in April 2018..

“With confirmation now that Team Scotland will also conduct a camp here on the Coast, this community has an incredible opportunity to showcase itself to the world,” Minister Hinchliffe said.

Fast facts about Scotland

• The Commonwealth Games is the only major multi-sport event in which Scottish athletes and teams compete as Scotland; otherwise Scotland participates in multi-sport events as part of a Great Britain team.
• Scotland is one of only six countries to have competed in every Games since the first Empire Games in 1930 and has hosted the Games three times - twice in Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986, and most recently in Glasgow in 2014.
• Scotland is coming off its most successful Commonwealth Games in 2014, where as hosts, they won 19 Gold, 15 Silver and 19 Bronze medals to finish fourth on the medal table.
• In 2018, Scotland is aiming to select a team capable of having its most successful overseas Games, with a goal of winning more than 29 medals. To date, Scotland’s most successful Games overseas were in Melbourne in 2006, the last time the Games were held in Australia.