DEBATES around Scottish and British identity are never far away when Andy Murray prepares to play in the Davis Cup. Each nation desires to wrap him in the flag and claim him as their own - particularly when he may well be about to inspire the first team tennis triumph from these isles since 1936 - but in truth this is missing the point. Murray is a true Scottish sporting hero but in a way it would be equally appropriate if he draped himself in Catalan colours given the formative role which the Sanchez-Casal Academy played in his development.

In truth, pureblood, unadulterated Scottish success stories along the lines of the Lisbon Lions - all memorably born and reared some from 30 miles off Glasgow - are few and far between in these days of the global sporting marketplace. There is no catch-all solution for rearing aspiring young sportsmen and women, merely Scottish, British, and global answers for allowing them to fulfil their potential.

I listened recently to Forbes Dunlop, the CEO of Scottish Swimming, proudly speaking of how, with the exception of Dan Wallace, all of his Glasgow 2014 heroes have enough training resources on their doorstep to base themselves in Scotland. The nation's high performance centre in curling, the base for the likes of David Murdoch and Eve Muirhead, is another great example. But, to labour the point, this is a gym or two and a swimming pool or a sheet of ice we are talking about, and a training group of talented like-minded athletes. Scotland can surely manage that.

Not all sports are so lucky. Next on the rostrum that day was Craig Burn, his equivalent from Scottish cycling, who to paraphase, said that his annual budget was roughly equivalent to a week's wind tunnel testing so the best Scottish cyclists must always be part of a British solution. Dave Brailsford's infinitessimal margin gains culture would be only a marginal success if it didn't have the big bucks from British cycling's main sponsors Sky to fund it. And when it comes to road racing, the only solution that really makes sense is getting your riders exposure sooner or later to the professionalised culture on mainland Europe.

Tennis is another great example. While Scotland can and should do more to be an entry point to young players at grassroots level, there comes a point where our top players need to fly the nest. Even the British system, with all that Wimbledon cash, can't take them on. Yet, just as Judy Murray had to take a £30,000 bank loan and find sponsors like Highland Spring and RBS to fund Andy's training in Spain, the example of Dunblane's Ali Collins - now playing away at Sanchez-Casal's offshoot academy in Naples, Florida - shows there is still an unwillingness to fund players to go away and develop elsewhere.

Rugby has wrestled with such dilemmas in Scotland since the birth of professionalism, but the example of the World Cup shows we might just be getting the balance right. After years of controversies over pro contracts and the like, the recent successes of Glasgow and Edinburgh suggest there is a strong developmental culture in the Scottish game, while the recruitment of John Hardie is an acknowledgement that there are still parts which our game can't reach.

Athletics likewise, where Laura Muir successfully plots her running around after classes at the Glasgow vet school and others such as Chris O'Hare and European Under-20 1,500m champion Josh Kerr opted to come through the US collegiate system.

Anyway, all this got me thinking about football, and what lessons it could learn. First of all, don't tell me there isn't talent coming in. I watched a trial match of around 40 or so Under-10 players at my local team Morton on Saturday and there are plenty of willing, eager, talented young athletes out there, desperate to make themselves a success. The potential talent pool is the envy of every other sport.

But is there a culture in the Scottish game to let them fulfil their potential? Aside from clubs like Hamilton Accies, Falkirk, how many clubs are there out there with a genuine commitment to getting these guys into first teams? Celtic are renowned for having one of the best youth policies in the land, but with a few glaring exceptions, they mainly seem to use it to populate other people's first teams. And does Scottish domestic football, where pitches and conditions aren't great, and the talented ball players who do make it here often watch the ball flying over their heads, really have the right culture for self-improvement for them to develop into superstars?

I'm not against a bit of old school football coaching now and there is good practice out there, say for instance at the performance schools. Maybe I was just in a bad mood that day, but I couldn't help wondering if the SFA might be as well spending their money on central contracts for the very best players at every age level and seeing if they could do any better. Or perhaps they should just splurge it all on a raft of one-way tickets. Perhaps we could send a job lot to the big spending Premiership academies, where the likes of Ross Barkley, John Stones and Raheem Sterling are far ahead of what we are bringing through. Or maybe to Eastern Europe, Spain or Portugal where they really know how to develop a player. Getting Scotland's best young talent out of Scotland might just be the best thing Scotland can do for them.