TWENTY SEVEN of this country's brightest sporting prospects gathered in Stirling yesterday as they were named in Team Scotland for the Commonwealth Youth Games which will take place in Samoa from September 5-11.

The event in Apia is the fifth holding of the Commonwealth Youth Games, with the inaugural one in Edinburgh, in 2000. Since then, the Youth Games have proved to be an invaluable tool in preparing athletes as they move onto the Commonwealth Games later in their career; former Youth Games competitors for Team Scotland include swimmer Hannah Miley, middle-distance runner Lynsey Sharp and boxer Charlie Flynn who were all medallists at Glasgow 2014. Indeed, the conversion rate from Youth Games team members to full Commonwealth Games athletes is impressive; 66 of the 250-or-so Scots who have taken part in a Youth Games have gone on to be part of Team Scotland at the full Games, winning 32 medals.

Boxer Flynn, was one of the brightest stars at Glasgow 2014, in part because of his outstanding run of form which took him all the way to the gold medal, but also as a result of his glorious quotes, including the oft-repeated "I'm buzzing like a jar of wasps". The 21-year-old won silver in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man and was on hand yesterday to offer his advice to the young athletes on how best to approach the Games, an experience which will be unlike anything they have ever encountered before. "I can't believe it's been four years since I was competing in a Youth Games myself and now I'm coming back to speak to them all. It's absolutely crazy," he said. "I've just told them all to go for it - there's nothing stopping you. Why should you let anyone tell you that you can't achieve what you want to? You can be as good as you want to be, so go out there and do it. The only thing stopping you is yourself, so get out there and go for it."

Flynn attributes much of his success at Glasgow 2014 to the fact that he had experienced a multi-sport event three years previously. The difference in competing at a major Games to the single-sport competitions to which athletes are accustomed cannot be overstated and Flynn agrees that attending a Youth Games is an invaluable experience. "It helps build your confidence as well as your experience. Getting to the final of the Youth Games helped me a lot because it made me think that there was nothing stopping me doing it in the real Games. It's as if you've done your rehearsal, now it's time to go out on stage and perform - that's how I'd describe it. The Youth Games is exciting, it's fun, but the bottom line is that you've still got to go there and perform."

Amongst the 27-strong Scottish contingent will be 200m sprinter Cameron Tindle. The 17-year-old from the Borders already has two senior Scottish caps and could barely contain his delight at being part of this Scottish team. "I'm very excited about the Games. Ever since I knew there was such a thing as the Commonwealth Youth Games, I've had my eye on getting in the team," he said. "My training partner Guy Learmonth was running at Glasgow 2014 and I talk to him all the time. He's been giving me pointers about the Games in Samoa. He just tells me to be myself, don't change anything and keep calm."

Tindle played rugby until a serious injury a couple of years ago forced him to reconsider his options. "It got to the point where everyone else was getting much bigger than me and then I picked up a big injury. I tore all the cartilage in my knee and I just thought that this isn't going to work," said the teenager, whose day got even better when he was announced as part of the GB team for this month's World Youth Championships in Colombia. "I was a winger in rugby because I was quite fast, so I decided to give athletics a shot. I seemed to be good quite quickly so the switch paid off. When I'm out in Samoa, obviously I want to run fast but I also want to just enjoy the whole experience because it's going to be brilliant."