IT is a move that seeks to put the legs into legacy.
It is a plan that aims to ensure every pupil has a shot at glory and every child has the opportunity to enjoy sport for life, whether this path leads to the podium or merely to sports hall after work.
East Ayrshire Council is to introduce a £250,000 sports legacy fund that will see it employ two mentors to support promising young athletes and improve schools of rugby in the area.
This bold move of sport on the council tax is a nod to the belief that exercise can improve the psychological and physical well-being of a community. "These sports initiatives are vital to the prosperity of the area and to achieve the potential of individuals," said Fiona Lees, chief executive of the council.
The council is about to advertise two sports mentoring posts that will gather a host of applications from across the sporting world. It is believed £100,000 has been set aside for the roles that will see sporting mentors employed to help promising youngsters.
"We are looking for people who understand the sports environment that what we call "podium potential" athletes work in," she said. "The mentors would know all about the culture of competition and the demands it makes. They would give advice, assistance, and emotional support so that youngsters build up their resilience and have the best possible chance to be successful."
She added: "We are looking for people who have not walked the talk but run it." It is likely, then, that the successful candidates have experienced just what is it is like to compete at the top end of sport.
The council has thrown itself into improving sport in schools and beyond. More than 60 people were supported by its talented athlete programme in 2014, providing 478 Scottish national champions, 18 Scottish international caps, 12 British champions, five European champions and one world champion.
A visit to the council's offices in Kilmarnock shows that it is aware of it sporting heritage with a photograph of Bill Shankly of Glenbuck peering down from a wall. The former Liverpool manager was proud of his Ayrshire roots and this is echoed by Councillor Douglas Reid, leader of the council, who insists that this heritage can be used to inspire the present generation.
The sporting of the alumni of the area includes not only Shankly but Cameron Sharp (athletics), Rhona Martin (curling), Chic Hamilton (weightlifting), Graeme Obree (cycling), Peter Kirkbride (weightlifting), Steven Naismith (football) and Mark Bennett (rugby).
Reid said: "If people are passionate about their sport - whether that is archery or athletics, bowling or boxing, football or fencing - we want to engage with them and capture their enthusiasm and desire to take part. Their participation could be a pastime or they may have bigger ambitions to compete nationally and internationally.
"Whatever their aspirations, we want to ensure that the opportunities exist in each and every one of our communities to harness the exceptional power of sport to transform lives."
He added: "We know that investment is vital and as such, we are dedicating important resources to sport to ensure that our future generations of sporting heroes have the support and encouragement they need to pursue their dreams and achieve the levels of success of their sporting heroes."
One of the biggest programmes is the rugby schools plan run in conjunction with the SRU. The council now has four schools of rugby at Grange Academy in Kilmarnock, Cumnock Academy, Loudoun Academy and Auchinleck Academy.
This plan will cost the council £30,000 a year for the next three years with pupils selected to improve their playing and to manage their lifestyles better. An indication of its success is that more than half of Grange's 111 players now turn out at club level.
One of the successful graduates is Mark Bennett, who scored a try against Italy at Murrayfield at the weekend, and who is still involved with Cumnock RFC, taking training sessions with younger players.
The emphasis on youth is reflected in the council's involvement with primary schools. Every primary school participated in competitions about the Commonwealth Games and they all took part in the Club Golf initiative that seeks to introduce every child in Scotland to the sport.
The council has spotted that there is an appetite for sport and want to meet it. More than 74,000 people attended the Ayrshire Athletics Arena in Kilmarnock and 13 sports clubs started up last year as the local authority sought to build on the Commonwealth Games and the reality that the Scotland squads for athletics and boxing trained in the area.
There is, of course, a strong connection with football in the area with professional, amateur and Junior football all represented. The village of Hurlford has been given new street signs in recognition of the achievements of Hurlford United, its Junior side, Hurlford Thistle, its amateur team, who have both won Scottish cups in recent seasons.
These achievements have been marked. The sporting mentor programme seeks to provide a signpost for a new generation of stars.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article