The decision to incorporate a Scotland team in the annual Indoor International Match at Glasgow's Emirates Arena on January 25 for the first time has been welcomed by Stephen Maguire, director of coaching at scottishathletics, as a means to ready his younger performers for the pressure they will face at the Commonwealth Games.
The move will provide a quandary for leading Scots such as Eilidh Child, pictured, over whether to turn out for Great Britain or sport the Saltire on home soil. With UK Athletics officials also planning to give their relay squads an outing, it could mean some elite athletes don two different vests in a single day. "There is a bit of discussion to go on that yet," admitted scottishathletics chief executive Nigel Holl. "The teams aren't selected. All I will say is that I back coach Maguire to go and make his case very strongly.
"If we're going to have a Scottish team in, we need our best Scottish athletes competing for Scotland. There are greater numbers of athletes elsewhere in Britain who can come together for a strong Team GB. My view is clear. Eilidh Child likes running for Scotland. She wants to run for Scotland. She should run for Scotland in January, no issue."
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