MAtt Purssey, the Glasgow 2014 silver medallist, believes Scottish sport should follow judo's lead as international action returns to Scotland for the first time since the Commonwealth Games when the women's European Open is staged at Glasgow's Emirates Arena tomorrow.

Scottish judokas won a record 13 medals in Glasgow and the high-performance centre in Ratho has earned such a glowing reputation that some of the best English judokas have moved north, including the Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons and Colin Oates, who won gold for England at the Commonwealth Games.

English-born Purssey came to Scotland 12 years ago and, since he won silver at Under-90kg in the summer, he has retired to work full-time as national transition coach at Judo Scotland. He will oversee the next generation of talent and believes judo has a unique position in Scottish sport.

"I don't see why other sports can't follow our model," said the 33-year-old. "We've been fortunate in how we've been supported by sportscotland and the Scottish Institute of Sport. For me, personally, I wouldn't have achieved the result I did if it wasn't for the support staff we have.

"Since last October, I've been in control of my own judo and doing most of my own coaching. Euan Burton and James Austin have been assisting and supporting me with that. I've been bouncing ideas off them but I've been pretty much in charge. A lot of support has come from other members of staff, our physiologist Helen [Alfano], our physiotherapist Oli [Davies] and doctor Andrew Murray.

"The fact we've had that support and [national high-performance coach] David Somerville has harnessed it in such a way that it's really productive, then I'm sure other sports could do something similar. When I came to Scotland, David was coming to the end of his career. He was a very successful player and we had Euan Burton, who I think was in his first year as a senior and his results were also good, so I think there was an ethos from those players.

"Billy Cusack [assistant high-performance coach] was a GB coach at the time and also a club coach and a lot of those players went on to work for Judo Scotland and took that ideology and applied it there. You can see the results now.

"The Commonwealth Games were incredible. We were confident going into it that we'd do well as a Judo Scotland team but I don't think we ever expected to have the media and support from Joe Public that we got. The venue was electric and it really helped that we had such a positive start with both Louise and Kim [Renicks] winning gold and John [Buchanan] and James [Millar] both getting medals. It gave the public expectation and that just continued throughout the three days of competition."

Purssey admits he has mixed feelings after missing out on gold at the SECC. "Silver is a terrible medal in judo because you win every other medal but you lose the silver," he said. "For me to finish my competitive career on a loss is a really difficult thing to accept. But I also know that competing in front of a home crowd and the response we had before and afterwards is never going to be beaten."

Purssey is now working with judokas aged between 16 and 22 as Judo Scotland tweaks its coaching structure to build on its success.

"I have mixed emotions about not competing. I've known for the last year and a half that I was coming to the end of my career. The way I felt about competing had changed and I wasn't enjoying it in the same way.

"I felt differently this year and I really enjoyed competing in South America a few months ago - probably the most I've enjoyed a tournament - and there was a moment after that when I thought maybe I should keep going.

"But then I fought the following week and knew in my heart that I couldn't do this week-in, week-out. It took its toll on my body and it was really difficult fighting back-to-back weekends. I can't recover as quickly at the age of 33 and it was then I realised I didn't want to continue after the Commonwealth Games.

"David Somerville told me that being a competitor made him a worse person. That's true of me as well: I didn't often feel good about myself being a competitor because you are very selfish. I've made a lot of choices which were for my own good as an athlete but were detrimental to my family and my partner. That starts to wear on you when you get to a certain age.

"When you are a coach, it's not about you; it's about the athletes you're working with and it makes you feel really good that you are giving something back to the sport you love. I didn't make sacrifices. I made choices and I pretty much stand by all of them.

"You do feel a level of guilt for that but I'm lucky in that my family are really supportive and understanding. I don't think they'd ever hold it against me. I do think they understand but I still feel I have a bit of making up to do."