Jim Craig, famous as one of the 'Lisbon Lions' who won the European Cup with Celtic in 1967, offers his take on how Scotland's sports facilities could be improved.
Aim
To provide indoor facilities for training purposes in a variety of sports, in particular those which need some space, like football, rugby and hockey. Athletics would also be included in this category.
Type of indoor facility
We can divide these into two categories. Firstly, there would be the large facility, which I should imagine would be a minimum of roughly half the size of a football pitch, therefore 52m x 34m. This would have an artificial surface, proper changing facilities including showers, reasonable parking areas for cars and/or buses right outside, storage areas for equipment and a raised gallery from where the public can watch the action. (See Note A)
The smaller facility would be roughly 30m x 20m. These would also have the proper parking facilities and storage areas but, for purposes of minimising cost, would not necessarily have the quantity of showers of the larger area, although some form of washing areas would need to be provided. (See Note B; see Note C)
Where would these facilities be situated?
For a country the size of Scotland and keeping in mind the question of costs, I would suggest that one is placed in the north ( probably in the vicinity of Aberdeen), one in the east (circa Dundee), with the two larger cities also having one each initially, with both receiving another one in due course.
For the smaller versions, these could initially be placed in Inverness (serving the north-west of the country), Stirling (Central Belt), Paisley (Inverclyde and Dumbarton - I realize that they are on either side of the Clyde but the Erskine Bridge is a very effective connecting agent), one of the Border towns (you can decide which one?), Kilmarnock or Ayr, one of the Lanarkshire towns and possibly Stranraer for Dumfries and Galloway.
Would all these arenas have to be built from scratch?
Many, particularly the large ones, would be new build. Many of the others would be already in the appropriate area, run by local authorities, schools and universities, private institutions, football or rugby clubs.
So, a degree of cooperation would be called for
Undoubtedly! There would have to be a considerable campaign to make everyone in Scotland realise that these indoor facilities are essential for our future performers to nurture their talents in conditions which lend themselves to improving skills.
There will, of course, be those who will be dismissive, stating that we have had a fair number of fine participants in various sports in the past, in spite of our problems with the weather. Surely the answer to that, though, is to acknowledge that these stars came through almost in spite of the system, rather than because of it; and that, if there had been better facilities in those days, we might have had many more stars for our various international teams.
Funding
Scottish Government, local authorities, private donors for the new builds. And, as mentioned above, a considerable degree of cooperation from those with facilities already in situ to share them with others.
Note A
One obvious reason for the viewing platform is that children - and adults - who have come along to watch may be persuaded to take part themselves.
Note B
Costs are always an important feature of any venture and this is the reason for the difference between the larger and smaller facilities. If one provides the showers etc of the larger arena, then full cleaning and caretaker services would be a necessity; for the smaller arenas, these would not require the same level of cover. There would have to washing facilities, of course, but there would be fewer users of the smaller arenas, therefore minimising costs.
Note C
This is not to say that both the large and small facility could be without some form of caretaker governance. Indeed, with the variety of new laws in place, it may be essential that such premises not only have trained officials in charge but, due to the fact that they are designed to be used for demanding training purposes, the provision of some medical personnel may also be required.
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