Gladiator motivates young sporting stars

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 25 Nov 2009 11:47 0 Comments

OLYMPIC athlete and Gladiator star Shirley Webb helped motivate the Wee County's sporting Young Ambassadors when she attended an event at Lornshill Academy last week.

Shirley, who plays Battleaxe in the sports entertainment show on Sky One, attended the event on behalf of the Youth Sport Trust who have chosen Clackmannanshire as one of only three Scottish local authorities to pilot this initiative.

Two Lornshill Academy pupils, Liam McIntosh and Robyn Gilchrist, have been selected to represent Clackmannanshire as Gold Young Ambassadors and 20 Silver Young Ambassadors attended the conference at Lornshill Academy to find out more about the scheme.

Shirley Webb, who represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the hammer, talked about her career and the people who have inspired her.

Councillor Bobby McGill, Spokesman for Sport, said, "These Young Ambassadors are either involved in sport either as a participant or as a volunteer or coach and are the ideal role models to take the inspirational message about the 2012 and 2014 Games into the community, hopefully increasing participation levels at the same time."

The Young Ambassadors programme is part of the London 2012 legacy plan with youngsters encouraged to work in their local communities championing sport and the ethos and values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

Liam, who is in S3, is a talented footballer and also participated in the Council's Zest summer programme as a Youth Leader. Robyn Gilchrist, who is in S5, is a talented gymnast and athlete and also participates in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and is a member of Forefront Childrens' Theatre.

Their role will be to mentor the 20 new Silver Young Ambassadors, who will, in turn, bring the inspiration and magic of the London 2012 Games to other young people.

The initial Silver Young Ambassadors are 10 Lornshill Academy pupils and 10 Alloa Academy pupils who can each portray a positive image and be a good role model to young people.

Following last week's local conference, a national conference will be held in March and Clackmannanshire can send 50 Young Ambassadors to this event.

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