Coaching hailed

THE ROLE played by PE teachers and voluntary coaches in the achievements of Shetland’s three Commonwealth Games competitors has been hailed.

At a meeting on Monday, Shetland Islands Council’s education and families committee vice chairman George Smith praised the performances of bronze medal-winning swimmer Erraid Davies and fellow islanders Andrea Strachan and Lynda Flaws in last month’s Glasgow games.

Smith said their achievements would not have been possible without the help of their teachers and coaches.

“We have to recognise the enormous amount of work that PE staff and voluntary coaches and so on have done in terms of preparing the very successful athletes that we’ve had at the Commonwealth Games for that success,” he told BBC Radio Shetland.

“The amount of hours that are put in both in the classroom and out of the classroom, the coaching that goes on, the wonderful facilities we have, has all contributed to that success, and I think it’s only right that this committee should recognise that.”