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HIS - Highland curling World Champion's Scottish Institute of Sport call up
Winning the World Junior Curling Championships in Minnesota this March
has had a dramatic effect on the four Scottish girls that made up the
team. It has shown us all what we're capable of, so we're shooting
higher now, said one of them, 18 year old, Sarah Macintyre from
Culbokie.
So the announcement today of her selection to the Scottish Institute of Sport, along with her Worlds' team mate, Barbara McFarlane (Dunblane) comes at the perfect time in her development.
This is a reward for their efforts, said Cate Brewster, the Scottish Institute of Sport's Assistant High Performance Curling Coach. We recognised that the girls had put the work in, shown their ability and came out with the goods.
Sarah is quite motivational, the sort of person who never lets a team's heads go down, as well as a great sweeper and a great shot player. Eve Muirhead (Blair Atholl) and Sarah Reid (Beith) were already in the Scottish Institute so now we will be supporting the complete gold medal winning team.
As a member of the Highland Institute of Sport since last summer, Macintyre is well versed in the comprehensive range of support services available to develop Scottish athletes towards world class performance. Having absorbed everything from psychology to physiotherapy, she believes the level of sophistication in the Area Institutes of Sport range of support services, most notably, Highland's physical conditioning programme and the instant post match video feedback, is in advance of the world's other top teams.
A lot of the countries we speak to don't do near the level of training we do, she said. A few other teams have video analysis but not nearly as advanced as ours. Pamela Stevenson filmed every single game and produced it right afterwards there. It's really useful for the players; it gives us a completely different perspective of the game.
Now may be the off season, but the girls are already building foundations for the new season. In addition to individual training, they will join a series of Strength & Conditioning camps which began in May and continue through the summer in readiness for the first on-ice session in September. When the season begins they will be exposed on a more frequent basis to experienced foreign competition, something which Brewster believes is crucial at this stage of the girls' development. For Macintyre, self-proclaimed 'poor student' at Glasgow University, the Institute's support will include all important financial funding to help fund her competitions.
One who is particularly pleased with Macintyre's Scottish Institute call-up is Tom Pendreigh, Highland Institute of Sport's curling coach.
Sarah is one of a group of Highland curlers in the 17-19 age bracket who have come through the pathway from the school level, have bought into the ethos of support they are getting and have gone on to greater things.
It's a completely different mindset now and the only way they are able to deliver is through the funding we have, which is a result of the success of the curlers that have gone before us - it's a great position to be in.
As further proof that Highland's coaching system is succeeding, three Inverness curlers were this week reselected to the Highland Institute of Sport. Pendreigh's son, Thomas (Pendreigh), together with Neil MacArthur and Ross MacDonald have all reached selection criteria which grows tighter each year.
We are getting more depth and breadth through the curling fraternity, making the standards much higher across the board. So to get reselected it's an achievement in its own right, said Pendreigh senior.
Looking at success of Invernesians, we've had World and European Champions, Olympic gold medallists and at least one Scottish champion every year since 1999. To have the majority of that attributed to the work the Highland Institute of Sport says a lot.
This is a reward for their efforts, said Cate Brewster, the Scottish Institute of Sport's Assistant High Performance Curling Coach. We recognised that the girls had put the work in, shown their ability and came out with the goods.
Sarah is quite motivational, the sort of person who never lets a team's heads go down, as well as a great sweeper and a great shot player. Eve Muirhead (Blair Atholl) and Sarah Reid (Beith) were already in the Scottish Institute so now we will be supporting the complete gold medal winning team.
As a member of the Highland Institute of Sport since last summer, Macintyre is well versed in the comprehensive range of support services available to develop Scottish athletes towards world class performance. Having absorbed everything from psychology to physiotherapy, she believes the level of sophistication in the Area Institutes of Sport range of support services, most notably, Highland's physical conditioning programme and the instant post match video feedback, is in advance of the world's other top teams.
A lot of the countries we speak to don't do near the level of training we do, she said. A few other teams have video analysis but not nearly as advanced as ours. Pamela Stevenson filmed every single game and produced it right afterwards there. It's really useful for the players; it gives us a completely different perspective of the game.
Now may be the off season, but the girls are already building foundations for the new season. In addition to individual training, they will join a series of Strength & Conditioning camps which began in May and continue through the summer in readiness for the first on-ice session in September. When the season begins they will be exposed on a more frequent basis to experienced foreign competition, something which Brewster believes is crucial at this stage of the girls' development. For Macintyre, self-proclaimed 'poor student' at Glasgow University, the Institute's support will include all important financial funding to help fund her competitions.
One who is particularly pleased with Macintyre's Scottish Institute call-up is Tom Pendreigh, Highland Institute of Sport's curling coach.
Sarah is one of a group of Highland curlers in the 17-19 age bracket who have come through the pathway from the school level, have bought into the ethos of support they are getting and have gone on to greater things.
It's a completely different mindset now and the only way they are able to deliver is through the funding we have, which is a result of the success of the curlers that have gone before us - it's a great position to be in.
As further proof that Highland's coaching system is succeeding, three Inverness curlers were this week reselected to the Highland Institute of Sport. Pendreigh's son, Thomas (Pendreigh), together with Neil MacArthur and Ross MacDonald have all reached selection criteria which grows tighter each year.
We are getting more depth and breadth through the curling fraternity, making the standards much higher across the board. So to get reselected it's an achievement in its own right, said Pendreigh senior.
Looking at success of Invernesians, we've had World and European Champions, Olympic gold medallists and at least one Scottish champion every year since 1999. To have the majority of that attributed to the work the Highland Institute of Sport says a lot.