SCHOOL SPORT
IAN’S JOURNEY COMES FULL CIRCLE
One young teacher’s progression through Scotland’s sporting system has come full circle.
Having started out as a sportscotland Young Ambassador, former Calderglen High School pupil Ian Rae is now giving back to the scheme as a mentor just eight years later.
Now a physical education teacher at Stonelaw High in Rutherglen, Ian began his sporting journey aged 15 when he became a Young Ambassador during his fourth year of secondary school.
As a pupil of Calderglen, he helped organise an event for primary seven pupils which used sport to welcome new students to the school.
It was this experience which inspired him to apply to the sportscotland Young Ambassadors programme.
Ian remembers the significance of attending his first ever Young Ambassadors conference.
He said: “I remember the Emirates Arena in Glasgow had just been built and we had the chance to go to there, learn about being a YA and meet other young people from right across Scotland. It felt special to be in such an amazing venue and to realise the impact sport could have on other people’s lives, and the role I could play in this.”
Ian began coaching basketball with the South Lanarkshire Colliers, based in East
Kilbride, and became convinced that this was the right path for him.
“Young Ambassadors inspired me to look into PE teaching as a possible career and spurred me on to start coaching outside of school – all of which gave me increased confidence to continue pursuing a life around young people and physical activity”, Ian added.
In 2014, Ian was accepted onto sportscotland’s Young People’s Sport Panel and helped decide which schools were worthy of a bronze, silver or gold award based on their innovation and achievement in delivering school sport.
Fast forward five years, and Ian’s own school has become a gold-standard school for the first time, thanks – in part – to Ian’s passion to go for this coveted award.
He said: “Seeing the opportunity Young Ambassadors gave me and the impact my own mentor had on my life, made me want to fill this role and have that positive influence on others.”