Virtual awards day honours pupils’success

The Strath’s young sports stars will be honoured at a special virtual ceremony on Thursday this week.

Active Schools organises the Night of Champions each year and this time it will reveal the winners using social media over the course of the day.

The event has been planned so the talented youngsters do not completely miss out on their spell in the sportlight due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The guest speaker is Scottish judo star Stephanie Inglis, who has recorded a special message to be shown during the showcase.

Stephanie (31) competed for Scotland in the women’s 57kg class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she won a silver medal.

But her promising career was cut short following a horrific accident while she was working in Vietnam, teaching English to children in deprived areas.

Although she cannot now compete in contact sports, Stephanie is coaching the next generation of sports stars and is an Active Schools coordinator in Perth.

The event will take place via Crieff High School, Crieff High PE and Active Schools Crieff Twitter pages from noon to 8pm, with winners announced every five minutes.

At 8.30pm a video of the event will be uploaded to the three Twitter accounts, as well as the Active Schools Crieff Facebook and Instagram pages.

Live Active Leisure have launched a new campaign encouraging residents to virtually travel the world with them.

Following the recent easing of lockdown restrictions, outside activities including golf, canoeing and hiking are now permitted in Scotland.

But leisure centres and gyms are not due to reopen until the country reaches phase three of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown.

For many people daily exercise will continue to focus around walking, running and cycling.