 The final item of business is members' business debate on motion 13570 in the name of Keith Brown, on the University of Stirling, 10 years at Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence. That debate will be concluded without any questions being put and I would ask those who wish to speak in the debate to press requests to speak buttons now. I call on Keith Brown to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you also to the members from all parties who have signed the motion, which allows this debate to take place. Some of those members are here this evening and may also be alumni—I know some definitely are—of the University of Stirling, and I look forward to hearing their contributions. I am also delighted to welcome representatives from the university to the public gallery this evening, and some of those people are here. Kathy Gallacher, director of sport, David Bond, head of performance sport, Caitlin Ormiston, student union sport president, Ewan McGinn, high-performance tennis coach, Maya Lumsden tennis, Scott Duncan tennis, Ross Murdoch swimming, and I should just say that during the height of the Commonwealth Games and Ross Murdoch's particular success, I actually saw him at the Queen Street railway station in Glasgow and was going to say hello, but I was too shy and he was surrounded by admirers at the time in any event. It's great to have Ross Murdoch here. George Clough also swimming, Callum Lorry swimming, Cameron Brody swimming, Chris Purdy performing sports coordinator, Matt Francis, public affairs manager, Steve Tig, high-performance swimming coach, Josh Williamson also assistant swimming coach. Many people think that the University of Stirling lies within the constituency of Stirling, which is represented by my good friend Bruce Crawford, who has been happy to indulge that illusion. He has spoken on many occasions in this chamber on behalf of the University of Stirling when it wasn't possible for me to do so as a minister, and I know that he's a great friend to the university. However, it does indeed fall within the boundaries of the fine constituency of Clutmaninshire and Dumblane, which I am privileged to represent. I'm delighted to lead this debate, highlighting the university's 10th anniversary as Scotland's university for sporting excellence. That title was bestowed on the university by the former First Minister Alex Salmond in July 2008, celebrating the university as a centre of excellence, providing training and support for high-performance athletes. Alongside the prestigious title, the university was awarded £600,000 from the Scottish Funding Council to act as a hub of a national network of universities and colleges, providing training and support for Scotland's best athletes, known as the winning students programme. I would also like to pay tribute to the work of Professor Grant Jarvie, who I know by my ear on many occasions about the bestowing of the title and this honour for the university, and also the work done by my colleague Fiona Hyslop, who then was the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. The work that she jointly did together, recognised and supported the University of Stirling as an institution that had sport very much at the heart of its identity. Actually, long before it had that title, it was also, I think, the first university to offer a degree in golf. A member of Gordon Sherry was an early student at the university for that. So it made it the ideal choice of Scotland's university for sporting excellence. Over the past decade, Stirling's sport stars, including household names such as Duncan Scott, who had the chance to meet recently at the university, Robbie Renwick, and Ross Murder, who I mentioned, have enjoyed medal success on the world stage at both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Today, Stirling remains at the forefront of supporting and inspiring talented athletes to fulfil their sporting and academic potential, offering sports scholarships across seven different sports—men's football, women's football—we should acknowledge, of course, the fantastic achievement of the Scottish women's football team—if only the men could match up to that achievement. Tennis is, of course, tremendous achievements by local people such as Jamie and Andy Murray, triathlon, golf, swimming and curling. At a community level, Stirling is also host to the Central Athletic Club, one of the largest in Central Scotland, home to Scottish champions, record holders and internationalists. Since 2008, Stirling has produced leading athletes across a wide range of sports such as triathletes David McNamee, Grant Sheldon and Natalie Milne, Badminton star Kirsty Gilmore, and tennis ace Johnny Omara. Scotland Hockey International, Alison Bell, Curling's Kyle Waddell and Bohia star Scott McGowan, who competed for team GB at the Paralympics. They also came through the Stirling programmes. I would also like to mention some particularly notable highlights of the last 10 years. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Stirling swimmers Andy Hunter, Jack Scott and Lewis Smith won silver for Team Scotland in the 4x200m freestyle relay. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Ross Murdoch won gold in the 200m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m event. Jack Scott and fellow Stirling scholar Camyn Brody also won silver at the Games, finishing second in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Stirling scooped three silver medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, with Duncan Scott again and Robbie Renwick in the Great Britain team that finished second in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Duncan Scott was also part of the team that won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. In addition, a number of Scottish international women's footballers have also come through the ranks at Stirling, including former Manchester City and current West Ham United striker Jane Ross. The university women's football team currently play in the Scottish Women's Premier League. In Rugby, Stirling students Megan Kennedy and Siobhan Katigan made their senior Scotland debuts in February 2018 against Wales in the first round of the Women's Six Nations. In October 2017, the university's female golf team made history after triumphing in one of the highest ranked college tournaments in the US, securing top spot at the Yale Intercollegiate Invitational in Connecticut. The landmark was believed to be the first time that an international team has won a national collegiate athletic association division 1 tournament, which is the highest level of college competition in the US. Anybody who knows about the US system knows how high the level is in US colleges. That accolade came shortly after the men's and women's golf teams retained the European University Sports Association golf championships title in September 2017, having previously been crowned champions in Switzerland in 2015. December 2017 also saw three Stirling students—Scott Duncan, Maya Lumsden and Johnny O'Mara—when the world event of university tennis, when Team GB defeated the USA in the final of the BNP Paribas, Master U in Leal. In 2018, university athletes saw the university enjoy its greatest success to date, returning from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with 11 medals. The number of medals won by just the University of Stirling exceeds many of those won by entire countries at those games. An outstanding performance in particular from Duncan Scott saw the 21-year-old swimmer from Alloa, which is in my constituency in Kilmarnish and Dumblane. I just thought I'd mentioned that. He took gold in the 100m freestyle, silver in the 200m individual medley and four bronze medals in the 200m freestyle, the 200m butterfly and the 4x100 and 4x200m freestyle relay events. Scott McLean and Craig McLean were also part of Team Scotland's 4x100m freestyle relay squad, while Russ Murdoch left Australia with a silver for his efforts in the 200m breaststroke. An English swimmer, Amy Wilmot, won gold in the 400m individual final, while Mark Austin, a former sports scholar, won bronze in the triathlon. Those are a huge list of achievements and a lot to live up to, but I would like to finish, if I can, by looking forward to the next 10 years, where I am sure that the university will continue to grow from strength to strength. I should also mention the huge impact that the university and its facilities have on the local community in both my constituency and in Bruce Crawford's constituency. Earlier this year, the Long Tennis Association announced that Stirling would be home to one of its two national academies. In Scottish Rugby revealed that the university and partnership with Stirling County would have a place in its new semi-professional supersyth league. In addition, the university continues to be home to the national swimming academy, while Sport Scotland, Commonwealth Games Scotland, Scottish Swimming, Triathlon Scotland and the SFA's central area are all located on campus. The facilities are currently undergoing a £20 million redevelopment that will see an iconic new complex integrated with the existing world-class facilities. That new building will include purpose-built studios, an innovative fitness suite, a three-coat sports hall, an indoor cycling studio, a strength and conditioning area, and a new state-of-the-art high-performance suite. Users of the building will also benefit from enhanced changing facilities in communal spaces. The enhanced sports facilities will not just support Scotland's elite athletes but will also bring greater benefits to the wider community. Already 500 children each week attend the university's sports classes in tennis, swimming and golf, with a further 350 children attending holiday classes each year. That gives aspiring young swimmers and tennis players a chance to train alongside performance athletes. By capturing the interests of children at a young age, they will work towards supporting the next generation of sporting talent while helping to foster a culture of healthy, active lifestyles among future generations of Scots. I look forward to the next 10 years of Scotland's stunning university for sporting excellence, and I'm sure that it will be even greater success than the last 10 years. I say to those in the public gallery that, although I'm sure that every single speech will be worth applauding, I would ask you not to do so. Thank you very much. Four minutes speeches please, and we'll go to Brian Whittle to be followed by Alex Rowley. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Keith Brown for securing some time in this chamber to highlight the success that Stirling University is the centre of sporting excellence, I thought. I would spend my four minutes just highlighting why Stirling University is so important to Scottish sport across the board. Until the advent of Stirling University and its sporting heritage, a lot of our talented athletes were sucked away to the American collegiate system, or perhaps down south to somewhere like Loughborough or Brunei. The reason why it's so important that we have this facility in Scotland is because it allows our Scottish talent to stay within its own community, to be attached closely to perhaps its own coaches and its own training environment, where perhaps moving across to an American university is daunting to say the least. My middle daughter had a look at it as well, and subsequently it didn't do it. The reason why Stirling University is different from the American collegiate system is that, when you go across to America, you're expected to represent that university week in, week out, which actually doesn't suit many sports performance-wise when it looks at major championships. In athletics, for example, throughout the whole of the winter and right through into May, there is a competition every single week university against university. By the time it comes to the actual outdoor season, we find that a lot of our athletes are burned out and therefore their ability to win medals when it comes to major championships is severely dented. Stirling University has an example where the athletes can go to and perform their training, which fits in with their academic day. The idea of having a hub where things like strength and conditioning are available where they are, rather than what many athletes, and I say athletes genetically have to do is seek out other avenues to do their strength and conditioning work and work like that. I have to look for physiotherapy, I have to look for medical support, and having that all on one campus, in one area, inaccessible, I cannot tell you how unbelievably important that is. I think that taking the stress off of their academic life as well, allowing them to fit their training in a much easier way is hugely important. Keith Brown quite rightly spent most of his speech telling us all the medals that have been won in that environment. It is not an accident, it is not a happy accident. That has been designed specifically to allow our elite sportsmen and women to deliver at the highest level. That academic flexibility around their sport is massively important. That membership to the university's sports facilities also helps them in developing a media profile, which is a bit haphazard—it has been haphazard over the pace in many many sports, many women have been caught out in that environment. All of those things are massively important. I just wanted to highlight that route into international sport. The only thing that I would say is that what we have to be cognisant of is the step before that, how we ensure that that funnel of talent that is coming into Stirling University comes from all aspects of and all demographics. Again, just to reiterate what Keith Brown said, congratulations to Stirling University for its incredible delivery of talent and here to the next 10 years, Presiding Officer. Alex Rowley, to be followed by Kenneth Gibson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would also congratulate Keith Brown on securing this debate in Parliament tonight. I am delighted to speak in support of the motion raised here today on the University of Stirling, celebrating 10 years since its designation as Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence. I am pleased to recognise the success of the university, especially given that it is also the university that one of my daughters went to, although not for sport but for geography and teaching. The training and support given from the University of Stirling for high performance athletes is world class, and it is right that we recognise and celebrate that fact. Over the last 10 years, athletes from Stirling have enjoyed great success on the world stage, including both at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Indeed, as the motion notes, Stirling students and former students contributed 11 medals to the last Commonwealth game and three medals to the Olympics in Rio two years ago. As Mr Brown has highlighted, at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Stirling swimmers Andy Hunter, Jack Scott and Lewis Smith won silver for the team Scotland in the four times 200 freestyle relay, with further success coming four years later in Glasgow, with Ross Murdoch, who won gold in the 200m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m event. Jack Scott and fellow Stirling scholar Cameron Brody also won silver at the 24 team games, finishing second in the four times 200m freestyle relay. Stirling scooped three silver medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio with Duncan Scott and Robbie Renwick in the Great Britain team that finished second in the four times 200m freestyle relay. Duncan Scott was also part of the team that won the silver in the four times 100m freestyle. There is no doubt that Scotland's University of Sport and Excellence is a great success when it comes to elite athletes. However, as the motion recognises, there is also a wider benefit to the communities of Stirling and Clackmannanshire. Indeed, I would say that there is a wider benefit for all of Scotland. For the success of these athletes, they send a strong message to all of Scotland's young people who have an interest in sport, and that is that they can succeed and achieve to their full potential. I was delighted this morning, Presiding Officer, to listen to a 12-year-old girl speak on the BBC phone-in about her delight at the Scotland's women's football team qualifying for the World Cup. She had been to Paisley to see them play and wanted to know how to get involved in the game through a local team. A great example of how the success of individuals and teams can have a strong influence on others getting involved in sport. As a country, we need all people to become more physically active, just as this morning in the World Health Organization issued a report saying that we are getting less active. Yesterday, the climate change and environment committee heard from a group called Pass For All, a charity that champions every day walking in Scotland. It said that physical activity has been estimated to cost Scotland around £91 million annually. The message tonight from this Parliament is well done to Stirling, to Stirling University and to all the athletes, but it sends a strong signal and a strong message out to young people interested in sport across Scotland that they can achieve to their full potential. If they do, the support is there for them. I congratulate my colleague Keith Brown for bringing this debate to the chamber today. It is great to see so many representatives of Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence here in the gallery. As a Stirling University alumnus, I am delighted to take part in this celebration of my old university of which I have such good memories of sex, drugs and rock and roll. There were not any drugs or sex, but there was an occasional amount of rock and roll and there seemed to be quite a lot of running around. In fact, it seems only a few short weeks ago that I was running around campus and in cold nights through Bridget Valley when possible enjoying the spectacular Stirling scenery and all that its surroundings have to offer. There could not be a more perfect setting for Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence. Sport is dismissed by something that we should not attach to much importance to, something that is not worth investing in, but labelling sport is such, is not only simply daffed, it is wrong. In fact, Keith Brown has named so many illustrious athletes that it would be cherlish to try to name them all once more. I will not repeat all the achievements of the countless swimmers, curlers and other international medalists who studied at the University of Sporting Excellence, because we have heard of so many of them and they have done Scotland themselves, their families and the university proud. Given last night's results and I hope that some of you will go along to France next year to personally support the Scottish women's team, given that it will be few of us alive probably by the time the male team next qualifies, given the last 20s of history. I will mention again former Manchester City and Cunt West Ham striker Jane Ross, because she is a great role model, especially considering that girls are still less likely to engage in physical activity than boys, a trend that sadly continues into adulthood. Watching athletes succeed can be inspiring and when you can identify with a person of team in question, it can give a young person confidence, they might think, if he or she can do it, maybe I can too. Nothing is better than active participation. The chief medical officer recommends 75 minutes a week of high intensity or 150 minutes a week of lower intensity exercise for adults and 60 minutes a day for children. In such exercise comes with a plethora of benefits. Regular physical activity has been proven to reduce the chance of type 2 diabetes by 40 per cent and colon and breast cancer by 20 per cent. It also helps to manage stress, maintain or regain a healthy weight and more, not just top sport regular exercise, where it is walking a dog or going for a bike ride, it all counts. The facilities that we developed at Stirling University will not just benefit students or people in Stirling and the Bridge of Allen. Neighboring communities in Clackmannanshire, across Central Scotland and beyond, too, will be able to enjoy them. Needless to say, Stirling's Centre for Sport and Excellence is not the only special venue that we have in Scotland. My own Cunningham North constituency also prides itself on having two national centres, one in Cumbria and one in Llargs, where sporting talent can be accommodated. Last year, the newly refurbished £12 million Sports Scotland national centre in Verclyde opened in Llargs, which helped with £6 million of money from the Scottish Government. That unique facility is the first in Europe where disabled athletes can both stay and train at world class fully integrated multi-sports facilities. It is open to high-performance athletes, sports clubs, schools and education groups, governing bodies and the local community. As part of its on-going efforts to produce a healthier nation and prioritise development of sport within Scotland, the Scottish Government increased Sports Scotland's core funding by £2 million from £29.7 to £31.7 million, a 6.7 per cent increase. In June, Scotland's physical activity delivery plan was published, presenting a wide set of concrete actions across multiple sectors to encourage physical activity and reduce inactivity. The strategy takes a holistic approach by encouraging working across transport, education, health and other sectors, in line with the global action plan and physical activity 2018-30, recently published by the World Health Organization. The strategy sets out four objectives and recommends 20 policy actions applicable to all countries, addressing the cultural, environmental and individual determinants of inactivity aimed at increasing the regular exercise and sport participation of the people of Scotland. Scotland was hailed by Professor Fiona Bull, president of International Society for Physical Activity and Health, as a forerunner in addressing those objectives. The £20 million investment in the University of Stirling is a strong commitment to Scotland's sporting future. I want to congratulate and thank all those who have been involved and benefited from Stirling University as Scotland's centre for sport and excellence over the past decade and wish them every success in the future. It is important that we encourage children and adults across Scotland to keep active and fit by performing exercise in any way that they can. If you are exceptionally talented, you may end up in Stirling. Even if you cannot run like a deer or serve like Andy Murray, you will absolutely reap the benefits from regular exercise. I thank Keith Brown for bringing forward his motion for debate. He is finally free of the shackles of ministerial constraint. I offer warmest congratulations to Stirling University students and staff on an incredible decade of success. You have given me a constant perpetual lump in my throat as I have watched major Commonwealth, European, Olympic and World Championships, and hearing the University mention time and time again, as the medal tallies for Stirling students have grown and often overtaken those of entire nations. Those successes show the peak of personal and team achievement at the elite level, but it is clear that what sits underneath those triumphs is a strong foundation of research and personal development across the university community. That success has been felt right across the campus. I was really heartened in 2014 to hear a film of media students finding career-changing broadcasting internships during the Commonwealth Games. Stirling's lead on sport has really benefited the whole community and the whole of the campus. Stirling's always had a great reputation for sport. Keith has reminded us that it introduced the first sport scholarships back in 1981. It has always been an important part of that wider student experience on campus. I recently took the Swedish Finance Minister on a visit back to Stirling, where he studied alongside himself in the 1990s. He talked passionately to students about not how politics was his main love but how the basketball team was such a big part of his time at Stirling. Sport was such an important part of the student experience. Today's sport is more important than ever as part of that wider student experience. I am sure that it is one of the reasons why the university will enter the top 10, the top 20 in the UK of universities in the next few years. The launch of Stirling as Scotland's university for sporting excellence in 2008 took the facilities, the research, the tailored study programmes and the headquartering of sports bodies and the success on to a whole new level. The national tennis centre has been an important part of that success story, and the funds to develop a multi-million pound coaching programme at the centre will embed that success further for years to come. What I find perplexing is that, one year ago, the nearby park of care development was in principle granted by ministers on the basis that it was the national tennis centre. It is not. The real one is a couple of miles down the road, and the university has confirmed that it has no links with the park of care. Clearly, creating a Murray tennis legacy is important nationally and for the Stirling and Dumblane area, but I see the national tennis centre at the university as a central part of that Murray legacy, as is the £50 million investment in grass-roots facilities around Scotland that will feed the champions of tomorrow into it. A partnership should be built around the Stirling area, founded on well thought through and sustainable facilities to build on the university's success. It was disappointing that the Stirling-wide bid to secure the £30 million national performance centre lost out to Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt in 2013, but I think that Stirling now is in a far stronger position to develop fresh partnerships and bid again when the next opportunity arises. I hope that, through the Stirling and Clackmannanshire city deal, stronger links can be developed for the Stirling area and the national park as a major venue for sporting events and a centre of excellence that can inspire and draw in locals and visitors alike. Congratulations to Stirling University, its students and staff, and here's to future decades of partnerships, excellence, success and inspiration. We have Bruce Crawford to be followed by Oliver Mundell, and that will be the last two speakers in the open debate. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Like others, I would like to thank and congratulate my colleague and good friend Keith Brown for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The university is a very important institution that links my constituency of Stirling with Keith Brown's constituency of Clackmannanshire and Dumbblane. But Keith can be assured that I will continue to try and bask in the success of the university, despite the fact that it lies in its constituency. That will be done even more vigorously in the future, Presiding Officer, because somebody gave him a coffee of my speech before we got here this evening to deliver. That will be seriously delivered in the future, as far as the university is concerned. However, it is inevitable that we will cover some of the same ground, because it is worth repeating. Some of what is being achieved at Stirling is truly phenomenal. Many students reside in the Stirling city during term time, and they make a huge contribution to the local economy and our communities. That important debate will particularly give us to be able to tell us about the experience for Stirling university at the Commonwealth Games and the huge sporting success that Stirling university students achieved on the Gold Coast of Australia. Since the first opening at its doors to students now almost 51 years ago, even younger than me, the University of Stirling has grown immensely to the institution that we know it today, famed for its contribution to health and sport. Stirling university's achievement in sport in relation to its size, I think, is unrivalled across the globe. It offers a number of world-class health, science and sporting courses, and it inspires more people into taking a career in professional sport. Perhaps the most notable of all is the recent success of the university's swimming team. At the 2016 Olympics, the University of Stirling was Scotland's best performer. The team GBA swim team took home three silver medals, and Stirling university swimmers, Duncan Scott and Robbie Renwick, were part of the squad that sailed the Olympic silver in the four times 200 freestyle relay. The squad achieved its best result in 108 years, setting a new record for the GBA team, and Duncan Scott went on to smash the UK record for 100m relay. The successes in Rio in 2016 were carried into the Gold Coast last year. The Commonwealth Games is a hugely successful event for the university's sporting team. Indeed, the Herald reported that it had been an independent nation, but it would have been fifth on the medalist board for those particular games. Again, local swimmers such as Duncan Scott, now a local and national hero, Robbie Renwick, Ross Murdoch and Amy Walnut, won big for the university. Actually, there are so many fantastic athletes and so many—I was a pity we can't name them all—we did a damn good job of trying to do it, Keith, but for those who have not been able to mention it, forgive me. All those athletes deserve personal credit due to their phenomenal performances, but so, too, is the university of Stirling for providing the base that nurtured those incredible athletes. Sport is clearly part of the ethos of the university itself. The university sets out clearly its unwavering focus on providing the time, space and support to develop the best possible sporting performers. In the past decades, Stirling has nurtured many star-eath athletes, whether they are triathletes, badminton or tennis stars, international hockey players as well as curling and Paralympic sports people. We can now celebrate Scotland's national women's football team in qualifying for the world cup. I would like to make special mention that the contribution that the university made to women's football has passed through the ranks at the university, and I personally want to thank them deeply. As at that last, I might again get to a world cup. I was at the last time Scotland played in France, where, obviously, the women are going to play this summer and was in St Itty to see the Scottish men's team getting gobbled by Morocco, so it wasn't a good experience. I am looking forward to the women making a much better contribution on behalf of the national football teams. In closing, the University of Stirling's contribution to Scottish sport is the pride of our nation, well done, to all who have been involved, staff, students and alumni, and the best of luck to all those who are still to pass through the doors of the university in the coming years. We will continue to tune you on. It is a pleasure to speak in tonight's debate, which, at least up until now, has been very interesting with a number of informed contributions from across the chamber. Colleagues, I would like to start by congratulating Keith Brown on securing this debate. It is very apt, because he appears to have done so at near Olympic speed, having changed roles and been given the opportunity to do things like this again. For my part, I am not some great sports person, and sport certainly did not feature in my university experience. I am not even going to go into Kenny Gibson's list and speculate on anything else. I recognise how important sport is across our nation and how important it is to our national identity. Hearing Bruce Crawford say that Stirling would not just have outperformed many small countries, but outperformed many medium and large-sized countries in its own right, is testament to just how great a job is done there. It is super to hear the list of all the individuals, like many others. I have enjoyed watching and sharing in their successes sometimes at things like the Commonwealth Games and sometimes at home on television when you can actually get a little bit more animated and more fixated on proceedings. I think that it is important, as others have said, to remember that behind all those individuals is an excellent team and community at the university. That is what makes it so special, attracting not just elite sports people but their coaches, staff and other research and associated excellence that goes with it. It is very important, because it has put Scotland on the global map. Often, universities are measured solely on their research or on academic achievements, of which Stirling has many and many successful initiatives to commercialise research done at the university. However, there can be absolutely no doubt that the tremendous success of the individuals and teams that have come out of the university, including those in the gallery, has put our whole country on the map. That is the one area in which I think the motion does a slight disservice to Stirling, because its benefits are truly national for the whole of Scotland. We can all be very proud of having Stirling here. I was very interested in the points that Brian Whittle made about the unique benefits that Stirling offers in terms of keeping talented Scottish young people here. That was not a point that I had previously considered. It is another attribute that we have got to think very carefully about. I am certainly representing the part of Scotland that I do. I am very keen to pick up on some of the points that he went on to raise about ensuring that young people here have the opportunity to benefit from those facilities. I thank Keith Brown again for bringing forward the debate. Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in making Stirling university one of the crown jewels of our Scottish education system and for its tremendous record as Scotland's university for sporting excellence. I now call Jo FitzPatrick to respond to the debate for around seven minutes. I thank Keith Brown for leading the debate and for contributions from across the chamber. I also add my welcome to the representatives in the gallery. I am sure that we will cross paths many times in the months to come. I also take this opportunity to congratulate the University of Stirling for reaching a decade as Scotland's university for sporting excellence. This is my first speech as Minister for Sport. I will start by taking this opportunity to formally congratulate the women's football team on that fantastic performance in qualifying for next year's World Cup. We will look forward to backing them all the way to France. One of the things that folk ask when there is a new sports minister is what is your pedigree? What is your sporting pedigree? It is difficult following Brian Whittle, who has such an obvious sporting pedigree. I am surprised that he did not bring his many medals, which he promised to do before, but I think that he must have forgotten them today. Today's debate is a good opportunity for me to put on record my sporting past. I can remember, as a young member of the Scottish middle and swim team, spending many summer holidays at Stirling university in intensive training and using the facilities there for weeks on end. That was a year after a year facility. Many happy memories. I do not know if it was a similar time as Mr Gibson was studying there. I am not certain what the age difference is. However, the creation of Scotland's university for sporting excellence would not have happened without the vision and advocacy that was provided by Professor Grant Jarvie now at the University of Edinburgh, which is currently leading the review of Scotland's sporting landscape. His view, which came to fruition, meant that Scotland had an accessible international centre for sporting excellence to compete with the significant public investment that has been delivered through the universities of Loughborough and Bath. During the past 10 years, the University of Stirling has managed the sports scholarship programme, winning students, and it is a great example of national partners and academic institutions in our sporting system working together to provide funding and academic flexibility to gifted student athletes across Scotland. The university has been able to bring together specialists in research, and a shared knowledge has allowed athletes and coaches alike to develop and succeed. Dean Lockhart First of all, let me welcome the minister to his new position. As he probably knows, there are more international students at Stirling University than ever before. I wonder whether he agrees with me that part of the attraction for international students will be the world-class sporting facilities that are available at the university. Jo FitzPatrick I think that the member is, I am sure, correct, and that works two ways. All students at Stirling University will benefit from the international students who also attend there. In 2012, the university opened its sport science and sport medicine centre, another great milestone partially funded by the Scottish Government. The assessment laboratory, biomedical centre and sports medicine facilities have benefited the students at the university, but also the performance athletes based at the Sports Scotland Institute of Sport, which is also located on the university campus. The facility is also open to our sporting governing bodies and clubs, as well as the physiotherapy services that are open to the local community. The drive and expertise at the university, along with its top-class facilities, which have benefited from national lottery investment through Sports Scotland, has helped to facilitate. As we heard earlier, the national tennis centre and the National Swimming Academy are also based at the university. In addition, it provides a home for Commonwealth Games Scotland, Triathlone Scotland and the Scottish Football Association central area. Sports Scotland's Institute of Sport and the university enjoy a very close relationship, which enables them to create high-performance environments to benefit our athletes who perform on the world stage. Sports Scotland has certainly seen and felt the benefits with the highest medal total in and away Commonwealth Games in the recent Gold Coast. We have also seen great success of Scottish athletes performing as part of Team GB at the recent European Championships. I have not heard the statistic that Bruce Crawford said, but that would be quite incredible if that was accurate. Brian Whittle I want to agree that one of the main attributes of Stirling University is the fact that success breeds success and that winning medals are for such and drags, more people want to aspire to that level and aspire to that university. The sporting success that we have had from athletes across Scotland and including the women's football team qualifying to the World Cup will inspire people across Scotland to get involved in sport. Whether it is at the earliest grass-shoot stages or at the highest levels, that is really an important thing. The number of people that I spoke to during the European Championships who were inspired, particularly volunteers who had been watching sports that they had never seen before and said, I am going to give that a shot. That is a really good thing, because, as Kenny Gibson said, physical activity is one of the most important things that we can do to improve our health mental as well as physical, so it is really, really important. To carry on the success of those elite athletes that have come out of Stirling, Andy and Jamie Murray are of course their success. The area has a proud tradition in the world of tennis and I was delighted to hear that the University of Stirling was named as one of the two UK national academies for tennis. The academy will provide a new seamless pathway from grass-shoot tennis into the world of elite players. That opens in September 2019, and the academy will allow our young players to be able to experience a holistic environment by being able to stay and train along with access to the best coaching science, medical and welfare. Tennis Scotland are doing a fantastic job at grass-shoot level, and they now have a clear pathway to take youngsters through their forward to the championships. We will hopefully see many more players being nurtured to play at the highest levels that Andy and Jamie have had and are currently experiencing. The university is much more than just simply dealing with elite athletes. It is committed to providing sporting and physical activity opportunities for all of their students. There is a strong support for that by Scottish Student Sport, who provides opportunities for all students to participate in sports alongside their students. That focus chimes with our Active Scotland outcomes framework and wider Scottish Government commitments to getting people more physically active and therefore enjoying longer, healthier lives—a lot of the points that Kenneth Gibson covered earlier. I congratulate the University of Stirling in reaching 10 years at Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence. I wish them all the very best of success for the future. That concludes the debate, and the meeting is closed.