 The next item of business today is a member's business debate on motion number 11157, in the name of Roderick Campbell on Scotland's outstanding year of sport. This debate will be concluded with that. Any questions being put, and I would invite those members who wish to speak in this debate to please press the request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible. Mr Campbell, if you are ready, if you would like to open the debate, seven minutes please or thereby. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It will not have escaped the attention of anybody in the chamber that the 18th of September saw historic vote take place. This vote, the first of its kind at the taken place, had the ability to lay a marker down in history. It was an opportunity to reject a centuries-old system that some believed was outdated and unrepresentative and which saw a very high turnout of approximately 85 per cent. I can see the looks of one Opposition member here thinking, what is this about? I speak, of course, of the ballot that took place of the members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, based in St Andrews, over whether or not to allow female membership. I am certain that we all welcome the decision by the RNA to allow female members at last with some 85 per cent of members in favour. I personally hope that the days of the so-called old boys' clubs will soon be nothing more than a distant memory. However, this was only one quite momentous occasion in Scottish sport this year. I am aware that I only have seven minutes to speak, and I do not want to feel all that time reflecting on the glorious sporting achievements of our sportsmen and women in the past 12 months, but I very easily could. I am certain that everybody speaking in this debate today could devote their time to listing all of the sterling achievements of Scotland's athletes, and still there would be one dedicated, hard-working professional athlete missed out or one achievement overlooked. We can all agree, however, that all our athletes across all sports deserve our thanks and our praise for their performances in 2014. Even our national football team, who have undergone something of a renaissance under Gordon Strachan, I think that we can all agree that 2014 was indeed an outstanding year of Scottish sport. Indeed, it is almost a cliché to say that we are running out of clichés to describe how exciting the two biggest sporting events to occur in Scotland in recent years, the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup were. The Ryder Cup saw some of the world's most famous golfers to send on-going eagles for what was, by all accounts, an exceptionally well-organised and well-run event. There was even a Scottish golfer, Stephen Gallagher, in the European team, who did the country proud over the weekend in helping to contribute to what was recognised as an excellent team effort, led by the Irish captain, of course, Paul McKinley. As for the Commonwealth Games, they produced a brand-new list of heroes who will dawn posters on bedrooms throughout the country to aspiring children, hoping to emulate their achievements. If the photo book of the games that was delivered to, I think, all MSP officers earlier in the week, is anything to go by, there are certainly some inspirational images for our young people to look up to. Team Scotland had its most successful games ever, and Scottish sport will hopefully soon reap the rewards—indeed, some places already are. Areas across Scotland benefited from the Commonwealth Games, perhaps not directly, by being able to host an event, but indirectly by receiving funding to help to improve sporting facilities in their communities. In North East Fife alone, Cooper's skatepark will soon be up and running, courtesy of a cash injection from the 2014 Legacy Fund, and several schools and clubs received funding to help improve sporting experiences for children and young people in the area. Indeed, another half a million pounds worth of 2014 Legacy funding was recently announced, which I'm sure will be put to excellent use in the community's fortune enough to receive a share of it. It's my genuine hope that sporting achievements that we have witnessed from our athletes can be a positive example to our young people going forward. We could all stand here today and sing the praises of those who have achieved so much this year. They rightfully deserve our praise for their successes and for entertaining us so well. Their dedication to their sport is unquestionable. They resolve to being the best in their chosen field, undeniable. It's, however, no good to simply admire our current sporting idols. We must look to improve upon the current crop of star athletes, and the only way to do so is to look at grass-root sport. Local sports club, whose members devote their time, money, blood, sweat and tears to providing sporting opportunity for local youngsters are those who truly deserve our admiration. It is at this level that our sporting stars of tomorrow are born and nurtured. Groups such as Fife floorball club, which this week helped to raise money with the Cacoddy Lions club for Rachel's house children's hospice and who attract over 30 children to their weekly training sessions, or clubs such as the How of Fife rugby club in my own constituency, who offer rugby clubs to hundreds of local children every week and who this year saw two of their Illumini run out for the Scottish national team at Murrayfield. For those of us who used to play rugby in the past, we can perhaps just look on enviously at the facilities and opportunities that are now available. Whilst nothing can ever prevent the Scottish climate from taking a turn for the worse, the improved facilities, better pitches and more equipment available to local clubs are all vital components to providing a more enjoyable experience for our young people. Hopefully, they can also help to encourage them to carry on with sport as they grow older. It is fair to say, however, that I think that more can be done to provide even more sporting opportunities for our young people. I want to close, if I may, by considering the work that has already been carried out by the Scottish Government to ensure that Scotland's year of outstanding sport in 2014 can hopefully be replicated in future years. I have already spoken about the 2014 legacy funding, which has benefited many clubs in societies in North East Fife, and has already benefited from up to now. Coop, however, in my constituency will soon be home to a community sports hub. The active schools network, meanwhile, has also been credited with providing millions of opportunities for young people to be involved in sport, according to the Scottish Government's website. I am aware that this arrangement is in place with all 32 local authorities until next year, and I look forward to hearing what the future holds for this network. Presiding Officer, 2014 has been an excellent year for sport in Scotland and for Scottish athletes. I look forward to being able to say the same thing for 2015, which of course brings the British Open once again to my constituency, and with it, no doubt, some new sporting heroes. I now call on Liz Smith to be followed by Kenny MacAskill. Four minutes, all thereby at ease. I commend Roderick Campbell for bringing this member's business to the chamber. In a week that began in Glasgow with the BBC Sports Personality Awards and Prince Harry's very eloquent speech at that event, in which he reminded us that it is all of the power that sport has to change for lives forever, it is very appropriate indeed to celebrate the role that Scotland has had in 2014, as Roderick Campbell has rightly said, a year like no other. As somebody who has spent 40 years of my life very actively involved playing very different sports, a very considerable wide range of ability I have to say from beginner to international in one sport, but also coaching many youngsters from very different backgrounds, I believe sport in Scotland in 2014 has given us a great deal to think about for the years ahead, and these are the themes that are featuring very strongly on the cross-party group on sport, which I co-chair with Alison Johnstone. It goes without saying that I think it's a particular pleasure for Mid Scotland and Fife MSPs to celebrate the hugely successful Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, and Roderick Campbell's right to point to the British Open coming back to Mid Scotland and Fife next year. I think that we can also forget about curling, because not only were there 10 of the 12 GB medalists in this year's Winter Olympics from Scotland, but seven of those curlers live near or in Stirling. Hosting major sporting events or producing elite talent is not just a matter of pride or benefit to our local economies, as record numbers of spectators are testament to, but it reflects something that I think is further ingrained in each one of us and society at our love of competition. I think that competitive sport develops a work ethic. It develops and reinforces social bonds, friendships and a sense of community, and I think that qualitative measurements do not exactly help when it comes to putting a value on this, but if you look at the faces of the school children who took part in all the associated sporting events this summer, I don't really think that you need these, because I think that sport speaks for itself. For many people, I think that it's a spectacle, as well as the sport itself. It was clearly evident from the 600,000 visitors to the Commonwealth Games who witnessed elite-level competition in world-class settings, including in sports for which they were previously unacquainted. For me, some of the greatest joys of this summer were witnessing the successes in so-called minority sports such as squash and netball and bowls, which attracted huge crowds. For a very important part of that, I think that it was the improvement in broadcasting that accompanied these sports, and the immediate interest in some of those areas has greatly increased. I think that that is a very healthy sign. I have to say that I am appalled when anyone says that competitive sport should be banned. I can think of nothing that is more contrary to the spirit of young people to real life or which does more harm to the self-discipline of young people. I think that Roderick Campbell is right when he says that part of the legacy is something that we must attach great importance to. Competitive sport, in my estimation, must return to all schools and be enshrined in the legacy that we shed for years ahead. Something that I think can help that is the growing value that we attach to lots of different sports, rather than those that, over time, have dominated the school timetable, perhaps football, rugby and hockey in athletics in years past have been those dominating ones, but times are changing, and I think that that is greatly to the benefit of more youngsters participating. I think that schools hold the key in many of the areas, but we also have to accept that we need to do more about a cultural change. That is something that Sports Scotland is very strong on just now. It is something that comes up time and time again at the cross-party group on sport. Our previous co-convener was Margot MacDonald, which was a point that she made very regularly. There has to be a cultural change in how we react to sport. I think that that is true for music and languages, but it is perhaps more engaging when it comes to sport, for people of all backgrounds and tastes. It can inspire a passion, creativity and innovation that perhaps is missing for too many youngsters. It is for that reason that I warmly welcome the wider coverage of sports, male and female. Again, Roger Campbell is absolutely right to point to the absolutely correct decision that was made by the Royal and Ancient to invite women to be members. It is lots to celebrate. In conclusion, I hope that the legacy of this phenomenal year is measured not just in quantitative improvements in participation rates and changing people's perception about health, but that there is a much better attitude and culture for what is something for which I have a very considerable passion. Thank you very much. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I join in the thanks to Rod Campbell for bringing this debate. I simply want to echo the points that he himself has made. It has both a national and indeed a local aspect. It also has both a review of the successful year past but also the opportunity to look forward, I think, to even better times on a national and indeed on a community scale. It has been a great year for sport, not simply in the city of Glasgow, and I think history will probably record that it was transformational for the city of Glasgow, an opportunity to look forward to future successes, not simply to look at historic successes in the past. Equally, as Rod Campbell also mentioned, to other communities, whether Glen Eagles or indeed communities, the length and breadth of the country Scotland is a better place for what was achieved not simply by those who were doing so on the basis of their paid and salaried commitment, but by those who did so on a voluntary basis, whether in helping out in the Commonwealth Games or as Rod Campbell himself correctly said, who are the unsung heroes who support sport at a grassroots level on a daily basis and have done so when it was not perhaps as favourable times as they are now. I think that it has also been transformational in that there has been a recognition that sport is not simply an individual action that you take, that you can join a club or take out a gym membership. There is a clear recognition now at governmental level that we have to do so and encourage participation for the public good. It is not simply individual, even if some sports are individual pursuits, it is the collective good. That is why I simply want to echo the comments made by Rod Campbell. It has been good for the elite, but it has also been good for the grassroots, and I know in terms of the grassroots commitment that Rod Campbell has at his heart. He mentioned how a fife, and I know the lobbying that he did for that club. I, too, paid tribute to its success and its international players that have gone on to success and have worn the Scottish jersey, but the efforts that he has put in to try to ensure that they have the facilities to ensure that there can be future success to match those who are currently pulling on the dark blue jersey. I know myself in my own community the success that, for example, Lochhead Unboxing Club has had. It comes from a challenged area. It has had its difficulties in the past, but it also remarkably deals with some challenging individuals and turns them round. This has been a remarkable year for them. The success of Josh Taylor in winning a gold medal has been felt not simply by every member of the club but by the entire community. The success of Lewis Benson getting there and unlucky in the draw and unfortunate not to go further has also, as I say, benefited the entire area. At grass-roots level, I see it in eastern Edinburgh, as well as it is seen in north east fife. However, there is a possibility for a future to build on the legacy, not just in the past, to compete internationally to go for bids. We are not going to get a Champions League final because of the size of our stereo, but there are other international events that we can bid for and have now a track record of success that I believe puts us in a position to look forward to success and to further international events. However, as particularly Rod Campbell says, it is about the grass-roots. I remember many years ago speaking to the late David Taylor, who made the point that in Scotland we had in football some of the best professional facilities for a small nation anywhere in the world and yet we had some of the worst community facilities anywhere else in Europe. That is why we have to ensure that the legacy is not simply in where we go at international competition or even regional or national competition but what we do at grass-roots level. The days of blaze pitches for young footballers have to be consigned to the past as 3G pitches are bought in. It is not simply, as Ms Smith mentioned, in terms of football and rugby. It is all those other sports that have also got a boost boxing, as I have mentioned, but in numerous other sports. That is the opportunity to make Scotland a better place to put it on the global map in sport but also the opportunity to build a grass-roots sporting opportunity and to recognise that sport is, for all, irrespective of their ability and their size of their wallet. Equally, we have to allow that opportunity for those who have that opportunity, as in how a fife to compete on an international stage. That is being done. It can be done. We look back with success but we look forward to an equal successful future. I will now call on the minister to make the closing speech in behalf of the Government. I suppose that at the end of any year there is a tendency to look back at what was gone before in the preceding 12 months and there is absolutely no doubt that, in what has been remarkable and the most exciting of years generally for Scotland, it has been an incredible year for Scottish sport. The eyes of the world were on Scotland in 2014 and I believe that we have conducted ourselves very well in that regard. I think that it is particularly appropriate that the last member's debate of this year gives members the opportunity to offer their own perspective on this year's sporting achievements. I would like to thank Rod Campbell for bringing the debate to the chamber to let us do just that and thank those members who have taken part as well. I would like to turn to some of the highlights of the year. As Liz Smith reminded us at the beginning of the year's Scottish curlers, she made the point that sterling curlers in particular had phenomenal success on the world stage, particularly winning medals at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at Sochi. Those talented and committed athletes helped to promote the game in Scotland and as outstanding athletes and ambassadors helped to inspire many people to try curling and become more active in their lives. The success in Sochi certainly kickstarted an outstanding year for sport in Scotland. Turning to the summer of the sun, most of the time the venues were ready and Scotland was a proud host of the 20th Commonwealth Games. The Scottish Government backed its commitment to the funding of £382 million, 66 per cent of the total games budget, and we saw Team Scotland achieve its highest ever total medal hall, winning a total of 53 medals across 10 sports. Rod Campbell rightly spoke of a list of heroes that are too many to mention all, but I would like to mention a few. I was very privileged to be at the Judo Scotland reception on Tuesday, and the judokas who took part in the Commonwealth Games were all in attendance. It is worth reminding us that we got 13 medals from 14 competitors. That was the best medal hall for a single sport at a single Commonwealth Games, and there was clear pride at that achievement at Judo Scotland. I was very pleased to see them bestow honorary life membership in the organisation for all those athletes who had taken part as a part of Team Scotland at the Games. I think that they were described as the highest honour they could bestow on their members. Of course, there was also at the Games the inspirational performance of Lindsay Sharp, who rose from her sickbed to claim silver in the 800 metres at hand in a tremendous example of the triumph of human willpower commitment and dedication. It was the outstanding achievement of our Lawn Bowls team against the outstanding backdrop of Kelvin Grove, who was the emergence of Ross Murdoch, yet another great Scottish swimmer. There was also a 13-year-old Erie Davies, Scotland's youngest ever Commonwealth Games athlete and a medal winner, too, an extraordinary achievement for someone so young. No-one will of course forget the mailman Charlie Flynn, if ever there is someone who could rank as personality of the year in any field, let alone sports personality of the year. It has to be the charismatic Mr Flynn. Of course, we should remember that there were four medals for Team Scotland in five Paris sports, and I think that we should be particularly proud of having delivered the highest number of Paris sports medal events in Commonwealth Games history, and, unlike the Olympics, they were integrated fully as part of the Commonwealth Games. Featuring as the start of the show was, of course, the city of Glasgow. We, Glaswegians, are very proud. We are sometimes defensive of our city, but in this case, in the case of the Commonwealth Games, there was no need to be defensive in every reason to be proud of the people of Glasgow and the people of Scotland rose to the occasion. Prim among them, of course, were our marvellous Clyde Siders and Cast members from the opening ceremony. The Games heralded in a new generation of passionate and enthusiastic volunteers who were central to making the games the best games ever. I would like to put on record my thanks and appreciation to all those who volunteered over the course of the games. I recently visited Volunteer Scotland, who are based in Stirling, and met Games volunteers there. I was able to announce that the Scottish Government supporting Volunteer Scotland was over £114,000 to harness this enthusiasm from the Games to promote the rich and diverse benefits that volunteering can bring. Rodd Campbell spoke an important role of volunteers. I recognise it and very much support it. As well as our volunteering legacy, we want to see the legacy of increased participation. Of course, that is more than investment that Kenny MacAskill was touching on in terms of the inspiration that individual athletes can bring to those who look up to them. That is part of the legacy. Of course, it is about investment. Rodd Campbell touched on that. There have been more than 100 projects supported by the 10 million legacy active places fund. Yesterday, in Casimolc, I was able to attend an event to mark the 20-word projects that are being funded by our £1 million legacy 2014 sustainable support for community fund. Games equipment is now being used across the country. Grainsmouth stadium athletes will be able to run on the Hamden run track in their games facilities. It is now open to the public. It was recently at the Emirates arena, and one of the best things that I saw there was the members of the public in using those facilities. I should say something about the Ryder Cup, of course. Cardin would have helped. I managed to hear the point anyway, Ms Smith. I am just about to turn to the Club Golf programme, which is an excellent programme to touch on that. Of course, where we can deliver that type of initiative in other sports, we will seek to do so. I would say that the budget is, of course, limited if we had more. We could do more, but, of course, that type of initiative is something that we welcome and will try to support. I want to talk about the Ryder Cup, because it was another example of Scotland's ability to deliver. It also reinforced Scotland's status as the home of golfers. In 45,000 golf fans from across the globe packed the course of each of the three days' play. Liz Smith mentioned the BBC Sports personality of the year award, as well as the very moving tribute to those injured service personnel that she mentioned who took part in the Invictus Games, as well as Chris Hoy getting his very well-deserved lifetime achievement. Of course, Team Europe won Team of the Year and Captain Paul McGinnell very graciously. His first thanks was to the people of Scotland. As with the Commonwealth Games, our people were a vital part of the success of the Ryder Cup. Of course, as well as securing the legacy from the Commonwealth Games, we want to secure a legacy from the Ryder Cup. We do not want to be the home of golf, but we want to be the future of golf. To underline that commitment earlier this year, the Scottish Government announced additional funding of up to £1 million over a four-year period to help to introduce yet more youngsters and families to the game through the club golf programme. We have encouraged more than 350,000 youngsters to pick up a club and get involved in the sport of golf. I am running out of time. I could have wanted to talk about the tremendous achievements of our national teams and cricket teams, which have of course qualified for next year's World Cup. We have seen impressive performances from our rugby team. Our women's football team is now ranked 20. First and World came so close to qualifying for the World Cup. The men's team has greatly improved and on-course to qualify for Euro 2016. However, I should turn to close. 2014 has, of course, been an outstanding year. Of course, we look forward to, Presiding Officer, next year Scotland will host the word gymnastics, IPC swimming, world-orientering championships, as well as the European Judo and European eventing championships. Of course, the open returns to Scotland in 2015 and 2016, and St Andrew's will welcome back the British Women's Open next year. Our ambitions for the years ahead are to build on the reputation that we have established through this year's achievements as the perfect stage for major events. 2014 has given us the experience and the knowledge to deliver. 2014 will be hard to live up to, but I am confident that we have many outstanding years of sport ahead of us as well. Many thanks and thank you all. I now suspend this meeting until 2.30.