30/03/2014 Sport XIV

Hello. Welcome to the latest edition of Sport XIV. April is almost here.

Spring has truly sprung as we look forward to Glasgow 2014. Here is the

new season's collection. Personally, I think it's the best thing in the

world. Kenny Bain on life at the pinnacle of world hockey. I don't

know. I kind of liked it. A lot of people are scared by it. I really

enjoyed it. It was a thrill. Shooter Sian Bruce hopes to clean up this

summer. To have that scoop once in a while, it's OK, but just don't tell

my coach that! Long jumper Sarah Warnock sweet on success at Glasgow

2014. I came to win. So there was no

obstacle in my way for that. We go back in time with Loretta Cusack.

And we reflect on this week's bowls squad announcement. Now, he's got

120 caps. He's scored more than 30 international goals and he's one of

the most feared goal scorers in the best league in the world. And he's

Scottish. He may have a low profile here but Kenny Bain is from Paisley.

He's one of our top sporting exports setting alight the Hoofdklasse

Hockey League in Holland. Basically, Amsterdam is riddled with

mice because of the canals. That's why I have this little one. She's

helpful and she saves us all the mice. Mousehunter, aren't you? My

coach at the time, Russell Garcia, just before Delhi, he played in

Holland and got in touch with them. My first club. Came over, had my

trial. They flew me over. From there on, I've been lucky enough to work

my status and keep it. Are you seriously going to stand on that?

This is my home life. If this is recording, this is my home life. My

best friend Dave has decided to stand on my nice basket which is

broken now. You're on video, mate! I live with David who is also a

Scottish international currently playing in Holland as well. Myself

and Victoria, my girlfriend, who's a student. We call the house Scotland.

When we come in here, it is speak Scottish or that's you! I'm doing

corners first with some of the players. We only have so much time

on the first pitch. Then we are doing video. Then heading over to

pitch two. My first two years I was full-time funded. I moved over. Then

got a full contract. Then I moved to Hurley the next year. They give me

again great contract, house paid for, everything. After that first

year of Hurley we went into administration. I felt so close to

the club. So close to the players. I didn't want to leave again. I

actually took on an apprenticeship as a gardener, which was hellish,

and worked. I had to do it. The amount of tulips I had to plant was

unbelievable. I made a few nice gardens. It wasn't for me. I'm not a

morning man. I couldn't get up at 6.00 every morning. My Dutch is OK.

I can understand it very well and speak the basics pretty good. I'm a

little dyslexic so reading and writing's been hard for me.

Listening to everything anyone says or speaks in Dutch, it is picking up

the words, constantly repeating them. My Dutch is good. So it's all

right. I work as an assistant head hockey coach at Naarden Hockey Club.

Coach kids from age six all the way up to veterans. My main team is

under-18 girls. I did this with the Scotland team, under-18s. It was

quite a few years back but it worked. You'll get a sheet of paper.

You'll get a random name. Everyone in the team. You have to write two

things which that player brings to the team. Today, the result is

really important. Three points. I will not accept zero points today.

Work hard. Well, lost 2-0. Not ideal. The performance was

fantastic. Just need to get the ball in the goal. It was frustrating but

it happens sometimes. I could go round everybody, write down two

things you were good at today like you did earlier on. Unbelievable.

You were fantastic. We need to go away from this game with our heads

high. We are playing Campong. They came

third last year. Playing in the Champions League of hockey. They

have five internationals in the Dutch team. Three ex-internationals.

Four under-21 internationals. Robbert Kemperman is probably THE

best player in the world. Let's hope it is not a death match for us. For

me, personally, it is the best league in the world. I played for

Bellahouston. It is a big jump but the big jump from week in, week out

consistently having lots of people watching you is hard at the start.

But I'm a fair player who likes people watching. I like the

attention. I try to score as many goals as I can. There's nothing

better than celebrating in front of loads of fans when you've scored a

goal and they're cheering at you as well. I'm number seven in the

charts. Happy with that. Beat 3-1. We were 1-0 up till the 57th minute.

13 minutes left and their first goal was outstanding. From the baseline.

Great finish. They got a lucky corner. In their last goal, it came

from a penalty. Sadly, our keeper had been yellow carded. I had to go

in and keep it going. There was never any chance of me saving that

ball. Performance was key today. We did really well. I couldn't be any

happier just now. I just signed a new contract with Hurley for next

year. Everything's on the up. When you're playing well there's nothing

better. No better feeling than to be playing in the best league in

Holland in one of the best teams in Holland. It is a great experience.

I'll remember it for the rest of my life. Now, Skeet shooter Sian Bruce

has her sights set on Glasgow 2014. She combines her training with her

job as a croupier in a Dundee casino. As she tells us, she's not

gambling anything on her shot at glory.

Started shooting when I was ten. Started with my dad. Starting

shooting in local competitions and then started shooting for Great

Britain when I was 14. I kind of liked it. A lot of people are scared

of it but I really enjoyed it. It's a thrill. I went to a GB selection.

Got selected after my first shoot. I thought then, maybe I am quite good

at this. Only my close friends really know I

shot and stuff. Didn't really tell everyone. Then when I started

getting more competitions and got recognition, everyone was really

cool. My dad is the biggest supporter. He drove me to all my

competitions. Took me everywhere. Just showed me the ropes. Where to

go. He used to shoot. Gave up when I got better than him.

Started two years in September. I was looking online for jobs. I'd

left school. Needed to fund my shooting. My mum pointed it out. I'd

never heard of a croupier. Got six weeks training. Started the job.

Been there two years. Pretty cool. It's good. It's different. Nobody

believes you when you tell them that's what I do. It's good.

Different every night. Never have two nights the same. It is like a

family. If I ever need to swap a shift to go away shooting, they're

happy to do it. A lot just now. We have the Commonwealth Games on top

of our usual shooting schedule. Selection shoots, World Cups,

Europeans and slotting in Scottish shoots between all of that. It's

pretty crazy. I've never been to a multi-sport Games before. To have

the first one at home in Scotland, so close to home, 20 minutes away,

is amazing really. Americans, Slovakian girl, a lot of them won't

be here so it makes it a bit easier for me. Britain, Scotland, England,

Wales, all have good shooters. Then you've Cypriots. Indians. Still a

good, tough competition. I hope to medal. If I make the final, I'll

hopefully be in for a good chance. I'd love to win gold but a medal at

a home Games would be amazing. I get out on the range as much as

possible. Right now, it is weather dependent. We've the Scottish

Institute of Sports. I'm in there two or three times a week on top of

this. Then work and any competitions at the weekends I can go to. It is a

sport where if you're talented so much better. But if you practise

enough you'll hit the targets. Practise makes perfect, I guess.

Earlier this week, Team Scotland announced their bowls squad for this

summer. The competition will take place at the Kelvingrove Art

Gallery. The action on the greens could be as artistic and inspiring

as some of the works inside. It's got a special technique about

it. You know a bit of touch player. We all have our own skill level in

things involved in it. We're all perfectionists at bowls. We don't

get the recognition we deserve. It is a very skilful game. It's not

easy to play. Bowls is a very skilful game. We play anything

between 23 metres and 40 metres. So, it is touch. It is very, very

difficult. I believe this will be the best

prepared squad ever going into a Commonwealth Games. We decided we'd

have a robust and extensive selection policy. To back that up,

we developed a performance analysis programme. It was the first time in

history of bowls in Scotland we had this programme so we could analyse

each player, each bowl they delivered, over the whole 18 months

of the selection period. The crucial part about Glasgow is for the first

time in the bowls disciplines, the athletes are allowed to play in two

separate disciplines. That throws up the question of team dynamics. That

was crucial to the selection process. Superbowl, the performance

programme, provided us with the data that allowed us to make those

selections. COMMENTATOR: Close, very close. Oh,

just missed it. Just under for Bond. Now Marshall defends his

Commonwealth Games pairs title. Paul Foster this time. This will be my

fifth Commonwealth Games. I've won two gold medals so far. The first

one in Manchester. It's massive to stand on that podium knowing that

you've won a gold medal for Scotland. And the same when I won it

with Paul Foster. It's just, you know, you get the hair standing up

on the back of your neck when you go up to that podium knowing that

you've won a gold medal for yourself and obviously your country, so it's

a great experience and it's a fantastic achievement. I've been

very fortunate with what I've done in my bowling career. It does make

it slightly easier because I do thrive on pressure. I don't get

worked up and I've been in the big occasions, so it's something that

will be on my side. I've been to so many venues over the world and this

is the best. I'm not just saying that because I'm biased because I'm

Scottish but when I first seen the backdrop, this will be the best

Commonwealth Games ever. It makes it for Glasgow and it will be part of

the Glasgow 2014 Games at this venue, at Kelvingrove. There's

nothing better to be part of this. It'll be a great and excellent

experience. You always let your mind to run away a little bit on how good

it would be, how many medals we'll win, but all I do know is we will be

the best prepared team and every single player who steps onto the

green is capable of winning a medal. We've had tournaments here last year

and we always think about it. Now that the team has been selected, you

do start to think, yeah, it's great. My family and friends can come

along. It's local. Just the whole area round about here will be

buzzing at the time of the Games and it will be great to be part of that.

2014 in Glasgow is going to be absolutely amazing. I wish it was

just round the corner. I can't wait. Time to turn the clock back now 24

years to the Commonwealth Games of 1990 in Auckland and Loretta Cusack

who had already competed for England, was about to win Scottish

judo's first ever Commonwealth gold. You go onto that mat and you just

think yourself you've got one more, just one more to win this title. But

one more is miles and miles away. It's a long way. It makes you feel

old. And now obviously everyone's looking back. We're looking back at

all the results we had for the Commonwealth Games, the history of

the Commonwealth Games and obviously I was part of that history Which I'm

very, very proud of. It wasn't going to be easy because I was out of my

own weight category, so I was in the higher weight above me.

COMMENTATOR: Loretta Cusack, a left-handed player. Williams, very

much a right-handed player, so a distinct clash of styles.

There's not many judo players that are left-handed and so that would've

been very awkward for Sue but I would imagine with all the training

that she's done in Japan, coming across left-handers wouldn't have

been an unusual situation. COMMENTATOR: 003, Suzanne Williams

from Sydney in New South Wales. Defeated Anne Hughes in her

semifinal. I went out to win and it wasn't looking at individuals. To

win a gold-medal you just have to win every match. I came to win, so

there was no obstacle in my way for that.

COMMENTATOR: And again, she's got her down. That's good. In the final,

the reaction I got from my opponent when I attacked her and she reacted,

it was just like someone giving me the gold-medal on a plate for us to

take because she left herself very vulnerable. She made the ultimate

mistake with this, which then, obviously, I was quick to capitalise

and react with. COMMENTATOR: Takes both corner judges to overrule the

referee and it's a strangle and she's got it. She's got it. Oh, gold

for Scotland! Relief. Because that's the contest finished with and it was

a very short, sweet contest. For me, the sweetest memories about the

Commonwealth Games is not the medal. Believe it or not. It's the whole

package. And obviously, the icing on the cake was the gold medal. But a

cake always tastes sweet, even if it hasn't got icing on it.

Some of the sacrifices made by our athletes are incredible and long

jumper Sarah Warnock is no exception. She's already got a

degree in radiography, but she's put her clinical career on hold to work

part-time in an ice cream shop, to give herself more time to train.

I went in one day and there was an advert for a Saturday shift to work

there and I decided that I wanted to do that. I needed extra money. Just

a little bit, so I started there when I was about 16. I've never

left, despite going to Uni and having a degree. I've stayed there

just until after the Commonwealth Games. I've got a degree in

diagnostic radiography. I went to Queen Margaret University and

studied there for four years. But it's just sort of on the back burner

just now. The idea was just to put it away for a year to qualify for

the Games. And then that kind of happened in the summer, which I

didn't really expect to happen. So now it's kind of on the back burner

to deliver, to be able to do what I want to do at the Games. Radiography

is a job that you have to work shifts. Night shifts and weekend

work wouldn't have really fitted in with training right now, so I don't

want to look back and think what if? I want to give it the best shot to

try to perform to my best when I'm at the Games. 80p change. Do you

want a wee bag? Yeah, that would be great. My parents are really good

like that as well. Yeah, definitely do it, whereas some parents could

have been like, no, no, you need to go and get on the career path and

whatever. My parents were really good about that. They have supported

me the whole way through it, so, for me, it was an easy decision.

Of course it's tempting and, if I'm being completely honest, I do have a

scoop of ice cream every now and again. The thing is, you're only

going to crave it and then you'll indulge even more, so if I have that

scoop just once in awhile, it's OK. Just don't tell my coach that. I'm

not on a strict diet. Just don't have too much of it, I think. This

is a sundae I've created called Sarah's Long Jump Sundae and in the

bottom I've started with peanut butter and banana because in my

training bag there's always a banana. Then I put some

marshmallows. When I go to compete, that's kind of like a snack that I

have. And then I put vanilla, because the core of every sundae is

vanilla and vanilla is one of my favourite flavours. I then put in

pick and mix cos sweets is always key in my training bag as well. I

like to hand out sweets when we're competing. Quite a friendly

competitor. And then I put Nutella in because that's also one of my

favourite flavours when we're here with some hot fudge sauce. And the

sundae isn't really complete without cream and a wafer, so that's what's

on the top. I did Indoors as sort of a break

from winter training and a check for where I'm at for the Indoor season.

I'm Scottish indoor champion. I'm in a good place right now. I'm happy

with how things are going and I think if you talked to the coach,

he'd say he's pretty happy with how things have went as well. I'm happy

that I was selected, but it was a surprise. My goal is to make the

final. That's where I start at. And I think, realistically, I'll have to

jump probably a 40 or 50. I think that's achievable. Really, I just

want to come away and think, yeah, I did everything I could do for that.

Did she leave without her chocolates?

She did as well. She left without her chocolates. All the customers

sort of know that I'm going to the Games and they go, "How's training

going? Is it going well and stuff?" So that sort of support is nice as

well. And they are all like, "Oh, we will be watching." So I think

everyone's sort of happy and behind me for it.

And here's Jane Lewis with a round up of some of the other stories

making the headlines this month. Scottish athletics has been dealt a

blow with the news that Director of Coaching Stephen Maguire is to leave

the post after Glasgow 2014. He's been appointed Head of Power and

Sprinting with British Athletics. Hampden Park's transformation from

football stadium to athletics venue is almost complete. And Eilidh Child

can hardly wait. Yeah, it's really good. To have the crowd almost on

top of you, I think will make it an excellent atmosphere because you

know they're going to be supporting you and cheering you on and I think

it will make a huge difference. It's an atmosphere Jessica Ennis-Hill is

sorry to be missing. I would have absolutely loved to have been here.

That was my plan, to be here. Unfortunately, as a female athlete,

there's always going to be something that you'll miss if you go away and

have a child. But, yeah, I think it's going to be fantastic anyway.

There's some great athletes that are going to be here. Paracyclist Aileen

McGlynn and her pilot Louise Haston have been given their new bike for

Glasgow 2014. And McGlynn is ready for another home Games after London

2012. I've had that dry run now and hopefully I'll get it all right in

Glasgow. I think it will be amazing and I hope to medal or at least get

the top spot again. Four into three shouldn't work, but one man who

might just make it happen is triathlete Mark Austin. He's

combining a maths degree with hard yards in the pool, on the bike and

on the treadmill. It's just before 6am, and if you're

a triathlete eyeing a place in Team Scotland, for Glasgow 2014, it's

another early start ahead of another day of hard training. But, for,

Commonwealth Games hopeful Mark Austin, it's more than that. He's

also got to fit in his studies. This morning we got 300 swims, front

crawl, back crawl, your choice. 25 each, just nice and relaxed. Then

200 pull, 100 kick, with no float and 850.

I've been doing it for probably close to ten years now. So it's not

really like... Well, it is a chore, but I wouldn't really know any

different. Yeah, it is good having the

Commonwealth Games. It does motivate me a little bit more. I'll just go

home and get some breakfast now and then off out on the bike at nine

o'clock. So I used to swim and run. Swim at a club and run at school.

And then I just saw an advert for a children's version of a triathlon.

Yeah, I just did that and enjoyed it and just went from there really. I

probably do the most hours on the bike, but you spend the longest on

the bike in a triathlon so that's why. As if that isn't enough time

being seated, Mark is also studying full-time for a degree in

mathematics. Yeah, it's quite hard to stay awake

sometimes. It's a chance to just forget about training. It's quite

nice actually just to switch off from sport and think about something

else. But that doesn't last too long. Mark's day finishes with some

crucial running work. Growing up, I was a swimmer and a runner, so those

are probably the two that I'd say I'm best at. It's all down to the

run really. Obviously, you can lose it in the swim and the bike. It's

very important to be strong in those two. But if you can't run well,

you're never going to succeed in triathlon. It would just be good to

have the sporting world come to Glasgow for 12 days. Yeah, I just

can't wait. Well, that's it for this month.

Thanks for watching. As usual, if you want to check out anything,

please look at our website. Until next time, bye bye.