Youth Team Scotland preparations for this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games have been boosted thanks to 12 additional team members joining the fold.
Athletes who will be competing in archery, boxing, squash and weightlifting have been named by Commonwealth Games Scotland, bringing the number of athletes selected onto Youth Team Scotland to 20.
Elgin’s Struan Caughey and Evelina D’Arcy become Scotland’s first archers to represent the nation at a Youth Games event. The duo will compete in Individual Recurve events and the Mixed Team competition at the Samoa games. Sixteen-year-old Caughey previously won the British Championships and is ranked number one in Scotland. Evelina, 15, has been British Junior champion on three occasions, and has been a member of every Scottish Junior team since 2012.
Team Scotland boxers have a proud history at the Commonwealth Games and the Youth Games have been no exception, with a return of 12 medals from the 17 boxers who have represented Scotland at this level.
Willie Hutchison from Lanark will represent Youth Team Scotland in the 75kg event after he became the first Scot to win European Junior gold in November last year. Joining Willie in the boxing squad are Bellahouston’s Sean Lazzerini, the current British Youth Champion, and British Youth silver medallists Billy Stuart of Aberdeen and Kilmarnock’s Kieran McMaster.
Squash will be represented by two of Scotland’s brightest teenage talents. Aberdeen’s Richard Hollins is three-time National Age Group champion, and 17-year-old Carrie Hallam is a past winner at both the Irish and Italian Open.
Four weightlifters are named, including Pitlochry’s Rowan Morrogh Bernard (14), who holds an incredible 16 Scottish records across youth and junior age groups, and Biatrice Gabell, aged 17 from Dalry (pictured above).
Elinor Middlemiss, General Team Manager said: “With just 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of Samoa 2015, the Games are becoming very real for all involved. The Youth Games are an exciting first step into Commonwealth competition and provide the ideal platform for young athletes to develop and gain competition experience for future events.”
The final sports and full team will be announced on Tuesday 30 June 2015.
For more information on the Scottish Commonwealth Youth Team, visit: www.cgcs.org.uk
