Academy puts down roots with Broadwood development

Scottish Rugby and NL Leisure were joined by Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn, [pictured centre] today as they unveiled a new home for the BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy in Glasgow and the West.The purpose-built ‘hub’ at Broadwood Stadium will become the administrative centre for the Academy’s management and medical teams, as well providing changing and meeting spaces for the 35 men’s and women’s players, to accompany the existing access to grass and synthetic surfaces at the ground.An initial£500,000 investment from NL Leisure and North Lanarkshire Council has been used to provide the next generation of elite male and female Scottish rugby talent with a state of the art new home.The Academy includes the latest in fitness, medical and training facilities and will be maintained by significant year on year investment from Scottish Rugby.Glasgow and the West Academy Manager, Jamie Dempsey and his team also have access to the 3G pitch that hosted the Scotland Women and Scotland under-20 home double header against their English counterparts, a match which saw six of the region’s academy players take to the field.Both teams are back in action this Friday for a second Six Nations double-header against France, with the under-20 side looking to build on the historic 24-6 win over England recorded at the Cumbernauld ground last month.BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy player, James Malcolm [pictured top right], is one of the leading lights in the Glasgow and West set-up and, having represented Scotland under-20 in 2013 and 2014, is enjoying a breakthrough season in the senior professional ranks, starting for two of his ten appearances for Glasgow Warriors in the Guinness PRO12 and European Champions Cup this season.The academy has played a huge part in preparing me for the rigors of senior professional rugby, with the relationship between the academy and the Warriors allowing me to develop my physicality and my game, and prove my potential.”- – Academy player James MalcolmDempsey added: “This development is the latest enhancement of Scottish Rugby’s major policy initiative to build a regional academy system that provides the best possible support to players, both male and female, who have been identified as having genuine potential for the future.We are indebted to the continued support shown from NL Leisure, who, like us, are committed to providing a world-class academy experience to aspirational Scottish athletes here in Glasgow and the West.”North Lanarkshire Council Leader, Jim Logue has been instrumental in developing a positive partnership with Scottish Rugby over recent years and is very pleased Broadwood Stadium can continue that good work as the home for the Scottish Rugby in Glasgow and the west.He said: “The BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy is a wonderful endorsement of NL Leisure and I am sure that the superb facilities at Broadwood will be an ideal venue for the further development of rugby in partnership with NLC and Scottish Rugby.”This pays huge credit to North Lanarkshire’s many clubs and is an enormous expansion for rugby across the area.”With our friends in Scottish Rugby we have a collective determination to endorse the benefits of taking part in sport amongst other values.I’m confident our work with Scottish Rugby will inspire people of all ages to take up rugby and other sports and am extremely proud that future generations of Scottish rugby players will call Broadwood home.- – North Lanarkshire Council Leader, Jim LogueScotland double-header at Broadwood Stadium (Friday 11 February)Scotland Women v France Women (kick-off 6pm)Scotland under-20 v France under-20(kick-off 8pm)