When UK-wide newspaper – the Daily Telegraph – puts you in their top ten ‘one to watch for 2012′ list, it means something. It means you’ve made your mark.
18 year-old Gordon Reid from Helensburgh, pictured above, is the named one and his career has been a remarkable one.
At the age of 12 Gordon was hit by a serious spinal condition which left him unable to run. Obviously not someone to accept a knock back, even of this severity, Gordon put his wheels to a purpose few would even have thought of.
He has made himself an ace on the tennis court and in 2008 he was Number One Junior in the world and represented Britain at the Beijing Paralympics.
Unsurprisingly for someone with this focused attack on life, Gordon has no intention of stopping there. He is driven by a determination to take the Gold Medal at the London 2012. Who would bet against him doing it.
On Monday night (8th March) at 9.00pm on BBC Alba, Gordon is one of three young Scottish sports stars featured in Cothrom Spòrs: A Sporting Chance, a new programme in the Trusadh documentary series.
Calum MacLeod, from Stepps in Glasgow, is a professional cricketer for Warwickshire. He has played for Scotland and last summer was 12th man for England when they won the Ashes.
21 years old, Calum is from a sports-mad family. On the programme he says he never lost his focus, despite many cold winter nights of training and outlines the sacrifices he had to make with his schoolwork.
He says – and he knows: ‘You need a bit of ability but the majority of it is hard work. The top players train harder than most and that’s what gets them to the top’.
Then there’s a 26 year-old rugby player from Carnach in North Uist in the Western Isles, capped twice for Scotland and juggling rugby training with being a police officer with West Lothian & Borders Police.
Alison MacDonald plays for Royal High Corstorphine Cougars in Edinburgh and, with the Sixth Women’s Rugby World Cup on the near horizon she has her sights set on being in the team.
This inspirational programme presents the aspirations, the training programmes and the drive of these three young people as they set about doing whatever it takes to get to where they are determined to be.
BBC ALBA is currently available on Digital Satellite, on Sky 168, Freesat 110 and live on BBC iPlayer. Ten hours of content per week is also available to view on demand via the BBC PC iPlayer and the BBC iPlayer on Cable. For further information visit the BBC Alba website.
Pingback: helensburghhero (Helensburgh Heroes)