{"id":600647,"date":"2025-11-29T05:17:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/600647\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T05:17:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T05:17:27","slug":"one-of-scotlands-fastest-girls-says-closure-of-sports-school-will-crush-dreams-of-future-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/600647\/","title":{"rendered":"One of Scotland\u2019s fastest girls says closure of sports school will crush dreams of future stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen-year-old Olivia Fisher – the fastest Scots girl in her age group – is facing uncertainty over plans to shut prestigious Glasgow School of Sport.<\/p>\n

One of Scotland\u2019s fastest girls says the dreams of future sports stars are hanging in the balance amid the threatened closure of the country\u2019s only specialist school<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fourteen-year-old Olivia Fisher – who idolises sprinters like Usain Bolt – is the fastest in her age group and on course to compete in the Commonwealth Youth Games<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n

But the youngster, from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, said her future is in doubt over proposals to shut down Glasgow School of Sport – which has produced medal-winning alumni, including badminton ace Kirsty Gilmour and swimmer Michael Jamieson.<\/p>\n

Opposition MPs said Glasgow City Council,<\/a> which runs the Bellahouston Academy-based school alongside Glasgow Life, must \u201cpull out all the stops\u201d to keep it open and \u201cnurture the next generation of talent\u201d as the city gears up for the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

Dedicated Olivia – who takes two trains every morning to get to the school – told the Record: \u201cThis is what I\u2019ve wanted to do since I was little. It\u2019s a massive goal of mine.<\/p>\n

\" Olivia with gymnast pupil Ellie Gray(Image: Tony Nicoletti\/Daily Record)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school closing would really set me back on that goal. I\u2019d have to do a lot more training before and after school, which would have a negative impact on me academically.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time the school closes I might have to move mid prelims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to leave all my friends from my local school to go to the sports school but it\u2019s been worth it. The training is amazing and I\u2019ve made so many friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s causing a lot of anxiety for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glasgow School of Sport has 65 pupils from all over the country who receive specialist coaching in one area – athletics, badminton, gymnastics, hockey or swimming.<\/p>\n

In February, pupils and parents were told that Glasgow Life intended to close the school in June next year, just weeks before the Commonwealth Games kick off in Glasgow, and to replace it with a bursary scheme – sparked fury among parents and pupils.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe school is based at Bellahouston Academy(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n

A freeze on new pupils had been introduced in 2024, as the city council and Glasgow Life sought funding support for the school, but a report revealed that although 62% of the school\u2019s pupils come from outside Glasgow, both the Scottish government and local authorities indicated they were \u201cnot able to provide financial support\u201d, along with other sporting organisations.<\/p>\n

Under the proposals, pupils would continue to study at Bellahouston for the next two years, with \u201cpupil athlete plans\u201d in place.<\/p>\n

But Glasgow Life withdrew the plans after concerns about a lack of consultation and appointed an independent consultancy firm to review the matter. Meanwhile, a petiton to save the school attracted thousands of signatures.<\/p>\n

A scathing report released this month found 82% of parents and pupils questioned said the school\u2019s closure would have a \u201cvery negative impact\u201d on their sporting development.<\/p>\n

It added that \u201cprolonged uncertainty\u201d around GSOS\u2019s future had \u201cdisrupted pupils\u2019 exams, competitions, and subject choices, leaving many unable to plan for the future\u201d and warned of talented pupils from poorer backgrounds being excluded from elite sport.<\/p>\n

Third year pupil Olivia went through a testing interview and application process to gain her place.<\/p>\n

\"ScottishScottish Conservative sports spokesperson Brian Whittle MSP says the school must be saved(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Dad Owen, 38, said: \u201cThere are some amazing athletes coming out of the school. There are ex pupils whose families have moved down from up north just to be close to the place because the potential is unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince joining, Olivia is the fastest in Scotland and she was fourth at the English championships in the 200m as well. What she\u2019s achieved so far is unreal. She\u2019s looking to get the standards now for the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she sticks to what she\u2019s doing she will be representing Scotland at that level. She\u2019s thriving. But we\u2019re now in a position where we don\u2019t know where she\u2019s going to be schooling next year, which is absolute nightmare for us. We\u2019re in limbo right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer whole curriculum has been put on the back burner. There\u2019s a lot she has had to sacrifice and she signed a form to say she was committing the next six years of her school life to this. She decided she wanted to chase this dream, but that\u2019s being taken away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mum Debbie, 38, said parents were now anxiously awaiting a date for the matter to be debated at a committee hearing.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cOur main concern is Olivia and her peers getting through to sixth year.<\/p>\n

\u201cScotland is such a small country but it produces such a good range of athletes across all sports. It would be such a missed opportunity not to keep that going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future of gymnast Ellie Gray, 14, from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, is also in doubt.<\/p>\n

\"EllieEllie Gray, left, with fellow pupil Olivia(Image: Tony Nicoletti\/Daily Record)<\/p>\n

Dad Robbie, 50, said: \u201cWe were promised six years when they started and the amount of money I\u2019ve spent taking her to this school and hours I\u2019ve lost travelling – that\u2019s the least they deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext year is an important year for her exams and she could have to change schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commonwealth Games are in Scotland next year and they want to shut down the only school for sport? I don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scottish Conservative sports spokesperson Brian Whittle MSP said: \u201cThe proposals to close this prestigious sporting academy are causing a great deal of stress for budding athletes and their parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlasgow City Council must pull out all the stops to keep this school open so we can nurture the next generation of sporting talent as the city gears up for the Commonwealth Games.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: \u201cGlasgow Life was asked to consult parents and pupils to gather their views on the future of Glasgow School of Sport. Kinharvie, the independent facilitators who undertook this process, have prepared a report setting out the findings of the consultation. This has been shared with all interested parties and will now be considered by Glasgow City Council\u2019s Wellbeing, Empowerment, Community and Citizen Engagement (WECCE) Committee in terms of the proposed next steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to everyone who took the time to participate, and we remain committed to sharing information about the decision-making process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourteen-year-old Olivia Fisher – the fastest Scots girl in her age group – is facing uncertainty over plans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,18527,10650,4884,857,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-600647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-commonwealth-games","10":"tag-glasgow-city-council","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-schools","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115631295985134521","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}