A Perth schoolboy has been selected to compete in a nationwide sporting event.
Sam McLellan will travel to Loughborough University to take part in the 2016 School Games – a national multi-sport event for the UK’s elite young athletes – at the start of next month.
The 15-year-old, who goes to Perth High School, will represent Scotland in fencing.
Around 1,600 athletes will compete across 12 sports at the event, seven of which include disability disciplines.
McLellan, who trains at Salle Ossian Fencing Club, will be following in the footsteps of some of Britain’s biggest sporting stars who have competed at the event before going on to senior international success.
Previous competitors include Olympic gold medallist and world-record breaking swimmer Adam Peaty, Paralympic champions Hannah Cockroft, Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and GB sprinter Adam Gemili.
At the event, McLellan will experience the excitement of competing at the highest level. He will live within the Athletes’ Village, attend spectacular opening and closing ceremonies and perform in front of a crowd of thousands.
There is a full education programme for the athletes running throughout the event which aims to give them an insight on life at the very highest level of sporting competition.
Sam said: “I’m very excited to have been selected to fence for Scotland. I can’t wait to meet up with fencers from the other nations before we battle it out.”
The athletes will be supported by 400 volunteers, many of whom will also be young people. Young reporters will be among the journalists reporting the action and many of the officials and coaches will also be young people.
Loughborough University will host 11 of the sports at the 2016 School Games as well as providing an Olympic style athletes village, which will give competitors a real flavour of a major multi-sport event.
