In the wake of the 2012 London Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games there was a huge emphasis placed upon legacy.
Within Dundee that drive to get the city’s youth into extra-curricular sport has been led by Active Schools, part of Leisure and Culture Dundee.
Clubs and leagues have been set up for a whole host of sports and both boys and girls are benefiting, with one in four pupils participating.
Over time, however, the money has begun to dry up and that has now led to the establishment of the Dundee Schools Sport Association.
The new association will guide and shape the city’s youth sporting activities and enable it to apply for funding to ensure that participation remains strong.
That is already bearing fruit, with Active Schools securing £5,500 from the National Lottery to support activities in the city’s Maryfield area.
Long-term, secondary schools competition coordinator Gareth Dailly believes there is scope to involve even more youngsters in sport.
“We have been working very hard to revive school sport, which dwindled in the late ’80s to focus on little more than football and athletics.
“We now operate close to 200 events and groups, offering 23 different sports and activities to more than 25% of all the city’s school pupils.
“We want to make that sustainable and see the success grow even further, but we do need funding to make that happen.
“In the wake of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 funding was easy to come by but that has changed and so we have created the DSSA to ensure that we are more easily fundable by grant-givers such as the National Lottery.”
Active Schools hope that through the association they will be able to keep all the sports going and attract even more youngsters to take part.
Major success stories in recent years include netball and dance, reflecting the large number of girls who take part in sports across Dundee.