Children launch outdoor gym

Children in three Glasgow primary schools gave a new playpark a good work out on Monday. The outdoor gym at Dover Street in Charing Cross, was formally opened by Alistair Campbell, 10, from Anderston Primary; Shileas Nicgriogair, 8, from the Glasgow Gaelic School and Elisha Lal, 5, from St Patrick’s RC school who, together, cut the ribbon.

They and their class mates were the first to try out the new multi-purpose games court and play area which has been in informal use for several weeks.

Equipment enables users to do sit ups, leg and chest presses and play football, hockey, basketball and netball on the synthetic games surface.

This is the 57th play area to be built since 2005 as part of the Play Area Improvement Programme run by Glasgow City Council in partnership with Glasgow Housing Association (GHA). Additional funding for this project was provided by the Central and West Community Planning Partnership.

GHA’s West Area Director, Jacqueline Norwood, said: “Our partnership with the Council to build play parks has brought a real boost to dozens of communities over the past six years. Children can play safely and keep fit at the same time. The play areas are also a great way for the youngsters and parents from different backgrounds and cultures to mix.”

Local Councillor Philip Braat, who instigated this project, said: “I fought long and hard to get this play area up and running. I am absolutely delighted with what we have here now. It is a wonderful illustration of how a community, working together, can secure significant improvements and create a community space which is tailored to their needs. Everyone involved should be very proud of what they have achieved in making Dover Street/Kent Road greenspace what it is today – a fantastic resource for the community to enjoy for many years to come.”

The children were entertained by Bubbles the clown and a football session put on by A&M Training, a project part funded by GHA which tackles youth disorder, racism and gang violence through football and dance classes.

Hit the ground running and win a copy of Played In Glasgow

Football grounds, bowling greens, dog tracks, ‘doocots’, racecourses, blaes pitches, athletics tracks and swimming clubs; our city has had them all. Ged O’Brien’s book, Played in Glasgow, is a modestly-sized but mighty anthology that covers every sporting nook and cranny since Victorian times.
This is part of the superb Played In Britain series,  backed by Historic Scotland and English Heritage. The volume is subtitled ‘charting the heritage of a city at play’, and is a store of information for those of us who choose to look beyond the elegant stone facades, towering steel skeletons and pretty, manicured lawns.
Beyond Hampden Park, the home of Queen’s Park and Scotland’s international team, there are retrospectives on the homes of Rangers, Celtic, Partick Thistle, Clyde and the bullish ranks of Glasgow Junior football.
O’Brien also looks at the homes of the city’s many rugby teams and enjoys our rich bowling heritage, all recorded with excellent photography and detailed with the care of a first-class reference work.
Played In Glasgow has a section on swimming baths and clubs, from the elegant but forgotten municipal pools of the late 1800s to their 21st century heirs and the architectural wonders of the Western and the Arlington Baths clubs.
The book also strikes a nostalgic tone with a look at the city’s remaining red ash ‘blaes’ pitches and takes a flight into the world of the Glasgow pigeon fancier and their home-built doocots. Neither does it neglect cricketing heritage nor pass by the huge achievements of our many athletes over the years.
With one eye on Glasgow’s place as host for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, this book is a roadmap that shows us how far we have come, what we have won, what we have lost and hints at what could yet be.
A blend of social and cultural history and a treat with archive and modern photography, sometimes evocative and occasionally controversial, Played In Glasgow is an essential addition to the book collection of anyone who has an eye for their city’s sporting heritage.

LOCAL NEWS GLASGOW has three copies of Played in Glasgow to give away.
For a chance to win your own copy, just write and tell us which football teams play their home games at Hampden Park.

Send your answers by email to competitions@localnewsglasgow.co.uk. Please put ‘PLAYED IN GLASGOW COMPETITION’ in the header field and remember your name, address and a daytime telephone number. You can also enter by snail mail, please write with your answer to Played In Glasgow Competition, Local News Glasgow, YAM Publications, Third Floor, 142 West Nile Street G1 2RQ. Don’t forget all your contact details.

This competition closed at 9am on Monday, May 24.

Hanke joins Glasgow Rocks to add frontline presence

The Glasgow Rocks basketball team have added centre Randall Hanke to their line-up until the end of the BBL season.
New York-born Hanke has come though the US college circuit with Providence, Rhode Island, and wrote himself an impressive point-scoring CV from 2004.
At 6’11’’ tall, Hanke is a formidable presence. He holds British citizenship and has five Team GB caps under his belt.
‘Randall is the body we’ve been searching for, for what seems like forever now,’ said Rocks Coach Sterling Davis. ‘He’s a hard worker on both ends of the floor with a soft touch around the basket. He will definitely give us some added depth on our frontline.’
Hanke will travel with the Rocks to Leicester for Saturday’s encounter and then on to Plymouth on Sunday for what will be a tough away double header.
He is likely to make his home debut on 7 February when the Rocks face Worthing Thunder at Kelvin Hall, tip-off 5pm.
Bullish Davis added: ‘Our squad has grown in depth and with everyone fighting fit we have as good a chance as anyone in this league. We have a talented and athletic group of guys and we just need the belief to take us all the way.
‘Randall adds that extra height and strength which can help us down the stretch.’
The Rocks have announced the date of their Trophy competition second round match. The team progressed to the second round of the BBL Trophy competition with a 69-60 win over Sheffield Sharks in the first on 10 January.
They will now face the winner of London Capital v Everton Tigers in the second round, which is to be decided on 23 January.
The second round match will be played at Kelvin Hall on 11 February, tip-off 7.30pm.

Glasgow Rocks add firepower as Wolves come prowling

Glasgow Rocks have added firepower to their line-up with the arrival of Michael Crowell.

 

 

The six-feet-seven-inch forward is likely to join Sterling Davis’s squad for the 29 November encounter with Worcester Wolves at Kelvin Hall.

The arrival of the US/German player is timely, as Davis will sit out a one-match ban while his team take on the West Midlands outfit.

Crowell, who graduated from Division 1 Idaho University has played in Spain and Germany. He spent last season with Weissenhorn of the Basketball-Bundesliga.

Player/coach Davis said: ‘Michael will give us a little more depth offensively, especially with his ability to knock down the three-point shot in bunches.

‘He’s got a good size to him, especially for his position, which is always a plus for any coach because it causes such huge match-up problems when time to defend, but also works to our advantage defensively to be able to have a bigger defender on the perimeter.’

He added: ‘It’s hard to believe that a guy with his talent is still out there and has been throughout the course of the summer. I think he will definitely be an asset to what we are trying to accomplish here.’