A TEACHER at Queen Anne High School has won a national coaching award for his work in promoting the sport of cycle speedway.
Craig Masson, a principal teacher of support in guidance, received the Community Coach of the Year prize last night at the sportscotland Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards 2024.
Nearly 300 nominations, covering 34 different sports and all 32 local authorities across the country, were received by the national agency for sport as they celebrated those who make it happen and inspire, and enhance, the lives of others.
In 2016, Craig founded, and is the head coach of, Fife Cycle Speedway, which is based at its own custom-built track within the grounds of Queen Anne.
The club was formed after the success of giving youngsters at the school the opportunity to try the sport, and they have since gone on to win titles at Scottish level and in British Cycling's North and Scotland leagues.
It currently has around 45 members, making it one of the biggest clubs in the UK, and, in September, hosted the inaugural Scottish National Cycle Speedway Championships.
Craig joined the other award winners at a presentation ceremony, held at Glasgow City Chambers, to receive his accolade, and told Press Sport: "I'm obviously delighted that my work is being recognised, and the exposure that it will give cycle speedway now in Scotland.
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"Hopefully it encourages other people to get involved in the sport.
"I'm finding it hard to accept all the kind words and comments that people are making. That's not why I'm doing it - I'm doing it because I love the sport, and I want to get more people involved in it, but it is a lot of hard work to try and get it to where we're at at the moment.
"I don't like using the word humbled. I don't know what other words I can use, but yeah, I'm over the moon, and I'm delighted with all the nice comments that I'm getting for the work that I've done, and obviously getting the award.
"It's helped me realise the impact that there's been on people that have been involved in the club and the sport as a whole in Scotland, because I've never really noticed that.
"My goal has just been to get as many people as possible involved in it and, obviously, the by-product of that is helping grow the sport in Scotland, establishing new clubs in Scotland as well, just trying to raise the profile of it.
"Until all these comments have came in, and obviously being awarded the coach of the year award, I've never really appreciated the impact that my work has had on the sport and the people that have been involved in the club."
Fife Cycle Speedway welcome riders of all ages and backgrounds, providing a supportive environment that allows individuals to develop their skills and build confidence, whilst a loan system for bikes and basic kit means they can try the sport without the burden of expenses.
"It makes you reflect on all the work that you've done," Craig continued.
"I mean, thinking back to the beginning, we didn't even have any cycle speedway bikes. It was just a group of youngsters, starting out, using exercise bikes and a kind of dream of, this is what we can achieve. Then, through getting in contact with Edinburgh Falcons Cycle Speedway Club, we were able to borrow a couple of bikes from them, and then it's just kind of snowballed from there, to the point where we were getting more high schools and primary schools involved across the region.
"We've now got a track, utilising a piece of ground that was unused in the school to create a track. It's now one of the best tracks in the UK.
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"The work that we're doing up here has attracted quite prestigious events, culminating in probably more recently in the Scottish National Championship, so what started with a group of youngsters on exercise bikes with just a kind of dream, a vision of what could happen.
"It's amazing what we've achieved up to now and what we're hoping to achieve in the future still."
Another Fife sports coach, Ally Jack, Scottish Volleyball’s high performance indoor coach and coaching manager, was also feted and Forbes Dunlop, chief executive of sportscotland, said: "Every year the Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards give us the opportunity to celebrate the people across the country who have given so much of their time and dedication to Scottish sport, and are making such an impact on their sport and their community.
"Across Scotland, there are thousands of people who recognise the impact that sport can have on us all. The people we are celebrating have taken that recognition and ,with a huge amount of hard work, helped to change people's lives.
"Individuals like Craig and Ally have dedicated a huge amount of their time to helping others realise their sporting potential."
Next Saturday, on November 16, Craig is one of three nominees in the running for 'Volunteer of the Year' at Scottish Cycling's annual awards, in which the Scottish National Cycle Speedway Championships has also been shortlisted in the 'Event of the Year' category.
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