Frustrated mums and dads are hoping parent power will prove instrumental in helping to secure millions of pounds in funding to transform local sports in Moray.
Angered by the state of athletics facilities, and bidding to take advantage of positive momentum generated by the Olympics, the group has formed to put pressure on local and central government, and decision-makers.
The move follows renewed calls for a new Moray-based regional sports facility, estimated to cost £6.5 million, which is still on Moray Council’s radar but has not secured funding.
Adult members of the newly-formed Moray TRACK (Training, Running and Athletics for the Community and the Kids) are looking for radical improvements, and quickly.
As parents of youngsters involved with the Moray Road Runners Group, they say that for too long their sons and daughters have had to contend with a sub-standard and unmarked track, covered in clover and weeds, at Morriston Playing Fields in Elgin.
The council’s failure to pick up cut grass makes it dangerous for athletes when it is wet, they say.
It has become all too much for parents, said Laura Gibson from Elgin, one of the mums at the forefront of the new group.
Ms Gibson said: "It’s parents at the moment but it doesn’t have to stay as parents. We want representation from all the levels – anyone who sees the worth of improving sporting facilities in the area," she said.
"There’s already a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of new faces coming out of the woodwork. It’s for everyone and the benefits are for everyone.
"The main motivation was actually seeing how talented the athletes are that train at Morriston, and how much better they could be with better facilities. They are winning through adversity at the moment."
Ms Gibson said the group is planning to get in touch with fitness instructors and other sports clubs to obtain their support. "We are interested in anybody who might be interested. They do not necessarily have to be affiliated to a club," she added.
"I do think things are beginning to move in the right direction. A lot of clubs have slogged away for years and years, but the climate now seems to have changed with the Olympics.
"The Olympics have switched people’s brains on and now people are thinking that we have the Commonwealth Games in two years as well.
"Hopefully, now the climate has changed, central government will follow through with its pledges to put sport at the forefront. Hopefully, they will make more money available."
According to Ms Gibson, the track and facilities currently available to Moray athletes, at Morriston, require major improvement.
"It would be laughable if you didn’t have to deal with it yourself," she said.
For the full story, including the reaction of young Moray athletes to the state of local sports facilities, see this week's 'Northern Scot'
