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bluearmyboy · Finding Ma' Way Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 19

I was watching the Commonwealth games and saw that a Scots girl (McClatchie?) won some gold medals. Excellent.

Then came the interview. Never heard more of an English accent in my life!. Turns out that she was born in Portsmouth (Can't get much further away than that) and now lives in the Heart of England in Northampton. Has never lived in Scotland as far as I know. Only reason she represents Scotland is that her parent(s) are Scottish.

But does it matter?. Monty Panesar and Owais Shar have just had fantastic games for the Cricket World Champions. They also live in England though. Is this the difference?

On the other hand Zola Budd was a complete travesty running for England in the US Olympics - shameful!

Question is; does it really matter that people representing a Country have nothing at all to do with that Country.

Any comments?

azzuri · 'Our Scotland' Fossil Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 3777

It depends - I wouldn't say she has nothing to do with the country if both her parents are Scottish.

If she feels more an affinity with Scotland than England then she is welcome to compete with us. I certainly wouldn't grudge a person with English parents living in Scotland representing England.

At the end of the day it's up to personal preference. In the interviews she seem thrilled that she could win medals for Scotland. Chances are her parents have become more proud of being Scottish since they moved away, and have instilled this feeling in her. If it means she's more likely to go that extra mile and win a medal because she's pulling on the blue and white of Scotland than the red and white of England then good on her.

On the other end of the spectrum if she wanted to compete for England then again I would have no complaints. If someone born here of foreign parents wanted to represent Scotland then I would welcome them with open arms. At the end of the day you should want to compete for your national team and if someone wants to represent Scotland over England or vice versa then there is no point criticising them for it otherwise.

It's been said on a number of occasions lately that the morale in the Scotland camp is excellent and all of the athletes share a great affinity - it might be more to do with this than anything else why Scotland are doing so well in these games.
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SLG · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

I agree. If folk want to represent Scotland and are able to do so then fine. I do question the motives of some of our sporting bodies who go looking for folk with a sometimes tenuous Scots connection just to boost our performance. IMO this makes a mockery of international competition.

A lot of our athletes are based in England in order to have access to the best facilities.

bluearmyboy · Finding Ma' Way Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 19

Good points.

How would you guys feel about a local say footballer, born in Dundee, broad Scots accent, lives and works in Dundee yet plays football for England because his parents are English. He is a product of Scotland, your resources have been invested in him yet he chooses to represent another Country. Wouldn't you take that as a xxxxing insult? I know I would.

Perhaps we should have the 5 year residency rule that I think they have in Rugby, or has that been abandoned?

azzuri · 'Our Scotland' Fossil Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 3777

.....accent and residency have nothing to do with it.

Of course it would be irritating as you want the best players representing your country - but I wouldn't want someone playing for Scotland unless they really wanted to. It is more likely they will put in better performances for a team they actually want to represent.

Pride in a nation doesn't come from being born there, living there, working there etc. It comes from within and wanting to do your best to represent that place.
_________________
"Every single person on this planet is unique. Just like everyone else..." - Random Guy in Edinburgh Pub

Possibly the funniest site in the world, 'The Daily Mash' - http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/

bluearmyboy · Finding Ma' Way Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 19

You might be right, but if you follow that logic through, anyone could represent any Country they like, just because it suits them/they feel like it/it's better for their bank balance. National teams would become like professional football teams; just a bunch of mercenaries, surely they must have SOME connection to the Country they are representing? residency, parentage, language

I'll quote again the shamefull Zola Budd thing.

I would find it very difficult supporting England if it were filled with say 3 Frenchment, 2 Italians and a couple of Brazilians; that to me ain't an English team. I'd prefer to lose!!

SLG · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:27 pm Post subject:

If it's about representing a country, there needs to be a link. How strong a link should be required is debatable. I would think either residency - a 5 year rule or suchlike or a parental link would be the two criteria. If someone has two English parents, I think they should be perfectly entitled to represent England. If someone else moves to England an adopts it as their home (a la Peter Nicol) then they should also be allowed to become English. It's disappointing when it happens, but if I had kids grow up outside Scotland, I would still want them to feel at least party Scots, and to represent Scotland if they were any good at a sport.

Cymro · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject:

If a person feels they are Scottish or English then they should represent that team. If she was born and bred in England yet sees herself as a Scot due to her parents then good on her for representing Scotland. As for the likes of McGeady from Celtic who went to play for Eire, I can see why he would do it but its a shame.

If however a sportsman cashes in on their parents or grandparents just in order to play football or make a name for themselves or cant get into a 'better' team such as lets say England then I would not be impressed.