Gourlay named coach of the year

David Gourlay has been named high performance coach of the year at the sportscotland Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards.

The accolade caps a great year for David, who led the Team Scotland lawn bowls squad to a record haul of medals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in April, and was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June. 

David was unable to be in Glasgow at the awards ceremony on Thursday night as he was travelling to London to receive his MBE at Buckingham Palace on Friday morning. Bowls Scotland chair Sue Beatt collected the award on his behalf.

"I am extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award," he said. "I am very grateful for the recognition myself and bowls has received especially when you consider the wealth of talented coaches there are in Scotland."

He highlighted the support he has received from sportscotland, particularly Aileen McGillivray, who has guided the high performance programme, and made special mention of his players.

"A coach is only as good as their squad and we have one hell of a squad in bowls. We are blessed in Scotland to have some of the best bowlers in the world and I would like to pay tribute to their dedication, professionalism and the constant juggling of the demands of our programme with work and family commitments."

Congratulations to David from everyone at Bowls Scotland.