Our new block of tots to teens kids sports classes are now available to book. The new block will run from Monday 14th January to Friday 29th March 2019. There are a number of different classes to choose from. Click here for a full list of classes and how to book or call 0131 451 8400 or email events@oriam.hw.ac.uk

Oriam has hosted three of Scotland’s senior national teams on the same day for the first time in its history.

Sport stars from the national men’s and women’s football squads as well as the Scotland men’s rugby team arrived at the state-of-the-art facility on Monday 12 November to go through their paces ahead of some major fixtures.

The Scotland men’s football team travels to Albania for a crucial tie in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday 17 November, while the Scotland Women’s National Team take on USA in a friendly in Paisley on Tuesday 13 November.

Meanwhile, the Scotland’s men’s rugby team take on South Africa at BT Murrayfield on Saturday 17 November.

Ross Campbell, Executive Director at Oriam, said: “The arrival of three top sporting teams on the same day is a milestone for us and underlines the world-class facilities we have at our disposal. “We are one of the few places in the country where members of the public can train and stay active under the same roof as professional athletes. It’s a model that is going from strength-to-strength and we look forward to welcoming future and current sports stars.”

An outstanding display of military courage, respect and discipline was staged at Oriam last Thursday, 8 November. For the first time, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre hosted a Regimental Boxing Night in front of a cheering 900-strong crowd. A total of 20 boxers from The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) traded blows in the ring as they fought for battalion pride and bragging rights. Awards were handed out for the best boxer, most courageous boxer and finally, the champion battalion.

Afterwards, Ross Campbell, Executive Director at Oriam, praised the event, saying: “It is the first time we have hosted a Regimental Boxing Night but I’m sure it won’t be the last. There was a tremendous atmosphere all night and large events, such as this, once again show Oriam’s great versatility.“

Major Philip J Morgan Officer Commanding Alpha ‘Grenadier’ Company, said:  “It was an honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to hold the third iteration of this biennial event at the Oriam Sports Performance Centre.  A huge thank you, on behalf of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, goes to all involved – the Oriam staff, boxers and especially those who have kindly sponsored the event.  SCOTS soldiers must live by a bespoke set of values and standards which have come to the forefront this evening in the form of boxing – courage, respect and discipline.  There was an immense sense of Regimental pride in and out of the ring throughout the evening.”

Oriam opened its doors in 2016 and is located within the grounds of Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus. It provides state-of-the-art training facilities to Scotland’s elite athletes as well as to the general public.

The world of sport science is often governed by numbers; however, in a new blog post hosted by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Oriam sport scientists argue that numbers alone cannot explain any issue in its entirety. The blog uses sports injury research as its primary example. While objective data might tell us what injury prevention training methods or medical interventions theoretically work, only by actually speaking to end users can we understand why certain approaches are or aren’t adopted into real-world practice. The blog concludes that both quantitative (using numbers) and qualitative (using words) approaches are important when conducting scientific research that has impact in the applied setting. Numbers are important but word gets around.

You can read the full post here.

The Oriam Walking Football team competed in this year’s Algarve Walking Football Cup  on 5 and 6 October at the Browns Sports Centre near Vilamoura. It was the team’s first entry into the competition and our squad of eight (see the picture below) consisted of John Allan, Hasan Choudury, Ewan Connolly, Stewart Falconer, Les Hanratty, Jim Hastie, Willie Lumsden and Deric Oliver. We travelled with a lot of enthusiasm as well as a bit of trepidation and, it has to be said, pretty low expectations of how we would perform. Little did we know how things were going to turn out!

The format of the competition was quite complicated with 32 teams involved in an over 50 and an over 60 event and Oriam competed in the over 50 one along with 15 other teams, despite our average age of 64! Without going into too much detail, the tournament was extremely well organised and we are delighted to report that, despite the heat, the squad performed exceptionally well. We managed to win our initial qualifying group of four teams and then went on to achieve 6th position overall out of the sixteen teams in the competition. In addition, we reached the final of one of the four trophies on offer, missing out on silverware only in a penalty shoot out!

Over the course of the tournament, we beat teams from Browns, Ayr United and Exeter and drew with Sheffield Wednesday and another local Portuguese team. We were beaten into 6th place by Derby County and, in the final of a trophy, by a team from Canterbury. Everyone in the squad played their part with Les, Willie, Jim and Hasan getting amongst the goals for us in addition to Hasan saving two penalties in a shoot out with Exeter!

There was no doubt that we surpassed our expectations and it was a pleasure to represent everyone back at Riccarton and, of course, to be as successful as we were in doing so. We also had a pretty good time socially although it’s probably best not to say too much about the karaoke!

It is worth mentioning that Hearts Walking Football also had two teams competing and both had a number of players who play with us regularly at Oriam. They also performed very well and, overall, it was an excellent exercise in continuing to develop the reputation of walking football in Edinburgh. Roll on the 2019 tournament!

Through their recently established ‘innovation hub’ FC Barcelona has become one of the leading lights in the field of sport science, just as they are on the actual football field. Their latest resource entitled “Muscle Injury Guide: Prevention of and return to play from muscle injuries” was published and distributed to professional clubs worldwide this summer. Around 60+ applied practitioners and scientific researchers from all over the world contributed to the guide. Our very own Performance Sport Manager, Robert McCunn, co-authored two chapters contained within the 189 page manual aimed at applied practitioners working within football. The intention behind the guide is that it will be used as a reference document by medical teams within clubs when deciding how to design training programmes that both reduce injuries and help rehabilitate players who do suffer an injury.

Do professional club academies make life too comfortable for our country’s young footballers? In an article published in the latest issue of Nutmeg magazine, the Scottish football periodical, our Director of Sport, Performance & Health, Neil Gibson, addresses this question and shows that encountering some adversity along the way might actually help young players’ development.

Both print and digital versions of the latest issue can be ordered here.

Last night was the annual Team Scotland Awards dinner, hosted at the EICC. With a host of sporting stars, including medallists from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and recent European Championships in attendance, the evening was an inspirational celebration of their outstanding achievements, as well as the success of individuals, schools, clubs and teams across the whole of Scottish sport.

Great to see Scottish Rugby National Men lifting the Team of the Year award! Click here for the full story.

In short, yes! The latest issue of Nutmeg magazine, the Scottish football periodical, sees Robert McCunn (our Performance Sport Manager) interview Arsenal’s Head of Research & Development and find out why a scientific approach is worthwhile.

Both print and digital versions of the latest issue can be ordered here.