North Ayrshire Active Schools Commonwealth countdown

With Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games just around the corner, North Ayrshire Active Schools have been hosting a series of events alongside local schools and venues.

Co-created and ran alongside young people, the end of January saw the latest in a series of exciting sports opportunities to encourage North Ayrshire primary school pupils to get moving and realise their potential via sport and leadership.

At the Portal in Irvine, the first highlight was the Active Schools Commonwealth Games Legacy Primary Basketball Tournament, taking place on Thursday 29 January.

Welcoming 11 primary schools overall, pupils gave it their all, attending to participate in an action-packed morning of games.

In a round-robin format, P5, P6 and P7 showcased their skills on the basketball court and the afternoon saw some incredible top division teams impressing the audience, slam dunking some amazing baskets on the day!

Loudoun Montgomery, Winton, Ardeer, Blacklands, St Palladius, Montgomerie Park, Castlepark, Glebe, Stanley, West Kilbride and St John’s primary schools were all in attendance.

North Ayrshire’s Young People’s Champion, Councillor Chloe Robertson, shared: “Well done to our young basketball superstars! What a way to kick off 2026’s busy calendar of Playground to Podium events.

“Perfectly encapsulating the recent sportscotland priority focus of getting moving, the basketball tournament was a brilliant networking opportunity for our pupils alongside Active Schools coordinators and volunteers to widen their participation and develop skills and confidence on the basketball court while connecting with pupils they wouldn’t normally get a chance to from other schools.”

West Kilbride Primary came out on top as the overall winners, followed by Winton Primary (2nd place) and Montgomerie Park (3rd place). Castlepark Primary pupils also really impressed. Then, the worthy winners from the two development leagues were St John's Primary School (League 2 winners) and Stanley Primary School (League 3 winners).

The basketball star pupils shared on the day comments such as: "The other schools gave us some really good competition" and: "It was good to play with new faces and also show others what we can do!”

Then, in Largs on Friday 30 January, the team held the North Ayrshire Commonwealth Games Champions Conference at Sportscotland’s Inverclyde National Sports Centre. The event was hosted for primary 7 pupils – two per school – who are working in their own schools to champion the Commonwealth Games and inspire their peers.

54 pupils attended overall with 27 schools in attendance. The event was a chance to spotlight how North Ayrshire Active Schools is providing different sports opportunities during and after school and preparing primary pupils for some amazing leadership programmes as they prepare for their transition to secondary school.

Pupils also had the welcome surprise arrival of Commonwealth Games Mascot, Finnie, who shared several high fives and energised the young people ahead of training workshops on the day.

Pupils were split into Commonwealth Games countries including Scotland, Australia, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Barbados and Canada and under the supervision of Team Inspire leaders – just one of several youth programmes operated by NA Active Schools within North Ayrshire schools – they all took part in a series of practical sports and leadership workshops.

Workshops included a question and answer session with Commonweath Athlete and Silver Medallist Badminton player Eleanor O’Donnell, an inclusive and accessible practice session, and practical event planning skills before ending the day with a tour of the Inverclyde training centre.

Both events are part of North Ayrshire’s Playground to Podium campaign – the official countdown to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, where our baton is currently touring schools across our six localities.

Aligned with the ten sports of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, future events will bring together schools and community groups to create opportunities that encourage participation, growth, and progression at every sporting level – stay tuned to North Ayrshire Active Schools on Facebook for updates.

Published: 12 February 2026