Belmont Academy student Craig McClelland has recently been selected for the GB squad in Handball.

Craig has been playing Handball since August 2014 when he was approached by Ayr Handball Club to help out as goalkeeper at a training session. He was invited to sign for the season and the team finished second in the Men’s Division 2 resulting in promotion.

As a result of this Craig was invited to be part of the Scotland Under 18 squad for season 2015-16 and the team experienced early success against England winning the Viking Cup in August.

Craig has continued to train and play with both Ayr and the Scotland Under 18 squad over the year and has shown steady improvement in the specialised position of goalkeeper.

Training and selection sessions for the GB squad have taken place over 2 days at Manchester in January, and 4 days in Nottingham in April and the numbers were reduced after each session until the final 16 players were chosen.

Craig has been selected for the final squad and he now has a programme of training and competitions that will see him travel to Oldham, Manchester, Portugal and Turkey in preparation for the European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia in August 2016.

Well done Craig!