Mark Makes the Grade for China

Midlothian teenager Mark Robertson has been selected as the youngest player in the 12-strong Great Britain football squad due to compete in the seven-a-side competition for athletes with cerebral palsy at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China this summer.

Seventeen year old Mark - now an apprentice mechanic - started playing football as a pupil at Beeslack High School in Penicuik.

Gill Pye - his former PE teacher at Beeslack High - made the first contact with the manager of the Scotland international cerebral palsy team to suggest that he come along and have a look at Mark’s skills.

Since then, Mark has been coached by Keith Wright - an SFA football development officer with Midlothian Council - who explained, “Although he only started three years ago, he has been a regular player in our Bank of Scotland Midnight league programme organised through the Midlothian Council and Scottish Football Association partnership.

“Mark is now regularly selected for the Scottish International Cerebral Palsy Team and - at the recent World Cup Games in Brazil he was awarded Young Player Of The Tournament”.

Mark commented; “Being selected to play both for my country - and now also as a member of the ParalympicsGB squad in China - is a great honour, which I have been able to achieve only through the support and encouragement of my coaches and team-mates at Midlothian. ”

Mark’s achievements have also been recognised in the Midlothian Council Sports Awards 2008 - where he was Highly Commended in the Junior Individual category

Councillor Jim Muirhead, Cabinet Member for Education and Communities - who presented the Midlothian Sports Awards - added, “We are delighted at Mark’s achievements and wish him and all his ParalympicsGB team-mates all the best for China.”

The 2008 Paralympic Games are due to be held in China from September 6th - 17th, two weeks after the Olympic Games but at the same venues. The Paralympic Games are a multi-sport event for athletes with physical or sensorial disabilities - including mobility disabilities, amputees, visual disabilities and those with cerebral palsy. The Paralympic Games are held every four years, following the Olympic Games, and are governed by the International Paralympic Committee. The Paralympic Games should not be confused with the Special Olympics World Games, which are for people with intellectual disabilities.