Earlier this week, I spent a day at the Scottish Schools’ Indoor Track and Field Championships which took place at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow’s east end.

Over the course of two days, more than 1,300 boys and girls from 200 schools all across Scotland ran, jumped and threw but this was much more than a mere school sports day.

Almost certainly, at least a couple of members of the next generation of Scotland’s athletics talent will have been present at the Emirates this week.

A particularly notable performance came from Erin Wallace from East Renfrewshire who broke 2016 Olympian Beth Potter’s 1500m age-group record but the 16-year-old was just one of a number of young athletes who have the potential to make the notoriously tricky transition into the senior ranks.

The youngsters certainly do not have to look far for inspiration at the moment, with Scottish Athletics at an all-time high. In Laura Muir, we have a world No.1. In Eilidh Doyle, we have an Olympic medallist. And in the Hawkins brothers, we have a pair of distance runners who have the potential to make a real mark on the global scene.

And these are to name but a few.

Fifteen Scots made it into the British track and field team for Rio 2016, the highest number for more than 100 years.

That the majority of Scotland’s Olympians learned their trade in their home country has had an impact on the next generation of Scottish athletes. When I spoke to race winners at these Scottish Schools Championships, they were acutely aware of the fact the current Scottish internationalists came through the same system that they are currently a part of.

The importance of this cannot be underestimated. While young athletes may see Usain Bolt as a hero, it is somewhat harder to relate to the Jamaican superstar than it is to relate to someone who grew up around the corner from you.

The success of Scottish athletes has not happened by accident though. At the end of last year I spoke to the chairman of the national governing body, Ian Beattie, who stressed time and time again that, five or six years ago, the organisation decided to put a concerted effort into developing their club system.

It is, therefore, no coincidence that the athletes who benefited from being a part of those clubs are now excelling on the world stage.

It is a model that every sport is Scotland should take note of. There are still too many sports which, in my view, rely too heavily on having one national centre and are hell-bent on having everything coming out of there.

I have heard first-hand stories of young athletes who have been cut out of the system due to their reluctance to commit to training at their national centre.

Bear in mind that national centres are primarily in the central belt and with kids still at school, attendance can often require considerable travel. In contrast, athletics made it their priority to ensure that the standard of their local clubs was raised meaning that almost every kid had high level training on their doorstep.

Of course, the majority will still never make it to Olympic standard but with this system, the only barrier is themselves. In contrast, the focus on one single performance centre disqualifies too many young athletes on the basis of logistics or finances.

It is not merely the manageable logistics of a club system that make it important though. By its very nature, a national centre separates the very best from the up-and-coming.

It was a real eye-opener to speak to young kids at the Scottish Schools Championships who trained with the cream of Scotland’s elite. 14 year-old David McNair from Kilbarchan trains with Callum Hawkins.

Joe Ewing from Edinburgh trains with Lynsey Sharp. There will be more examples. The value of seeing an Olympian – and their training methods – up close and personal cannot be underestimated.

The benefits of being part of a club system where teenagers can often train with world-leading athletes means that it raises the entire standard. It is no coincidence that, in the sport I spent over two decades in, badminton, there has never been a club structure and so the gap between the top layer of players and the next one down is shockingly vast.

It remains to be seen if Scottish Athletics can maintain this level of elite performance. Sport does go in cycles and this could, potentially, just be a random high point. This seems unlikely though.

The evidence at the Scottish Schools Championships suggests there are plenty of young athletes to fill the shoes of Laura Muir, Eilidh Doyle, Andrew Butchart and the rest. Developing a robust club structure does not happen overnight. But Scottish Athletics has proven that neither does it necessarily take decades.

There are few sports in Scotland which are growing at the rate of athletics both at elite level and grassroots. It shouldn’t take a genius to spot the link between that improvement and a strong club system.