Ex-Dalziel High School pupil Christopher McCrum (17) will shortly make the transatlantic trip to Illinois to start a four-year course studying PE, professional coaching and sports science at Augustana University in South Dakota.

And securing the international student academic award will also allow Christopher to play American football for Augustana, enabling him to live his dream of playing at NCAA level.

Christopher, of Sharp Street, has been playing wide receiver with the Clyde Valley Hawks American football team and has also been showing his pace as a sprinter with Motherwell Athletics Club.

His award comes directly from Augustana University and was dependent on both his academic profile and sporting potential.

Christopher achieved two As and three Bs in his Highers and also had results from his US SATS exams taken into account. Overall this put him in the top 10 per cent.

His sporting ability was recorded on DVD and posted on the NCAA student information web, allowing universities to examine his potential and suitability as a student/athlete.

Chris is thrilled to have landed the scholarship award.

He said: "It has always been my goal to do this. American football is my main sport — the athletics is a way of helping me do that — so this means everything to me."

He said he wanted to thank all those who had helped him in his career so far, including the track and field coaches at Motherwell AC, the coaches of Carluke Predators and Clyde Valley American football sides, PE staff at Dalziel and Jim at Lau Gar Kung Fu.