LIFE must be a beach when you spend your days playing volleyball on the white sands of the the Copacabana or the Gold Coast. Attempting to pursue a career in the sport amid the harsh Scottish climate, on the other hand, is less a question of shimmering seas and skimpy bikinis and more a matter of frozen sand and thermal underwear.

The weather on Portobello beach might have been playing ball yesterday as Team Scotland marked a year to go to next April’s Commonwealth Games by arranging for a number of hopefuls to try a sport which is on the roster for the first time, but Lynne Beattie and Melissa Coutts, the experienced duo which will lead up Scotland’s efforts in Australia, would simply love to sample some indoor sand.

“Every day we are down here and there have been some pretty rough conditions,” said Beattie. “There was one occasion when it was minus three when we got out the car and we couldn’t even get the spade into the sand. I don’t think they have to contend with that on the Gold Coast! But I am sure it can be an advantage for us, the discipline we need to come out every morning and deal with that.”

Beattie and Coutts are early birds, down here at ridiculous o’clock each morning in an attempt to take advantage of the most benign conditions, even if it means jumping around in the dark. But their devotion to volleyball doesn’t end there.

While the latter, a captain of England in her past life, is a former President of Volleyball Scotland, the former, who captained Team GB on the indoor version of the sport at London 2012, has a day job as regional development officer with the same organisation, where she bangs the drum for the sport across the land.

Beattie, also a former contestant on Deal or No Deal – she came away with £11,000 for her day’s work – is determined to drive a harder bargain for a sport which has had its funding cut by the exchequer in recent times.

“We come down here early morning so we probably get the best of the weather although during the winter that means that it is obviously dark,” said Beattie. “But we know we have to be in the sand to train. There is a benefit to being outside but throughout the winter an indoor facility would be amazing. We compete with teams from all across Europe who have umpteen indoor facilities. That is something that the Scottish volleyball federation are trying to get, although we obviously need some help from sponsors and investment to get it. It could change the whole sport in this country. And I hope that is possible for this coming winter. We are mad, but not everyone will come down and train in the winter like this.”

Only the top four teams in the Commonwealth will qualify automatically for the Gold Coast games, with a further eight included by the time the championships tick round, but the Scottish pair, currently ranked seventh, feel that returning home with a medal is a realistic target. Only last month they made history with the first ever Scottish win on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. It came in Sydney, of all places, against a rather shell-shocked Australian pairing.

“That was a really big win for us,” Beattie said. “I am sure they will know about us in the future.”