When it comes to surmounting hurdles, Pat Rollo remains peerless among her compatriots. Her skill at overcoming barriers has endured since the spikes were cast aside and has become central in establishing a culture of sport in her native Fife.

The 46-year-old is now a PE teacher and active schools coordinator at Bell Baxter High in Cupar. But once, she was Scotland's finest female sprint hurdler. Indeed, the 13.35 seconds she took to complete the 100m hurdles one summer's day in 1983 remains a national record.

The mark is as indelible as her date of birth, her mind maintaining the memory of a rare victory against an athlete's most bitter enemy, the clock. But the inexorable tick-tock towards tomorrow has advanced to the point where none of her pupils - her potential successors - were even born when that benchmark was set.

Rollo now dedicates her time to helping those students try to erase her name from the record books in her recently assumed role as assistant to Sandy Robertson, the national hurdles coach. Any suspicions of a conflict of interest are quickly quashed.

"I really didn't think the time would last this long," she admits in a break from torturing teenagers with the annual December ritual of Scottish country dancing. "It's nice but in another way disappointing that hurdles haven't moved on in Scotland. I'm now actively helping others to beat it but I'm not as heavily involved as I'd like to be because it's too difficult to find enough time with all the extra-curricular school sport."

Such is the life of an active schools coordinator. Created by sportscotland in conjunction with local councils several years ago, the role aims to address the shortfall in coaching outside the regular curriculum. The basic premise is to "try to get more children, more active, more often" and give the youth of today opportunities that have dwindled amid teachers' strikes, child safety scares and the sale of sports pitches.

The position meshes with Rollo's standard teaching duties and affords her one day a week and a modest budget to focus on improving the sporting provision. For someone who has been involved in the management of athletics teams at national level, the logistical difficulties of "filling the gaps, doing the things other staff don't" has come naturally, as has overseeing the school's various teams.

"For me, it's really about trying to give youngsters the same opportunities I had," Rollo says. "Then they can hopefully go on to be either similar or better athletes than I was - maybe even beat my record. When I think back to the amount of time staff at school put in to make me what I was, it makes me feel I should do something similar."

It is for one particular aspect of her job that Rollo has attracted wider attention, though. As team manager of Bell Baxter's U18 rugby XV, the daughter of former Scotland prop David has been the hub of their Bell Lawrie Cup exploits in recent years, helping the side win the prestigious schools' tournament last season.

The team's defence of their title was ended by North Berwick High in the last 16 little over a week ago, but the pathways Rollo has helped nurture between the school sides and Howe of Fife, the local senior club, have stemmed the loss of players to the sport once they graduate from secondary education.

"After winning the cup last year I couldn't believe how much support we got from the community and the momentum built from there," says the Cupar native. "Basically, just a road separates us from the club and because the boys have been playing together since Primary 5 or 6, they've made bonds and that's why guys who move away from the area continue to play for the club - it becomes a social thing."

Rollo refuses to accept plaudits for her work, insisting that those involved behind the scenes in sport prefer the shadows. She will confess to savouring any attention not prefixed with reference to her heritage but brushes off the idea of herself as a local hero.

"In my eyes, I have an understated role in the background where I'm a facilitator," she insists. "I have had a bit of coverage over the years, but I still find it all quite unreal and can't get used to it."

That is, it appears, one of the few barriers Rollo has failed to overcome.