Month: July 2016

Reid Wins Historic Wimbledon Wheelchair Tennis Singles Title

Gordon Reid, Wimbledon Singles ChampionGordon Reid made Wimbledon history again on Sunday when he became the first ever wheelchair tennis men’s singles champion at The Championships. The British No.1 Reid defeated Sweden’s’ Stefan Olsson in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to win his second Grand Slam singles title.

World No.3 Reid took control early on in the first set and won it comfortably 6-1. After both players traded breaks of serve in the second set Reid took his opportunities to lead 5-3. Two games later successive errors from Olsson gave Reid two match points and although he hit a double fault on his first opportunity to seal the title, the 24-year-old Scot fired down an unreturnable serve to seal his place in the Wimbledon history books after 69 minutes.

“To win Wimbledon is an absolute dream. To do it here in front of the people I love, my friends and family, my coaches, with so much support. It’s great,” said Reid. “I got tight on my first match point but on my second one I just forced myself to breathe and relax. I’ll never forget this moment, it’s incredible and such a special moment. To be able to play singles here at Wimbledon is brilliant; I’ve had worse weekends for sure!”Gordon Reid

Reid’s historic singles achievement follows his doubles title from Saturday when he and Alfie became the first all-Brit partnership to win the Wimbledon wheelchair tennis men’s doubles title.

Photos courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Fife Paratriathlete Working for Triathlon Scotland

Stefan HogganStefan Hoggan from Auchtermuchty in Fife is now working for Triathlon Scotland as an Engagement Officer. Stefan’s remit is to try and encourage involvement of all communities in the sport regardless of age, gender or ability. Few high performance sports participants are offered the opportunity to work for a Scottish Governing Body in which they are involved. Stefan is delighted to be offered the opportunity to contribute to the development of the sport and those of us who know him well are confident he will be a success.

Stefan is being funded by British Triathlon as a performance Paratriathlete until November of this year. It is just over a year since he transferred from performance swimming to Paratriathlon and he has achieved so much in that time. Training in three disciplines as opposed to one is a daunting challenge for any athlete but he demonstrated good progress at Strathclyde Park in his most recent international Paratriathlon. Stefan’s swimming and cycling have improved immensely and when he arrived at the second transition he was in sixth place in his class. Running remains his greatest challenge and he dropped four places on the third and final stage of the race. Stefan undoubtedly gave everything on the day and was pleased with his performance. Since moving north to train with Fiona Lothian of Triathlon Scotland at Stirling Stefan is more settled and enjoying his training enormously.

Stefan has been a Scottish Disability Sport Academy athlete and is currently a member of the SDS Young Persons Panel. Throughout his career in sport Stefan has been committed to Disability Sport Fife and never misses the opportunity to turn out in Fife colours. As a junior he was a regular in the Fife Sportshall team and led from the front at all times. As a performance swimmer he was recognised by SDS, DSF and East Fife Sports Council for his contribution to performance swimming. Stefan may be a novice in Paratriathlon but many of us believe he has much more to offer this sport as a top performer.
Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Fife Track and Field Championships Top Junior

Callum Donaldson of Woodmill High SchoolCallum Donaldson from Woodmill HS was in outstanding form at the 2016 Disability Sport Fife (DSF) Track and Field Championships, excelling in the three individual events he contested. Callum was awarded the Gilbert Trophy, presented to DSF by Gil Cochrane, one of the many volunteer officials who support the event each year.

Callum recorded the fastest junior time of the day for 100 metres (13.5) and 800 metres (2:35.2) and threw the softball 36.60 metres to register the longest senior or junior throw of the Championships. Callum was presented with the Gilbert Trophy just before the end of the school term by his Principal teacher at Woodmill HS, Janice Graves.

Callum has a future in track and field and every effort is being made to encourage him to follow in the footsteps of Woodmill High School’s most famous athlete Owen Miller. Being involved in the Fife Track and Field Championships and the Scottish Disability Sport Cross Country Championships opened up so much for Owen and he has not looked back since. Perhaps in Callum Fife has another young athlete to follow in his footsteps.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife.

Fife Inclusive Tennis Partnership

Gordon Reid training Stirling Uni May 08

For the past two years, Disability Sport Fife (DSF) has successfully run an inclusive performance football Academy programme in conjunction with the Scottish FA Football Development Officers who are part of Active Fife. With support from Tennis Scotland and Scottish Disability Sport, DSF has worked in partnership with Alan Russell Head Coach of Dunfermline Tennis Club to run a parallel Academy Tennis programme for pupils with additional support needs.

The opportunity to participate was offered to all secondary schools across Fife with departments for pupils with additional support needs. Woodmill HS in Dunfermline and Balwearie HS in Kirkcaldy accepted the offer enthusiastically and during the final weeks of the summer term, 61 pupils with additional support needs were introduced to tennis within school time.

Michael Russell, Alan Russell, Diane Taylor and Mathew Forrest from Dunfermline Tennis Club were the coaches involved with support from school staff. Dunfermline Tennis Club is now offering tennis coaching, games and Cardio Tennis for participants with a physical, sensory or learning disability of all levels of ability during July and August as a follow up to the in school sessions. All Tennis Academy attendees have been offered the opportunity to take part.

The sessions will run on the following Sundays, 2pm – 2.45pm:

  • 17th July
  • 24th July
  • 7th August
  • 14th August
  • 21st August

The cost for each session will be £2 per participant. To book a place in any of the sessions, please email coach@dunfermlinetennis.co.uk.

As well as the tennis clubs in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy, Falkland Tennis Club and Newport Tennis Club have expressed an interest in promoting inclusive tennis. DSF also offers indoor short tennis as part of the racquet sports session offered every Monday evening at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre.

DSF is indebted to Dunfermline Tennis Club Head Coach Alan Russell for his enthusiasm and determination to promote disability tennis. The five sessions during July and August, coupled with the six weeks of Academy Tennis, demonstrate clearly that there is commitment in Fife to inclusive tennis from a range of partners.

The Football Academy programme is now well established and seven schools benefitted this year from quality coaching from very experienced Scottish FA coaches like Dave Costello. The first year of the Tennis Academy programme has been judged a success and hopefully will be repeated in the summer of 2017. DSF now plans to turn its attention to an Academy badminton programme for players with additional support needs to run throughout 2016/2017.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

 

National Football 5-a-side Championships 2016

Junior A winners Glasgow AbercornScottish Disability Sport (SDS) and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) were delighted to join forces once again with support from the Sports Council for Glasgow and the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) to deliver the National 5-a-side football Championships at Glasgow Green. Scottish Disability Sport is grateful for the support the Sports Council for Glasgow and the SFP has provided for our National Football Championships.

A large entry of 50 teams from around Scotland descended on Glasgow Green to participate in the SDS/ SFA National Championships on a gloriously sunny day, making it two years in a row on the sunshine front which is a first for this event!

David McArdle of the SFA organised an excellent day’s football with teams representing 12 member branches and three non-member areas competing across eleven groups in five sections. The combining of A Class and B Class players in the Premier Division has allowed teams a much more competitive environment and accommodates teams that would otherwise not play many matches.

It proved to be a very successful tournament for teams from the West of Scotland, with all 5 competitions being won by teams from this region, demonstrating the strength of the clubs and players in this area. Firhill emerged victorious in the Premiership division defeating Highland in the final in a repeat of last year’s result, Blantyre claimed the Championship title with victory over Glasgow and St Mirren Monday Marvels won the League 1 division with Stirling City All Stars finishing runners up with South Lanarkshire’s Blantyre finishing third.

Lothian schools team once again found themselves in the Junior A section and following their defeat by North Lanarkshire’s Buchanan HS last year hoped for a different outcome this time. Unfortunately their opponents this time – Glasgow’s Abercorn – once again proved slightly too strong for the team from the East again and the silver medal went back east along the M8 again. Glasgow proved too strong for Highland in the Junior B section to complete the clean sweep for the West of Scotland.

What was extremely positive to see was the increase in number of teams from nine of the branches and areas competing.

Scottish Disability Sport and the Scottish Football Association are grateful for the input of Brian Martin for providing officials, who supplemented their referees with students from City of Glasgow College.

Junior WBB Fun and Success at Regional Champs in Stirling

Junior Wheelchair BasketballJunior players from across Scotland gathered for the inaugural Wheelchair Basketball ‘Regional Junior Championships’, at the Peak in Stirling.  The Championships form an important step in the talent pathway for young players, with many progressing onto Scotland honours.

The competition was split into two age groups –  U13s, playing 3v3 on 8ft sized hoops, and the U19s playing 5v5 on 10ft sized hoops.  Several of the games were so tightly fought they went to double overtime.

Tina Gordon, wheelchair basketball development officer for basketballscotland commented: “This is such a fantastic day for the development of junior wheelchair basketball.  The quality of play and camaraderie between players, has certainly made for a fun and exciting atmosphere.”

The event was sponsored by RGK Wheelchairs and supported by Scottish Disability Sport, Active Stirling, the Peak Sports Village, Stirling Knights, Stirling Sainsbury’s and The Lord’s Taverners.  RGK Wheelchairs also provided the award for the Most Valuable Player, which was awarded to Morwenna Hastings, representing Highlands.

Final placings:

U13s

  1. East
  2. Tayside & Fife
  3. West
  4. Grampian and Central

U19s

  1. West
  2. East
  3. Tayside & Fife
  4. Grampian and Highlands
  5. Central

SDS National Performance Swimming Championships

University of Stirling

June 2016

National Performance49 swimmers from across Scotland travelled to Stirling University pool to compete at the SDS National long Course Performance Championships on Sunday 12th June.

The event was a huge success hosting a record total of 168 swims, of which 54 swimmers achieved Personal Bests, and an astonishing 75 new times were recorded (for long course distance). Also 15 swimmers from across the country underwent a 2 day Classification process whereby they were to be classified for the first time, or reviewed. Feedback from swimmers suggested the process to be efficient and professional.

Scottish Records

Rosie Sheridan, a 12 year old swimmer from Central who underwent the Classification process for the first time this weekend, also achieved a new Scottish Record in the SB6 50m breaststroke with a time of 1:13.44.

Thanks to Paul Noble announcing the event was seamless with OBE Jim Anderson presenting medals throughout, and launching his new book ‘Jim the Swim’.

A well appreciative thanks goes out to;

  • all the officials, timekeepers and announcer
  • Paul Wilson at Scottish Swimming
  • SDS Regional Development Managers
  • Stirling University pool for supporting the event and making the day a huge success

For more information on the event please contact Cheryl Willet – SDS Regional Development Manager (Central) cheryl.willet@scottishdisabilitysport.com / Phone: 07577 830360

Appeal for Tandems Pilots for Visually Impaired Riders

Andy and Fraser 4Scottish Cycling and Glasgow life are working in partnership to develop track cycling for people with a disability.  One of the key focusses going forward is the recruitment of pilot cyclists to support visually impaired riders on a tandem.

If you are a cyclist who is interested in getting involved in this programme please follow the link below to an article in the Evening Times. The article tells the story of Fraser Kane, who transferred to the sport (from swimming) after being inspired by Neil Fachie and Craig McLean, who won double Gold, at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

http://m.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14534256.Appeal_launched_for_cyclists_to_pilot_tandems_for_visually_impaired_riders/?ref=twtrec

For more information please contact Gordon Watson on gordon.watson@glasgowlife.org.uk

Lothian Disability Sport School Calendar of Events

LDS CoELothian Disability Sport continue to aim to provide participation opportunities for individuals with a physical, learning or sensory impairment and the School Calendar of Events provides the platform for many athletes / players to begin their sporting pathway in a host of sports.

Regional Schools Programme

Lothian Disability Sport works closely with Active Schools Coordinators and Sports Development Officers across all four local authorities to facilitate the Schools Programme and this partnership is imperative to continue the development of the events within the calendar.  In addition to the local authorities, the calendar works in partnership with an array of organisations and Scottish Governing Bodies to help deliver events in football, boccia, swimming, badminton and athletics, both sportshall and track& field.

The fourteen Regional events has seen 765 young people access the School Programme throughout the 2015/2016 academic year and engaged over 40 schools from across the Edinburgh and the Lothians, showing how well established the calendar is throughout the region.  In addition to these opportunities, Lothian has had representation at seven Scottish Disability Sport National Junior Events, with 99 young people given the opportunity to participate against their peers from across the country.

Some highlights of the 2015/2016 calendar include the Paralympic Experience Event, the inaugural table tennis event and the rise in number of swimmers accessing the Regional School Swim Qualifier.   The Paralympic Experience Event is the flagship opportunity in the calendar that targets young people from the mainstream environment with a physical or sensory impairment only, aiming to engage young people who have found access to sport limited.  This event relies heavily on the partnership work between LDS, SDS and Active Schools Coordinators in all local authorities – requiring a significant amount of work to ensure the event is reaching the targeted young people.  The event continues to rise with record number of sign ups achieved again this year (64) and also continues to offer a direct pathway into club sport as local coaches and volunteers deliver on the day and provide a direct link – 59% young people accessing further disability sport opportunities from the 2014 / 2015 event.  The table tennis event was introduced to this year’s calendar and was led by local club Murrayfield Table Tennis Club and supported by Edinburgh Active Schools & Sports Development and senior pupils from Royal HS, reinforcing the importance of partnership work to establish and develop an event.

The School Calendar for 2016/2017 will continue to offer competitive and participation opportunities in a wide range of sports.  The forthcoming year will see the introduction of Triathlon event within the calendar with developments ongoing with local clubs and sports governing body.

Fife Bowlers Retain Inter Area Trophy

Inter Area Bowls 2016On behalf of Scottish Disability Sport, Disability Sport Fife (DSF), with support from the members of the Beveridge Park Bowling Club hosted the 2016 Scottish Inter Area Championships for Bowlers with a Learning Disability. Beveridge Park BC President John Clark welcomed teams from Lothian, West of Scotland and defending champions Fife to the club for the second time in six years. Despite overcast conditions and intermittent light rain throughout the day, the event was judged a great success by participants, support coaches and spectators.

DSF bowls coordinator Math Thomson encouraged the involvement of volunteer markers from the Beveridge Park BC, Fair Isle BC, Dysart BC, Gallatown BC, St Clair BC and Dovecot bowling clubs. A strong team of volunteers organised breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea for the participants and the green was prepared magnificently by the club for the occasion. Players and officials dodged a few challenging showers but the only downpour of the day was fortunately reserved for the last few minutes of the final session.

The unique format of the Inter Area Bowls competition offers six male and six female representative bowlers to contest singles, pairs and triples over three sessions. Each Area Team has a male and female A and B team and all players play for team points towards the overall title.

Lothian challenged strongly for the title in 2015, but an under strength 2016 team played Fife in the first session and despite outstanding play and maximum points for the women players, the session ended with Fife ahead by 17 points to 7. Session two brought together West of Scotland and Lothian and once again the Lothian women were in fine form but the men found the formidable West team consistent, accurate and playing well as a team. The final score of 19 to 5 enabled the West players to take a two point lead into the final session against double champions Fife. When the Inter Area Championship was first held in Fife in 2010, West and Fife shared the title and West won the title outright in 2012.

The competition was set for a grand finale. It was the Fife women who set the pace with a clean sweep of victories and a maximum 12 points. In the men’s matches, West of Scotland won the A triples and B singles but the in form defending champions from Fife were dominant in the A team singles and pairs and B team pairs and triples. Darryl Stewart led the B Team and collected the Inter Area Trophy on behalf of Team Fife. Team Fife ended the day with 37 points, West of Scotland 23 points and Lothian 12 points. Bowlers now turn their attention to the SDS Scottish Lawn Bowls Championships in Aberdeen at the beginning of September.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife