On Sunday 25 September 2016, an enthusiastic group of coaches attended an Inclusive Bowls Coaching Workshop at the Ambassador Indoor Bowling Centre in Prestwick.

The purpose of the workshop was to allow participants to gain a greater understanding of inclusion for bowlers with a physical, sensory or learning disability, as well as giving them an insight into the classification process within bowls and knowledge of adaptation of the young persons’ bowls pack.

The tutors for the day were amongst the best in Scotland – Bob Dick and Ron McArthur, National Coaches for the Scottish Disability Bowls Squad; Richard Brickley MBE, one of only three International Bowls for the Disabled classifiers within the UK; and Val Wright, tutor for Bowls Scotland.

Each delegate attended four workshops which focussed on specific dimensions of bowls for bowlers with a disability. The day was concluded with a stimulating question and answer panel session with four of Scotland’s leading bowlers, John Wardrope, Robert Barr, Mary Wilson and John Hughes, a member of the Scottish team who played in the IBD World Championships in New Zealand 2015.

The day was a resounding success, with all the coaches taking a great deal of learning from the experience. An exciting development is that a session for bowlers with a disability is planned in the near future in the West of Scotland. Our thanks must be extended to the tutors, bowlers for sharing their experience, and the Ambassador Indoor Bowling Centre for making us so very welcome.

For further details, or if you would like to become involved in disability bowls, please contact Ron McArthur, SDS Inclusive Bowls Performance Development Manager, on ron.mcarthur@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 07788 878 470.

Scotland will be represented in the first ever GB Para Badminton squad as preparations now begin   for the sports debut at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020.  Alan Oliver, who lives in Tweedbank, is the only Scottish player to be named among the nine-strong squad, consisting of four classification groups.  Each player has won a medal at World level and five are the reigning world champions.

Oliver said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be selected for the GB Para-Badminton squad.

“I’m grateful to everyone for their support and generosity over the years and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

For a full report please see the Badminton Scotland website.

http://www.badmintonscotland.org.uk/index.php/latest-news-a-publications/4011-oliver-named-in-gb-para-badminton-squad

In the wake of becoming Great Britain’s first ever Paralympic Games men’s singles gold medallist, Glasgow wheelchair tennis star Gordon Reid has realised another historic landmark after being confirmed this week as the first Brit to reach world No.1 in the men’s singles world rankings.

Reid, 24, completed his third Paralympics on Friday with a 6-2, 6-1 win over his doubles partner Alfie Hewett in the gold medal match in Rio. A day earlier Reid and Hewett finished as silver medallists in the men’s doubles behind French top seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.

Between them Reid and Hewett contributed three of the record six medals won at a single Paralympics by players on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme selected for the ParalympicsGB team.

But with Reid having arrived in Rio world ranked No.3 it was his 7-5, 6-2 victory over top seed Houdet in the men’s singles semi-final that was the first important part of toppling Houdet at the top of the world rankings. Hewett also beat Belgian world No.2 Joachim Gerard in the other semi-final before Reid’s win in Friday’s gold medal match.

“It’s such an amazing way to round off an incredible year for me. After winning Wimbledon titles and then the success I’ve had out here in Rio, it means everything to be world No.1 before I even fly back home,” said Reid, who also started off 2016 by claiming his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open before finishing runner-up at Roland Garros.

“It’s always been a career goal of mine and it shows you’re the most consistent player on the tour. The moments when you win on the court are the most special but this feels pretty good too, especially being the first British guy to do it in my division.

“The hard bit now will be staying there! But I’ll keep working hard and make sure I give it my best,” added Reid.

If Reid was to maintain his place at the top of the world rankings to be year-end world No.1 in singles he would have the distinction of having been year-end No.1 in men’s doubles and men’s singles in successive seasons.

A major part in the Scot maintaining his place atop the rankings will be the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 30th November to 4th December.. Reid finished third at the year-end championship for the world’s top eight singles players in 2014.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

The 2016 SDS National Senior Athletics Championships were held on Wednesday 14 September at Grangemouth Athletics Stadium in partnership with scottishathletics. With news of Scottish success winging its way from Rio and providing inspiration to the 250 plus athletes from branches around Scotland the action got underway with the 1500m. SDS Academy athlete Owen Miller finished just outside the Championship Record he claimed at last year’s event to claim gold from his talented stable-mate Sam Fernando. West of Scotland’s T20 athlete Margaret Newell secured the female title to add alongside her 800m and Long Jump titles she garnered later in the day. Dumfries and Galloway’s T54 athlete Sean Frame eased home as fastest wheelchair athlete before completing a clean sweep of titles ahead of fellow Red Star athlete’s Kyle Brotherton and Luke Deighan.

There was an intriguing contest in the female wheelchair sections where Fife’s inexperienced Susanne McGrath faced up against the youthful exuberance of Tayside’s Murran McKay. The younger athlete won the tight contests this year but as both athletes gain more experience expect these battles to continue again next year.

Jennifer Power from West of Scotland proved to be invincible on the track with three golds in the 100, 200m and relay.

Local athlete George Le Hardy won two impressive golds in the 200m and 400m events finishing in front of West of Scotland’s Robert Ferrol in the former and Forth Valley’s Steven Stone in the latter. In the thrilling 4 x 400m event that culminated the track events – which saw Owen Miller chasing down West of Scotland’s Alexander Thomson in the last leg to win for Fife – Le Hardy, who anchored the, Forth Valley team to third place, ran the fastest lap of the race in 54.05.

Following last year’s long list of Championship Records tumbling, 2016 proved a relatively fallow Championships with just two records falling. Michael Mellon (Fife) bettered his own javelin record by 53cm and Dumfries & Galloway’s Lee Lower did likewise by adding 2cm to his existing seated javelin throw record.

The leading team at this event win the prestigious AR Mitchell trophy named after the late former chair of the precursor to Scottish Disability Sport – the Scottish Sports Association for the Disabled (SSAD). The two super powers of West of Scotland and Fife tend to contest this trophy each year and this year proved no different, with a notable mention to the efforts of Forth Valley who finished in third place on their home patch. Fife’s strength in depth proved to be the difference this year as they retained the trophy they won last year in Perth. Hopefully this serves to inspire other areas in Scotland to identify athletes to bolster their teams with a view to wresting the title from the Kingdom’s grasp.

The event missed the considerable input of the ubiquitous Shona Malcolm OBE and Janice Eaglesham MBE who were both out in Rio supporting the athletes they had worked so hard with. Replacing these lynchpins of the Senior Championships is next to impossible so thanks must go to Claire Archbold and Alisdhair Love from scottishathletics who so ably assisted throughout. We are extremely grateful to the efforts of the sizeable volunteer group from scottishathletics without which, would make this event impossible.

 

Scottish Disability Sport: Reflections on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

The Rio Paralympic Games in 2016 did not disappoint as the event proved to be both hugely inspirational and successful.

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) wish to congratulate ParalympicsGB on the tremendous performances at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and we hope to see more people with a disability feeling inspired to take up sport as we head into the Tokyo 2020 cycle.  Well done to all the athletes, players and support staff who proved they are amongst the very best performance athletes in the world.  There were many outstanding results, incredible role models and remarkable stories played out during the past 11 days.  A full list of results can be found at www.rio2016.com/en or www.paralympics.org.uk

ParalympicsGB will return from Rio with 64 gold medals, which equates to 12% of all gold medals awarded and the best performance since Tel Aviv in 1968.  The total medal count of 147 is the highest return from a British team since the Paralympic Games in Seoul in 1988.  The exceptional performances of the athletes ensured that the 121 medal target set by UK Sport was comfortably surpassed as ParalympicsGB finished second in the medal table behind China.

 

A Scottish Perspective

SDS pays tribute to the 33 Scottish athletes that competed for ParalympicsGB across 12 sports, all of whom made a significant contribution to the overall success of the team, ensuring that the GB team are amongst the world’s elite in para sport.  Scottish athletes and players on the ParalympicsGB team can be immensely proud of their contribution as they will return home with a total of seventeen medals which were won by eleven athletes across five sports.  Notably 33% of Scots on ParalympicsGB reached the podium!  The medal haul includes five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, accounting for 11.5% of ParalympicGB medals won.  This is the highest medal tally for Scots at a Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000.

The table shows the performance of each of the five sports:

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games: Scottish Medal Table
Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
Athletics	3	2	2	7
Cycling	1	1	0	2
Para triathlon	0	1	0	1
Swimming	0	3	2	5
Wheelchair Tennis	1	1	0	2
TOTAL	5	8	4	17

 

Scottish Medal Winners

Gold
Libby Clegg (Athletics): T11 100m
Libby Clegg (Athletics): T11 200m
Jo Butterfield (Athletics): F51 Club Throw
Karen Darke (Cycling): H1-2-3 Time Trial
Gordon Reid (Wheelchair Tennis): Open Singles

Silver
Stef Reid (Athletics): T44 Long Jump
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 4x100m relay
Neil Fachie (Cycling): B 1000m Time Trial
Alison Patrick / Hazel Smith (Guide) (Para Triathlon): PT5
Scott Quin (Swimming): SB14 100m Breaststroke
Abby Kane (Swimming): S13 100m Backstroke
Andrew Mullen (Swimming): S5 50m Backstroke
Gordon Reid (Wheelchair Tennis): Open Doubles

Bronze
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 100m
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 200m
Andrew Mullen (Swimming): S5 200m Freestyle
Andre Mullen (Swimming): S5 100m Freestyle

For a full list of Scottish results please click here.

Once again the Scots excelled on the Paralympic stage whilst making a significant contribution to the medal tally of ParalympicsGB, with eleven Scots reaching the podium.  These athletes produced many memorable highlights over the course of the Games however, the double gold from Libby Clegg in the T11 100m and 200m stands out; as does Gordon Reid’s gold and silver medals in the wheelchair tennis singles and doubles respectively.  Maria Lyle (athletics) and Andrew Mullen (swimming) won the most medals with three apiece, whilst ParalympicsGB’s youngest competitor Abby Kane, aged 13, won silver in the S13 100m Backstroke!

There were many inspirational moments throughout the course of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and SDS congratulate all of our athletes and support staff.

Any person with a disability who has been inspired by events in Rio should contact SDS on 0131 317 1130 or admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

In addition, local and regional contacts can be accessed on the following links:

SDS Branches:

https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/about-sds/branch-contacts/

Regional Development Managers:

https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/regional-managers/

Day eleven saw the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro draw to a close with the Marathon one of the final events of the Games.

Athletics

Fife’s Derek Rae was the only Scot in action on the final day of the Games but was forced to withdraw from the Men’s T46 marathon around the 30Km mark. Derek had moved up to fourth place in tough conditions in Brazil at that stage but due to the extreme heat, was unable to continue. The race was won by China’s Li Chaoyan in 2:33:35.

We commiserate with Derek, who is coached by Ron Morrison and Don MacGregor, after such strong performances over the past couple of years to reach this global level.

 

ParalympicsGB will return from Rio with 64 gold medals, the most gold medals and indeed most medals of any British Paralympic team since Seoul 1988 – and won 12% of all gold medals awarded at the Games, which is the best performance since Tel Aviv in 1968.

Scottish athletes and players on the ParalympicsGB team will return home with five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, accounting for 11.5% of ParalympicGB medals won and the highest medal tally for Scots at a Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000.