On Friday 17^th March, Aberdeenshire Sports Council held their annual awards evening at Garioch Sports Centre in Inverurie.

The event was attended by over 300 sports men and women.  This year’s guest speaker Susan Eaglestaff (London 2012 Olympic Badminton Player) delivered a great question and answer session inspiring the next generation of athletes.

The following athletes with a disability were recognised at the awards:

• Murray Eunson for the sport of swimming
• Sarah Hawkin and Euan Thoirs for the sport of wheelchair basketball
• and Grant Wilson for his work with the Grampian Flyers wheelchair basketball team.

The overall Disability Sport Award went to Euan Thoirs. A very proud evening for him, his team and his family who were all in attendance to celebrate with him.

Ollie Carter is a pupil at Bell Baxter HS and a member of Carnegie Swimming Club where he is coached by Morag Mitchell. On Tuesday 21^st March Ollie became the 12^th Disability Sport Fife member to be awarded the St Andrews Kilrymont Rotary Club Quaich and a Rotary Bursary. The awards were presented to Ollie by Club President Ewen Allan and Rotarian George Donaldson at the weekly club meeting at the Scores Hotel.

Ollie started out at Cupar and District SC before moving to Carnegie SC. The sacrifices his family have made to access extra hours of water and strength and conditioning time in central and west Fife are remarkable. Those sacrifices have paid off because Ollie is now one of the leading physically disabled junior swimmer in Scotland and is also well established in the GB rankings. Ollie is a British Swimming Academy member and a Scottish Disability Sport Academy athlete. In addition he is a Scottish Swimming SSE next generation athlete.

In the year past Ollie has captured several of the records for the S10 class set by 5 times Paralympian and Disability Sport Fife Chairman Paul Noble MBE. Ollie now holds 8 senior Scottish short and long course records. He now consistently swims under one minute for 100m freestyle and at the recent British Para swimming championships he set a new Scottish Long Course record for 100m freestyle. Other recent records set include 400m free set at the East District Age Groups and 200m freestyle long course set at the East District Grand Prix.

Last Ollie year set three Scottish Championships records for 100m IM, 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke. Ollie leads a small squad of Disability Sport Fife swimmers who are making their mark in performance swimming in Scotland and beyond. The young Cupar based swimmer has set his sights on a GB Team place for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The Rotary Bursary will help support Ollie to compete in the Commonwealth Trials in England. Sadly however there are no races for Para swimmers in Australia in 2018.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

The annual Para Sport Festival is on the horizon for 2017, welcoming young people from across the East of Scotland with a physical or sensory impairment and providing them with an opportunity to try a range of Para Sports, delivered by some of the best clubs and coaches across the country.  This year’s festival is scheduled for Friday 24^th March at Forrester / St Augustine’s High School, Edinburgh.

The event, previously named the Paralympic Experience Event, is entering its sixth year since inception prior to the London Paralympic Games in 2012 and comes at a time where Para Sport is fresh in everyone’s mind after a hugely successful games for GB in Rio de Janeiro last year.  It is a fantastic opportunity for primary and secondary aged young people to experience some of the sports where team GB achieved significant success.  The activities selected reflect the strong club structure in the region and will aim to ignite the transition from the event to more regular sporting activity with one or more of the session’s being delivered.

The festival is a partnership event between Scottish Disability Sport, Edinburgh Active Schools, Lothian Disability Sport and Edinburgh Leisure who work together, along with local club coaches, to offer sessions in swimming, athletics, wheelchair basketball and many more to the children and young people from East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian.  To find out more, click here and download the entry information pack.

During last year’s event, video footage was captured highlighting the aims and potential impact of the event featuring testimonies from young people, parents, club coaches and professional officers.  We hope this footage will prove a useful tool in providing an accurate insight to the event.

The event will also offer an opportunity for education staff, club coaches and volunteers to enhance their knowledge of disability sport with the delivery of CPD workshop, ‘How to Identify and Include Children and Young People with a Disability in Sport’.   This workshop has proved extremely popular over previous events and will again be delivered by the experienced Richard Brickley, MBE.  To find out more about this opportunity, please click here.

If you would like to register for the event, please complete the entry information and return to the address highlighted.  Alternatively you can complete the online form here.  If you require further information relating to the event, please contact Neal Herbert on 0131 625 4414 or neal.herbert@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

Weekly All Ability Cycling sessions are starting this month with a fleet of adaptive bikes in West Lothian.

The bikes are also available for loan to individuals living in West Lothian and group taster sessions are on offer as well.

For more information see the video below or contact contact the Health Improvement Team on 01506 775 626 or email hit@westlothian.gov.uk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C4HseRx5eM

The 3^rd annual Tayside Parasport Festival took place at Dundee & Angus College on Wednesday 15^th March. The event was a huge success, providing a fun and engaging opportunity to try new sports. Over 30 children with a physical, visual or hearing impairment were able to avail of the opportunity on the day. For some of the children it was an opportunity to try a new sport, for others an opportunity to meet other children in the area and a great day for all.

The sports sessions were run by Dundee & Angus College students, local clubs and Scottish Governing Bodies. Tayside Paralympian Joshue Rowe attended on the day and alongside supporting developing athletes – gave an inspiring speech regarding his journey on the road to Rio. Local senior athlete Kirsten Taylor provided invaluable support to participants on the day.

Thanks must go to Dundee & Angus College who provided facilities and student support in their pursuit to educate their students regarding disability sport. A large thank you also to Active Schools Angus, Active Schools Dundee, Active Schools Perth & Kinross & NHS Tayside for enabling so many participants to avail of the opportunity.

To find out more about disability sport within Tayside please contact:
Jennifer Scally – Jennifer.scally@scottishdisabilitysport.com 07703793901

Movement Park is a brand new facility in Glasgow aimed at getting young people and adults active.

There are a host of different activities on offer which focuses on physical literacy to enhance the basic skills required for sport.

Inclusion is a priority for Movement Park and right from the launch weekend Inclusive opportunities have been offered.

The Paralympic sport of boccia is being offered on a weekly basis and coached by a member of the 2012 GB Paralympic Team, Peter McGuire.

Please download flyer for more information on Movement Park and boccia sessions.

Live Borders are hosting their 2^nd Disability Swimming Development Day in partnership with Scottish Swimming and Scottish Disability Sport. The aim of the day is to promote swimming opportunities available in the Scottish Borders.

Last year was a massive success, as swimmers who attended facilitated the establishment of the Barracudas Development Squad, who are now training regularly and competing in disability specific swimming meets.

The day is open to anyone with a physical disability, learning disability or sensory impairment who is interested in getting involved and learning more about the sport.

Swimmers will have the opportunity to participate in various coached lead sessions under the guidance of our qualified teachers and coaches who have experience in this area.

This is the ideal opportunity to gather information about our comprehensive swimming pathway and the options available from Learn to swim to our regional disability squad – Border Barracudas.

All children and adults will be individually assessed and will go through a short teaching lesson. On conclusion of the day, teachers will provide an evaluation of their session and state which programme and level is best for their child.

WHEN:             Saturday 20^th May 2017

TIME:               12.30pm – 1.30pm Physical / Sensory Impairments

Registration – 11.30am

                         1.30pm – 2.30pm Learning Disabilities

Registration – 1pm

WHERE:          Teviotdale Leisure Centre, Hawick   

AGE:                4 – 25years

For more information and to register please contact Alan Oliver, Sport Development Officer – aoliver@liveborders.org.uk / 01750 700 110.

We are delighted and excited to announce that our Engage Project is a finalist in the People’s Project National Lottery Fund. The public votes and the winning projects are awarded funding.

Scottish Disability Sport and the Engage Project need your vote to help us win funding to run the project!

How can you vote for the Engage Project?

You can view a short film and vote for the Engage Project here.

Voting is open between 9.00 am on Monday 20^th March and 12 noon on Monday 3^rd April.

What is the project?

The project is Engage, designed to offer people with disabilities the chance to take part in sport, no matter their age, ability or experience.

What will the Engage Project do? 

The Engage Project will bring the benefits of sport to people with disabilities across Scotland by introducing them to a variety of sports, offering new opportunities to take part and training local volunteers to include people with disabilities in their sessions.

Why should you vote for the Engage Project?

You should vote for the Engage Project because it will make a huge difference to the people we work with. Sport can be life changing; sport through the Engage Project can open a whole new world to people with disabilities.

Instead of staying indoors and being socially isolated, the Engage Project will give people activities to look forward to and will enable them to become active, healthier and form friendships. Parents and carers will also benefit from meeting others at sessions.

 

What are the sports?

For more information on the sports covered by the Engage Project, see the factsheets and ideos on our website here.

What will the Project do?

Events

• Wheels to Water Engagement Day – see photos from 2015 here
• Boccia Engagement Day
• Swimming Engagement Day
• Residential summer camp – see photos from 2015 here
• Wheelchair extravaganza
• Visual Impairment Multi Sport Day – see photos from 2016 here

New Participation Opportunities

• 6 new boccia participation opportunities across Scotland
• 4 new learn to swim opportunities across Scotland

Training for Coaches and Volunteers

• Disability Inclusion Training for Coaches and Volunteers
• Boccia Leaders Training
• Inclusive Teacher Workshops for Swim Teachers

The People’s Projects is a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund, ITV, STV and The National Lottery that gives the public a say in awarding National Lottery funding to local projects across the UK.

Scottish Disability Sport and Aberdeenshire Council are working in partnership to offer a bespoke swimming session for children with a physical or sensory impairment who would like to develop their swimming.

The session is led by qualified Scottish Swimming teachers who are trained to make the relevant adaptations within the session to enable swimmers to develop their swimming ability.

For further information or to book for the session please contact Claire McDonald, Scottish Disability Sport Regional Development Manager on 07533 056564 or email: claire.mcdonald@scottishdisabilitysport.com.