Earlier this year I was delighted to report that top bowler Wendy Thomson was awarded the honour of opening the green at St Andrews BC where she is a member.

I am once again thrilled to report that Fife’s most successful lady bowler with a learning disability, Pamela Mitchell, was accorded the same honour at Headwell BC in Dunfermline where she is a member. Pamela is the current Scottish Indoor Champion and previous winner of every major honour in the sport.

Thank you to Disability Sport Fife coach of the year Sarah Jane Ewing for bringing this to my attention. Scottish International Sarah Jane and Pamela play in the same Headwell BC four. Many thanks to club member Peter O’Sullivan for the photo.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

After undergoing extensive renovation & the addition of a range of adaptations to improve accessibility, Albury Outdoor Sports Centre will be playing host to this year’s Grampian Regional Bowls Championships later this month for the very first time.

The facility, based in Aberdeen City Centre, now boasts ramp access to the green as well as bowling arms & lifters, which has enabled the Centre to offer inclusive bowls opportunities to wheelchair users & those with mobility difficulties. The Centre will soon house the Regional Bowls Squad, which is moving over from their current training venue in July.

Bowlers with physical, visual & learning disabilities aged between 19 – 88 will take part in the event on 30^th June, which will serve as a qualifier for the 2018 SDS National Championships, which takes place at Aberdeen’s Westburn Centre on Saturday 1^st September.

The event is run by Grampian Disability Sport in conjunction with Albury Community Sports Hub and a team of wonderful volunteer markers & marshals from the Bowls North East network.

The event kicks off from 12pm on 30^th June, and spectators are welcome!

If you, or anyone you know, lives in Grampian with a physical, sensory or learning disability and is keen to get involved or find out more about disability bowls, please contact Alison Shaw on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or on 07828 744 848

On Monday 4th June 9 drivers, from all over Britain arrived at the Argyll Driving Group, just outside Oban, at the beginning of this year’s Scottish Driving Holiday. Old friends met up and new members were introduced. The sun was shining and it was to do so for the rest of the week.

Every morning drives were taken along the quiet country roads, drivers tried out different ponies each day. The afternoons are normally spent honing skills in the outdoor arena but last year’s winter had taken its toll on the surface. Instead, we drove to the beach, where cones were driven on the grasslands by the shore and some ventured down to the beach and drove through the shallows of the sea, a fantastic experience which brought smiles all round. With the weather on our side lunches even moved to the beach’s picnic area overlooking the bay.

The evenings were spent enjoying music from a local couple who played for our much enjoyed ceilidh, a demonstration of driving by Jane Isaac driving her competition horse “boy” followed by a baked potato night and a barbeque.

Much fun was had by all involved and I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this holiday a very special one.

Carter Taylor is an ex pupil of Woodmill HS and a member of Fife Athletic Club where he is coached twice a week by Steve Doig. As has been reported before he is an exceptional water skier and he trains daily at Townhill Loch. Check out the video in our Facebook video section, if you have not seen him in action.

It is only in the last year that Carter has taken up running seriously and my goodness how he has improved. At the Disability Sport Fife Track and Field Championships supported by Fife Sports and Leisure Trust at Pitreavie Athletics Centre last week he broke 5 minutes for the first time for 1500 metres (4.54.60) and then ran 400 metres in 1.06.03 and 800 metres in 2:31.80. Earlier in the month he was one of Fife’s leading swimmers at the Scottish Senior Swimming Championships at Tollcross International Sports Centre in Glasgow.

While we were correctly celebrating the success of Derek Rae from Fife AC in winning the Glenrothes Road Running Festival 10K last Sunday, Carter slipped through in 16th place almost under the radar. Carter recorded a massive personal best time of 37.50 to establish himself as one of the leading all round athletes in Disability Sport Fife.

As with so many of our successful performance athletes Carter has had an amazing family supporting him at every step of his journey to date. Those of us who are privileged to know Carter are aware that he has so much more to offer.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Fixed term contract until 31st March 2021
Salary £25,000

Scottish Rowing is the Governing Body for rowing in Scotland.  Its vision is to support and empower people in Scotland to enjoy rowing and achieve their potential.  To achieve this vision, Scottish Rowing has put in place an ambitious four-year plan to build on the recognised Olympic success of rowing and widen access to the sport at all levels.

In this exciting new role, the successful post holder will have operational responsibility for delivering the Scottish Rowing Club Support Framework to promote sustainable and well run clubs and to promote growth within clubs.

This role will also have responsibility for managing relationships with key clubs and partners in the West region.

This post is considered Regulated Work with Children, under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. It is an offence therefore to apply if you are barred from working with children. The Successful applicant will be required to become a PVG scheme member or update their scheme record if already a scheme member

For a full job description, candidate specification, application, monitoring and self-disclosure forms contact Carol Ann Ellis, Scottish Rowing Administrator.  Telephone: 01698 250206  Email: office@scottish-rowing.org.uk

OR see our website:  http://www.scottish-rowing.org.uk/index.php/takingpart/vacancies

Application Process

Applicant to return completed application form, CV, monitoring and selfdisclosure form by email to office@scottish-rowing.org.uk, or by post to Scottish Rowing, Scottish Rowing Centre, 366 Hamilton Road, Motherwell, ML1 3ED.   For more information or an informal discussion please contact Mark Senter on 01698 250206 or email mark.senter@scottish-rowing.org.uk.

Applications for this position close at noon on Monday 9th July 2018.

Interviews will be held in week commencing 16th July 2018. Scottish Rowing is committed to selecting staff solely on the basis of their ability to do the job for which they are being recruited, and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) are working in close collaboration with a range of partners to deliver an exciting opportunity for young people with a physical disability over the summer holiday period.  Invitations are open to all children and young people from across the country, particularly the East of Scotland.  Applications for the opportunity can be found by following this link –

Wheelchair Sport Summer Camp – Online Application Form

The Wheelchair Sport ‘Summer Camp’ will target school aged young people and introduce them to a number of sports played from a sports wheelchair with activities such as basketball, tennis, badminton and athletics to be delivered by coaches with experience in disability sport.  Please note, participants don’t need to use a wheelchair on a daily basis to play sport using a chair.

The camp will also look to bridge the gap between attendance at the East Para Sport Festival and more regular activity.  The Para Sport Festival is becoming more frequently populated by primary aged young people who aren’t necessarily in a position to transition into club activity and this session will look to provide the skills and increase the confidence to support participants into more regular activity or club sport.

The sessions will be delivered at ORIAM Centre, Heriot Watt University and will provide an ideal environment for players to try a range of exciting wheelchair sports.  The two hour session will also welcome siblings along to reduce the barriers for young people with disabilities from accessing this opportunity.

Further details of the sessions can be found below –

Where: ORIAM Centre, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS

When:  5 week block, beginning 9^th July 2018 (9^th, 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th July & 6^th August)

Who:     School aged young people with a physical disability

Cost:      £6 per session (or £30 for the block of 5 sessions)

For further information or to register an interest, please contact SDS Regional Manager (East) Neal Herbert on neal.herbert@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 0770 939 3514.

Wheelchair Multi Sport Summer Camp Flyer_July

The Beveridge Park Bowling Club is a key partner of Disability Sport Fife (DSF) and once again club members played host to the DSF Lawn Bowls Championships on Friday 15th June. The club has hosted the championships for over 25 years and the Club President welcomed players, volunteers and officials from clubs within the area to officiate at the event. 46 bowlers contested 10 singles titles for players with a physical impairment or learning disability. Fife leading bowlers with a visual impairment were engaged in national association competitions south of the border and unable to play.

The development of inclusive bowls across Fife has been spectacular over the past year in particular. Two specific developments, promoted through the GOGA in Fife initiative in central and west Fife are worthy of special mention. Headwell BC coaches set up weekly inclusive coaching sessions for service users from West Fife CSS and 11 players from the club with additional support needs competed in the Fife Championships for the first time. Dovecot BC now has 11 DSF members attached to the club and enjoying all club activities including club coaching, internal competitions and visits to local clubs in the area. Most importantly they are all fully registered club members.

The morning and early afternoon sessions were allocated to bowlers with additional support needs and there were several surprises within the 8 singles sections divisioned according to player abilities and experience.

The Headwell bowlers from West Fife CSS competed in two development sections and coped exceptionally well with their first tournament. Hannah Moffat defeated Erin Johnston to win the ladies title and Tristen Rankine and Phillip Callander shared the men’s title with three wins and one loss in each of their round robin ties.

Craig Houston and Jimmy Ramsay from East Fife CSS contested the C division men’s section with Craig winning his first Fife title. Fergus Wilson from West Fife CSS and Lumphinnans BC met Mathew Blissett in the final of the men’s B division and Matthew similarly won his first Fife title.

The first real surprise of the day came in the men’s open final when relative newcomer Robert Anderson from Dovecot BC defeated Fife’s most successful bowler with a learning disability Craig Donaldson from Central Fife CSS and Kinghorn BC by 3 shots to 2. In the semi final he had also to beat Darryl Stewart from Cowdenbeath BC, a past Scottish champion. In the equivalent ladies final Wendy Thomson from East Fife CSS and St Andrews BC defeated Fife’s most successful ladies bowler with a learning disability, Pamela Mitchell from Headwell BC.

In the afternoon competitions for bowlers with a physical impairment, Billy Allan from Cowdenbeath BC defeated Stuart Chesby from Dunfermline Northern in the mixed open. Robbie Craig from Markinch in his first DSF competition in five years defeated Kenny Dow from Central Fife CSS in the restricted section. Sam Smeaton from Dunfermline was the most successful lady bowler with a physical impairment.

The teams for the Scottish Championships at the Westburn Park in Aberdeen at the beginning of September and Inter Area competition in Musselburgh at the end of June will be selected from results recorded at the Beveridge Park and published on the Facebook page.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife