Disability Sport Fife enjoys special relationships with mainstream sports clubs across Fife. There are partners that have been with us since DSF was established back in 1977 and one of those is Fife Athletic Club.

The attached photo is of the officials who turned out in significant numbers to support the third leg of the four rounds of the East Series Cross Country organised by Scottish Athletics and Scottish Disability Sport. The third leg is organised in Fife on behalf of SA and SDS by Disability Sport Fife and Fife AC. The organisers are also indebted to Kirkcaldy Rugby Club and Fife Council for facility support.

Steve Doig is the Fife AC contact for the two cross country events organised in Fife for athletes with additional support needs. The Fife Championships are scheduled for May but have been postponed. The Fife leg of the East Series was the only one to go ahead because of inclement weather. DSF was delighted with the turn out at the East Series event and with the GOGA in Fife walk in the park supported by Spirit of 2012 which has become a feature of cross country events in Fife.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees

Disability Sport Fife (DSF) enjoys a special relationship with the staff and pupils of Kirkcaldy High School. For 10 years the Disability Sport Fife 7s League for players with additional support needs has been held at Kirkcaldy HS. This year the programme is supported by the Scottish FA and the 2020 Series of three included S1/S2 and S3 – S6 competitions.

Throughout 2019/2020, Kirkcaldy HS Sports Leaders were involved as officials at the Disability Sport Fife badminton, swimming and track and field championships. All these events offer the young sports leaders invaluable sporting experiences with participants and performers with additional support needs.

At the 2020 DSF Swimming Championships supported by Fife Sports and Leisure Trust at the Michael Woods Sports & Leisure Centre, 20 sports leaders supported Scottish Swimming Officials on poolside as event timekeepers. Glenrothes Amateur Swimming Club is a key partner. Once again the Championships ran smoothly primarily thanks to the quality of the officiating. The quality of Sports Leadership training provided within Kirkcaldy HS prepares the young leaders perfectly for the DSF programme of events.

DSF is indebted to Rector Derek Allan and Principal Teacher of PE Malcolm Stewart for support since year one of the partnership and to Active Schools coordinator Robert Greenhorn for facilitating the attendance of the young leaders.

Photos: sports leaders over the years

Richard Brickley OBE MBE – Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees

Dale Lynch from Glenrothes is another young Disability Sport Fife member active at home.

Dale was inspired to join DSF through the GOGA in Fife programme supported by Spirit of 2012. Initially Dale signed up for run, jump and throws but more recently he has added swimming improvers, multi sports, football and badminton.

Dale is missing all his sessions during lock down at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre. Like so many other DSF members Dale is missing all the new friends he has made over the last couple of years at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre in particular.

As well as sports Dale loves his music and has been a successful DJ at a number of well attended local events.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees

The Disability Sport Fife weekly sessions organised throughout the year in conjunction with Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and Fife Sports clubs are the foundations of our movement. They are the entry point for athletes who have aspirations of accessing active recreation only. Sessions are also the initial steps on the Para sport pathway that may lead to membership of a mainstream sports club or representing Fife at Scottish Championships and who knows what thereafter.

When families or significant others contact the Disability Sport Fife office, they are sent a registration form and when this is completed and returned, a face to face meeting or telephone conversation is arranged to determine the most appropriate session on the timetable. So many of our Fife representative athletes attend weekly sessions within their local communities or have attended for a short period before signing up for a mainstream club.

The Disability Sport Fife programme of sessions has been running for almost a decade. Every session is led by a DSF coach who holds appropriate coaching qualifications for the sessions they lead and this includes safeguarding and first aid. All our sessions are held in Fife Sports and Leisure Trust facilities and offer access to the FSLT Leisure Active programme and reduced prices. Most importantly sessions are located in the best leisure facilities in Fife and offer security, comfort and community engagement. DSF sessions are inclusive in ethos and practice.

It costs Disability Sport Fife between 10K and 11k to run the programme of sessions annually thanks to the partnership set up with Fife Sports and Leisure Trust. For the past three years GOGA in Fife supported by Spirit of 2012 has helped to fund the programme but the funding stopped in December 2019. As part of succession planning, GOGA in Fife and the Trustees of DSF (SCIO) set up a fund raising programme called 10KCoaching 2020 to support the costs of running DSF sessions post GOGA.

The Trustees are delighted to report that by the start of the new financial year on April 1st we had raised 9.5K and this has ensured that sessions will be funded until the end of March 2021. The Trustees of DSF (SCIO) are indebted to the following individuals and organisations for their incredible support:

STV Children’s Appeal

Trefoil

Celtic Foundation

The family of the late Craig Bernard

Specific families who donated anonymously

The Association of Fife Rotary Clubs

Donations offered to DSF speakers at clubs and organisations

Scottish Disability Sport

Thank you to everybody who has helped to fundraise for DSF throughout the year. The 10K Coaching2021 fund has now been set up to meet the costs of our programme of sessions for the period 2021/2022.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees

Midlothian’s Samantha Gough has only been involved with the sport of Goalball for just over a year, however during that time she has made significant strides and is viewed as a player with huge potential.

Bonnyrigg based youngster Gough became involved in the sport after being introduced at a Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) Visual Impairment Sport Engagement Day in March 2019 where she was given the opportunity to try Goalball alongside a range of other sports. It was immediately evident that she had lots of ability in the sport.

Fast forward to March 2020 and Samantha, a pupil at Lasswade High School, is now an established member of the #GoalballFamily and is seen to have the potential to represent Great Britain in the near future. During this time, Gough has demonstrated dedication, travelling long distances (often to England) to train, compete and attend development camps. In addition to playing the sport, Samantha has also gained her Goalball Leaders coaching qualification, using this to assist SDS with grassroots delivery in local schools across the East of Scotland, including Blackhall Primary School in Edinburgh where a regular session has recently been established.

In October 2019. Gough made her competitive debut (Novice Level) for a composite team in a Goalball UK (North) tournament held in Sheffield. The composite team finished 1st and Samantha finished as the highest female goal scorer with 18 strikes in 6 games. Continuing her rapid acceleration through the sport, Gough again travelled to Sheffield in January this year, participating in her first Intermediate Level Goalball UK (North) Tournament representing York. History repeated itself as Samantha again finished as the top female scorer with 15 goals in 4 games. This form would see an invitation to attend a Goalball UK Talent Camp at RNC Hereford – unfortunately cancelled due to severe flooding.

Exactly a year after initially trying the sport, Samantha was selected to attend a training camp specifically for developing Intermediate and Elite players. This camp also included a tournament which saw Samantha test herself against three players from the GB Woman’s Squad and also provided an opportunity to highlight her undoubted talent to the observing GB Woman’s Coach.

This is a remarkable rise through the sport in little over a year and demonstrates the opportunities available for local individuals should they wish to pursue a sporting pathway. To top the last 12 months off, Samantha was named as top female goal scorer at Intermediate & Beginner level for the 2019/2020 season – a remarkable achievement for a novice in the sport.

Goalball, is an exciting Paralympic, indoor 3-a-side sport of attack and defend which is played by people who are blind or partially sighted. All players are required to wear eye shades so that nobody can see anything and ensures an even playing field for all. The idea of the game is quite simply to score goals by bowling the ball along the floor, past the opposing team. The ball has a bell in it, meaning players must rely on their other senses. To find out more about the sport, please visit www.goalballuk.com.

If you are interested in becoming involved with Goalball, please contact SDS Regional Manager (East) Neal Herbert on 0131 625 4414 or neal.herbert@scottishdisabilitysport.com.