Scottish Boccia player, Tyler McLelland from Fife, comes home from the World Youth Boccia Championships with a Gold medal!

17-year-old Tyler was selected to compete as part of the Boccia UK team at the Championships in the individual and pairs competition held in Povoa. Tyler played with team mates Sophie Newnham and Harrison Smith from England. Tyler and Sophie took to the court with Harrison supporting as a substitute. The pairs first match was against Portugal which they won 3-1 in a tight game. The final saw the pair take on Brazil where Tyler and Sophie were 3-1 down going into the last end. Tyler and Sophie played some excellent shots which resulted in a tiebreak match where the Boccia UK pair came out on top and won the gold medal.

Well done to Tyler, his team mates and all of the support staff who helped make the championships a great success.

For the first time there will be two Brits in the men’s wheelchair singles semi-finals at The Championships, Wimbledon, after Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid secured straight sets wins over former champions Gustavo Fernandez and Joachim Gerard on Wednesday at the All England Club.

World No.2 Hewett beat Belgian world No.3 and 2021 champion Joachim Gerard 6-3, 6-4 to earn his first victory over Gerard in five matches on grass and begin his quest to complete the career Grand Slam.

After losing out to Gerard in three sets last month at the LTA’s cinch Championships, Hewett kept his composure to close out their latest encounter and last year’s Wimbledon runner-up will now play Spain’s Martin de la Puente on Thursday for a place in this year’s final. He said:

““It was pure relief at the end – I’ve played him a few times now on grass and he’s always seemed to get the better of me. It’s one of those mental demons that you want to get over the line at some point – this was a great opportunity to do it against such a great grass court player.”

Reid put together 11 points without reply on his way to the first set against 2019 champion Fernandez and withstood all that the Argentinian could offer in a tough second set to wrap up a 6-4, 6-4 victory that earns him a semi-final against world No.1 Tokito Oda.

The winner of the inaugural men’s wheelchair singles title in 2016, world No.8 Reid, said:

“I had to dig myself out of a couple of holes in the second set, but I’m really pleased with my performance and it’s a good start to build on. This is the Slam where I come in feeling the most confident as I feel good on the grass, and the support that we get as British players gives you extra energy.”

Elsewhere, Lucy Shuker’s bid to reach a first Wimbledon women’s singles semi-final ended in a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 loss to her doubles partner Aniek can Koot of the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Andy Lapthorne lost out to world No.1 Niels Vink 6-1, 6-0 and Greg Slade’s Grand Slam tournament debut ended in a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Australian Heath Davidson as British hopes ended in the quad singles.

Thursday’s second day of wheelchair competition will see all five Brits in action again as the focus turns to the men’s, women’s and quad doubles semi-finals.

Photos courtesy of the LTA

Tickets are available for the world’s largest sporting event for blind and partially sighted athletes, which is making its UK debut this summer.

The 2023 International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA) World Games – sponsored by RNIB – are being held across Birmingham and other regional venues between August 18-27.

Around 1,250 blind and partially sighted athletes from 70 countries are competing in 10 sports – three of which include men’s blind football, men’s and women’s goalball, and judo which are qualification tournaments for the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Ticket details

Tickets can be purchased now via www.ibsagames2023.co.uk/tickets – which also provides more details about ticketing for each sport.

The three Paralympic qualifying sports – which are men’s blind football, men’s and women’s goalball, and judo – are the only ticketed events, with all other sports open to the public to attend for free without needing to book.

Tickets grant all-day access to one sport, providing spectators with the chance to watch multiple matches across men’s and women’s goalball, men’s and women’s blind football or judo each day.

Prices for ticketed events range between £5 for concessions, to £25 for adults. Official support workers or guides will be able to accompany a paid ticket holder for free.

Sallie Barker, Chair at British Blind Sport, who are the host federation, said: “The IBSA World Games has a crucial role to play in demonstrating to the general public the elite standards that blind and partially sighted people compete at.

“This is underlined non-more-so than the inclusion of three Paralympic qualification events at this year’s World Games.

“I would encourage as many people as possible to buy their tickets for these events, as the money will go towards helping to stage what is an historic event for the UK and sport for blind and partially sighted people across the world – and will hopefully leave a legacy by levelling the playing field for blind and partially sighted people across all areas of society.”

Detailed schedules and team draws for each sport will be released closer to the start of the tournament and announced on www.ibsagames2023.co.uk and World Games social media channels.

Birmingham is hosting the seventh edition of the World Games following a successful joint bid between British Blind Sport, Birmingham City Council, Sport Birmingham, UK Sport, and the University of Birmingham.

Photos courtesy of Goalball UK

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) are the governing body for the sport of boccia and will be delivering a Level 1 Boccia Coach Award course between September – November 2023. The course will be a mixture of online and practical learning, with the practical sessions based in the East of Scotland.

The course will provide the knowledge and expertise required to coach players of all ages and abilities in the sport. The workshop outcomes are listed below:

• Planning and preparation
• Effective communication and demonstration skills
• How to give appropriate and constructive feedback
• Evaluating activities
• Understanding of boccia and coaching principles

The cost of the course is £250 per person.

Register online here, or for more information please contact Caroline Lyon on 0131 317 1130 or admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

Level 1 Boccia Coach Award

Two Scottish Boccia players will travel to Swansea, Wales to compete in the 2023 Para Sport Festival Teams & Pairs Championships on the 12/13 July.

Kayleigh Haggo will compete in a BC1/2 team with fellow Boccia UK teammates, David Smith and Reshad Saraj.

Alex Medley, who is from Perth and Kinross, will represent Scotland in a BC1/2 team with English players Zoe Barnes and Soleil Palmer. The competition is a great development opportunity for players to gain experience in the teams and pairs element of Boccia.

The competition will take place on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 July at the LC2 leisure Centre in Swansea. Live streaming will be available from the competition and SDS will share this information when it is available. Good luck to Kayleigh and Alex for the competition.

Scottish Boccia player, Tyler McLelland has been selected for the first ever World Boccia Youth Championships that will be held in Pavoa, Portugal from 8-14 July 2023

Tyler will compete as part of the Boccia UK team in Pavoa alongside English players Sophie Newnham and Harrison Smith where they will battle it out against the other young talented Boccia players from around the world. Tyler will take part in the individual competition which will take place between 10 and 13 July 2023.

The competition will be live streamed and can be watched on the links below:

• Youtube/Streaming – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT2JNO-JgFrR9UZeq9dvQ2w
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092499756122
• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/pcandparalisiacerebral/

The competition schedule and results will be available after the technical meeting on World Boccia – World Boccia

SDS wish Tyler and his teammates the very best of luck at the competition!

The evening will be a 45min discussion/chat on getting into Para Nordic:

• 15min presentation from Fern Cates (Snowsport Scotland/GB Snowsports Para Nordic Pathway Coach)
• 10min talk from a current pathway athlete
• 20min Q&A with attendees

Fern will discuss an intro on equipment, how to start off on snow, opportunities in Scotland, how to enter the GB Para Nordic Pathway, classification and racing.