SDS is excited to be supporting the development of the Daily Mile Inclusion Model which provides a participant centered approach which will provide guidance to teachers, support staff and volunteers to include learners with disabilities in the Daily Mile.

The model currently being developed reinforces the message of inclusion that was promoted at the launch of the Daily Mile Partnership yesterday in Glasgow.

Catherine Goodfellow, Scottish Disability Sport Chairperson attended the launch and was delighted to see so many of the learners enjoying participating in the Daily Mile with World Champion Frame Runner Kayleigh Haggo.

The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, has entered an exciting new partnership with the UK Athletics, Athletics Northern Ireland, England Athletics, Scottish Athletics and Welsh Athletics. These partnerships emphasise a shared commitment from the organisations across the UK, helping to demonstrate the important role that physical activity plays in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

The partnership was launched in a celebration between the two organisations. The union will help bring ambassadors together, from Olympic and Paralympic athletes to key people from the athletics community – inspiring both young people and teachers to get involved and become a part of The Daily Mile community.

The Daily Mile is a transformative initiative where children run, jog, wheel or walk for fifteen minutes every day. The initiative has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was started by Elaine Wyllie eight years ago when she was headteacher at a primary school in Stirling.

Elaine Wyllie MBE, founder of The Daily Mile has commented, ‘I’m delighted that we will be working together with UKA and the Home Nations. This is an exciting new partnership for The Daily Mile working with leading governing bodies to promote the physical and mental health benefits of The Daily Mile. I am particularly excited about a focus on inclusion and ensuring children with a disability are provided with the opportunity to participate. It is important to me that irrespective of age, ability or background The Daily Mile is accessible to all and is fun for all. This partnership will help us deliver this ambition.’

Sport and physical activity have an important role to play when discussing mental and physical wellbeing, both which have suffered immensely during the last 18 months. As the country continues to respond to the challenges and effects of the pandemic, and it’s crucial to appreciate the role of this in the long-term recovery of the virus.

Collaborative working is at the forefront of these partnerships. The bringing together of these teams will result in a greater focus on physical activity and sport, as part of a national initiative towards positive health and wellbeing for primary aged children.

Inclusivity and accessibility has always been at the heart of The Daily Mile – getting young people involved regardless of ability. The partnership is committed to supporting schools and teachers in providing opportunities for children with a disability to participate, so ensure they’re able to enjoy all of the benefits of physical activity. The focus is always on the child’s ability, and appropriate adjustments or modifications can be made to ensure a positive experience. For more information on The Daily Mile and this partnership, please visit: www.thedailymile.co.uk.

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If you or anyone you know would like to know more about opportunities to participate or volunteer in, please telephone 0131 317 1130 or alternatively email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com

Go Kids Go are running Wheelchair Skills Sessions across Scotland in October.

This is a great chance to learn skills to help you become more independent. Manual or powered wheelchair users welcome, extra wheelchairs provided for family members to participate.

Young people from 2 years upwards welcome!

Small groups – Covid secure setting.

• 11th Oct –  Inverness
• 13th Oct – Aberdeen
• 16th Oct – Edinburgh (details tbc)
• 17th Oct – Glasgow

UK have recently launched In Tandem, an exciting new pilot project that aims to give people with a visual impairment more opportunities to experience the joys and benefits of cycling.

Cycling with a visual impairment is entirely possible, all that is needed is a tandem bike and a sighted person to ride in front.

To help develop new activities Cycling UK would like to offer free tandem try out sessions across the West of Scotland to both Vision Impaired and sighted people. Training and rides can be delivered during the week or at weekends locally throughout the West of Scotland and we’d like to encourage all curious people, of all experience levels, to get in touch.

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in joining a session or would like to know more about the project then please get in touch with Andrew.campbell@cyclinguk.org

Sharing inclusive practice was the game of the day at the Local Authority Professional Officers Group Meeting last week. SDS with 85 professional officers from 30 local authority areas joined together to hear how partners had embedded inclusive practice throughout school and community sport.

Dougie Millen, Lead Manager from sportscotland set the scene for the day by explaining the importance of embedding inclusion within practice and the importance of engaging participants with disabilities in physical activity and sport as they have the lowest representation in sport and have been impacted the most by the pandemic.

The SDS Performance Manager then gave an overview of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games and highlighted the performances of some of the 33 Scottish Para athletes competing in the games before an overview of Return to Sport was presented by regional manager Lynn Allison.

The morning was rounded off by the SDS Regional Team facilitating sessions on a new Inclusive Club Resource being developed and “Having the Conversation” with participants with disabilities.

Particular thanks go to Fiona Donald Swim IT, Brian Pahlmann and Ruth Watson Aberdeen AAC, Chris Cleary and Jill Coleman, Renfrewshire and City of Edinburgh Councils respectively who presented in the afternoon sessions providing an overview of and Inclusive Mainstream Clubs and Inclusive Leadership Programmes.

A managers discussion group discussed how the gathering of local data and how it can be used to inform planning. Thanks to Lori Ure (Live Argyll) and James Fenna (Dundee Leisure and Culture) for delivering presentations on their practice.

Gavin Macleod SDS CEO said “We were delighted to see the large numbers in attendance at the recent Local Authority Professional Officers Group Meeting. This demonstrates the significant commitment to equality and inclusion at a local level and the role that SDS continues to play in embedding inclusion for participants with disabilities within strategic planning and operational delivery.”

The date for the next meeting is Tuesday 1 February 2022. If you are a professional officer or manager and would like to join the network, please contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or telephone 0131 317 1130.

Have you been inspired by the Paralympians in Tokyo? Would you like to get involved in physical activity and sport?

We believe sport is for everyone and has an ability to change lives. At SDS we can help you find an appropriate and inclusive opportunity for everyone to experience the physical, social and psychological benefits that physical activity and sport can bring.

  Hear from people who have experienced the #PowerOfSport and how being active has changed their lives

If you would like to get involved in physical activity and sport, please email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com and we can help find the right opportunity for you.

The Inclusive Apprenticeship programme will empower young people (aged between 16 – 24) with physical, learning and sensory disabilities throughout Scotland to develop their confidence and coaching skills over a one-year period. The young people will gain coaching qualifications or equivalent CPD.

Programme Outcomes:

• 7 confident qualified young people with disabilities actively coaching throughout Scotland
• Increased opportunities for young coaches with disabilities to network (at least two events per year)
• Profile of coaches with disabilities raised
• Awareness of development opportunities raised
• Team of young Peer Mentors developed

Find out more about the programme by watching out Young Start summary video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B11EN5iA17w

To be considered for the programme, young people must:

• Be aged between 16 and 24. Participants must be 16 as of the 7th October 2021 to apply for the programme.
• Have time available to commit to the programme and to volunteering within their community: Meet at least 4 times with their mentor; Attend Young Start coach get together’s and the programme residential.
• Have the ambition to become a coach and to achieve a Level 1 qualification or equivalent.
• Complete a coach profile (x2) and personal development plan (Mentors will provide support to do this).
• Submit brief quarterly reports updates to Scottish Disability Sport.
• Attend at least one CPD opportunity as agreed with your mentor.
• Link with branches to support ongoing developments.
• Be open and ready to participate in all learning opportunities.

Other information:

• Coaches who meet the expectations outlined will be able to access a budget of £200 towards coaching qualifications.
• A budget will also be available to support the people who are selected to become peer mentors.
• Occasionally the relationship between the coach and the mentor simply doesn’t work. This could be for a variety of reasons including geographical, philosophical or technical. If this happens, no explanations are required form either the mentor or the coach and contact should be made with Victoria so alterative arrangements can be made.
• We are looking to develop a network of young people from across all areas in Scotland.

Contact Details:

Victoria Clark, Lead Mentor – email: victoria@activeadvantage.org, tel: 07969 751 470

Heather Lowden, Education and Development Manager – email: heather.lowden@scottishdisabilitysport.com, tel: 07787 151 043

Young Start Apprenticeship Application 21 22

Young Start – Programme Summary 21 22

Nominations are invited from those connected with SDS for the following awards that will be presented at the Online Annual General Meeting on Sunday 3rd October 2021. It is important that there is a clear indication why the individual/group is being nominated.

• Angus Trophy – sports person of the year (excluding athletics and swimming)
• Brian Dolan Memorial Trophy – swimmer of the year award
• Elspeth Watson Trophy – individual outwith SDS who has contributed significantly to disability sport
• Fife Trophy – coach of the year award
• Findlay Calder Trophy – athlete of the year award
• Glasgow Trophy – service to sport award
• Gordon Brown Trophy – athletes’ athlete of the year
• Janice Eaglesham Trophy – club of the year
• John de Courcy Trophy – most promising newcomer
• Russell Hogg Trophy – development coach of the year
• Special Recognition Award

The Awards Panel will then meet to consider all applications and decide the winner for each category in advance of the presentations at the AGM on Sunday 3rd October 2021.

A list of former award winners can be seen on our website here: https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/sds-award-winners/

All nominations should be submitted in confidence, before Thursday 9th September 2021.

The nomination form can be completed online here. 

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games drew to a close with Scotland’s final member of ParalympicsGB taking to the track prior to the spectacular closing ceremony.

Athletics

Fife’s Derek Rae exorcised the demons of his Rio 2016 experience, where he was unable to finish, by completing the Tokyo course and finishing 9th in the T45 Marathon. The Fife AC athlete suffered a stress fracture in his lower back in June and his 2:47:04 run was a testament to his resilience and professionalism.

Following his race, Derek commented;

“I’m proud of myself for getting to the start line,”

“There was a doubt in my mind as to whether I’d compete but it was an honour to get here and represent ParalympicsGB.”

“I ran pretty much the whole race on my own and I wouldn’t have got through it were it not for the crowds. They’ve given us such a warm welcome here.”

“Rio has motivated me since it happened, it never left my mind. It was a demon but the final nail is now in that coffin.”

 

Scotland’s final medal tally at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games is 21, with two gold, nine silver and ten bronze. This total surpasses the 17 medals won by Scots on ParalympicsGB at the 2016 Rio Games.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Today was the penultimate day of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games and the medals continued to come for the Scots on ParalympicsGB.

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid MBE won the Men’s Singles bronze medal, defeating double’s partner, Alfie Hewitt in an enthralling tie.  The pair were left devastated yesterday after suffering a second successive Men’s Double’s final defeat to French duo Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. Men’s Singles Rio champion Gordon, who had beaten Hewett in the final five years ago, once again came out on top when it mattered. The Scot edged a tight encounter 6-4 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 22 minutes to ensure another podium finish.

Commenting on an emotional week in Tokyo, Gordon said;

“The last thing we wanted to do was come and play against each other on the same court,”

“There have to be winners and losers and to be honest it doesn’t feel like I’m a winner today at the moment,”

“But I’m sure that as soon as the emotions settle down, I’ll be proud of that fact that I’ve come here and won another singles medal.”

“Also, I now have the full collection of medals so that’s a cool thing.”

Athletics

Ben Rowlings has made a real impact on his Paralympic debut in Tokyo and had set a time of 1:48.21 to finish in 4th position in his heat and so qualify for the final of the T34 Men’s 800m today. Ben couldn’t improve on that time in the final but raced home in 1:48.63, on a rain soaked track in the Olympic Stadium, to finish the final in 8^th place. A really positive introduction to Paralympic competition for Ben who will now turn his attention to Paris in 2024.

Scotland’s medal tally rises to twenty one with two gold, nine silver and ten bronze after ten days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

It was a “Fantastic Friday” on day ten of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games with five medals for Scots across four different sports.

Athletics

Fife’s Owen Miller is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo and what a debut it was destined to be. Owen took to the track for the final of the T20 Men’s 1500m and blew the field away to take the gold medal. Owen was in fifth position with 400m to go but stayed patient and kicked hard down the back straight to move into second place. He hovered on the shoulder of the Russian Paralympic Committee’s Alexander Rabotnitskii and overtook him on the last bend before sprinting home to stop the clock in 3:54.57.

After his gold medal winning performance. Owen said;

“It is my first Paralympic Games and what an experience, it is really hard going but the work I have done in the last 18 months has really paid off and helped me,”

“If it wasn’t for all the support back home I wouldn’t be here today. It means the world to me and I have done my best.”

“I was third in the world in Dubai 2019 so to be number one now is quite the experience and I have never done it in my life. This is the best day of my life.”

The 4x100m universal relay team of Scotland’s Libby Clegg, Jonnie Peacock, Ali Smith and Nathan Maguire safely made it through to the evening session’s final by qualifying third fastest in a time of 47.86. The ParalympicsGB quartet set a time of 47.50 in the final to secure the silver medal behind the USA who took gold.

Libby said this medal trumped her double gold in Rio;

“I’m so privileged and proud to be a part of this team and share this moment with these guys,”

“Right now this is my proudest moment – being part of this team.”

“I’m going to take some time out but this is my last running competition, unless I dabble in a sports day when my son is at primary school.”

“To end my athletics career with this medal is a dream come true.”

Reigning Paralympic champion, Jo Butterfield, started the defence of her F51 Women’s Club Throw title in the Olympic Stadium today. Despite throwing a season’s best of 21.77, Jo finished the competition just outside the medals in 4^th place.

Ben Rowlings was back on action in the Olympic Stadium for the heats of the T43 Men’s 800m. Ben raced home in a time of 1:48.21 to finish in 4^th position which was enough to see him through to tomorrows final.

Swimming

Stephen Clegg qualified second fastest in his heat to set up a push at his own 100m butterfly S12 world record and Paralympic gold. The Scot led the race throughout, turning in 26.98 and winning in a time of 59.13. Stephen was determined to break 56.75 in the final, the new world best time he set in Sheffield in April.

He had already won a pair of bronze medals in Tokyo and came into this final as the world record holder. However, he was to face Azerbaijan’s Raman Salei, who had won two golds coming into this event and had also qualified fastest for the final. Stephen surged into the lead on the final 25m, but Salai fought back and touched in 57.81, six hundredths of a second ahead of Stephen, but a full second outside the ParalympicGB swimmer’s world record.

After the final Stephen said;

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, I came here to win and it is quite far short of where I wanted to be. I can’t really make any excuses, my prep coming into the meet was really good and I’ve been where I wanted to be in my other events.”

“I definitely want a gold medal from my career, so there’s no chance of me retiring any time soon. I’ll go away from this and come back with a vengeance for Paris.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid and doubles partner Alfie Hewett suffered further Paralympic heartbreak at the hands of French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer following a dramatic three-set doubles defeat in Tokyo. The ParalympicsGB pair had lost to Houdet and Peifer in Rio and once again had to settle for silver medals at the end of a gripping match which the experienced defending champions snatched 7-5, 0-6, 7-6 (3).

Reid and Hewett fought back from losing the opening set to lead the decider 3-1 but could not capitalise before a tense tie-break went against them. The pair will return to court at the Ariake Tennis Park tomorrow to face each other in the bronze medal singles match.

After the mammoth encounter, Gordon said;

“We’re devastated right now; we came here with one job to do and that was to win the gold.”

“We both believed we were going to do it, we came in with brilliant form and tried so hard to change it from five years ago.”

“It’s going to take a while for it to sink in, I’m just proud of the way we fought to the end. We backed each other up the whole way through the match. We win together, we lose together.”

Cycling

Jenny Holl was back on her bike as pilot to Sophie Unwin for the Women‘s B Road Race at the Fuji International Speedway track. The ParalympicsGB pair posted a time of 2:36:00 to win the silver medal and round-off a hugely successful Games for the cyclists. World champions Unwin and Holl kept up with the leaders, only briefly dropping off the back of a breakaway made by Katie-George Dunlevy of Ireland and Sweden’s Louise Jannering. Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal sprinted away in the final stretch to claim their second gold of the Games, while Unwin and Holl pipped the Swedes on the line to add silver to their individual pursuit bronze on the track.

Boccia

The Tokyo boccia competition was drawing to a close and today witnessed the final encounters in the pool stages ahead of tomorrow’s medal matches.

Hamilton’s Stephen McGuire was a member of the ParalympicsGB BC4 pair who faced Canada with a shot at the medals still in their own hands. ParalympicsGB were one shot down after two ends but staged a brilliant fight back to close out the match 5-2.

This led to a final Pool A encounter against Portugal for the opportunity to compete for the medals. Again, it was a close encounter which sat all square at 1-1 after two ends. However, on this occasion it was the Portuguese pair that upped their game in the latter stages and took a shot in each of the remaining two ends to win 3-1. No medal opportunity for Stephen on this occasion but some fantastic play during the Games from the world number ten.

After his last match Stephen said;

“I’m pretty disappointed to be honest. There was nothing I would have loved any more than to provide a medal for ParalympicsGB. It’s been my dream. It’s been a fantastic tournament, the third end was where the game turned around, so credit to Portugal.”

The McCowan family were also back in action today for their concluding Pool A ties in the BC3 Pairs competition. Their first match of the day was against the Thailand pair currently only one place behind them in the world rankings. At the halfway stage of the match, the ParalympicsGB pair found themselves trailing 6-0. They rallied toward the end of the match but it was too little too late and the match was eventually lost 7-3.

Their final Pool A match of the Games was against the pair from France. The ParalympicsGB pair hit top form to record a thoroughly convincing 7-0 win. Unfortunately again, not enough for progression to the medal matches but a memorable Games for Scott McCowan in particular after some great form to finish 4^th in the BC3 individual competition.

After his match Scott said;

“It’s great to have so many people enjoying boccia and enjoying what they’ve seen from me playing on the court. It’s been brilliant to be back at the Paralympics again. We’ve had a great time in Tokyo.”

Shooting

Scotland’s Lesley Stewart finished 13^th in the R8 Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions qualification after three years out with a major injury. Lesley finished two places ahead of ParalympicsGB team-mate Lorraine Lambert in a high-scoring qualification event. The Blairgowrie shooter scored 1133, just 14 off the eighth and final qualifying spot.

Speaking off her Tokyo experience, Lesley said;

“It has been a great experience for me at my first Paralympic Games,”

“I only qualified for these Games two months ago, so it has been a very quick turnaround from qualification to performing here in Tokyo.”

“After three years out with major injury, I am so proud to have made it here and be part of a great team.”

“This will make me stronger and know more about performing at major Games and I will reflect and learn from the experience.”

“The support from the whole team has been immense as has the welcome here in Tokyo.”

 

Scotland’s medal tally rises to twenty with two gold, nine silver and nine bronze after ten days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms