Parasport powered by Toyota, an online hub to empower disabled people to become more active, has launched a new £250,000 UK fund. An element of the funding has been allocated to provide disability inclusion training for club coaches and volunteers across Scotland.

The new Toyota Parasport fund opens today and will be delivered in partnership with the British Paralympic Association, Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Disability Sport Wales and Scottish Disability Sport.

This exciting new opportunity means training will be rolled out through SDS Branches to support coaches and volunteers to improve the quality and quantity of activities available to disabled people.

The new UK-wide funding programme has the backing of ParalympicsGB athletes including multiple Paralympic swimming gold medallist Bethany Firth from Northern Ireland. Prior to starting swimming lessons as a pupil at Longstone Special School, Bethany had a fear of water, having fallen into a pool as a four-year-old on holiday in Australia.

Bethany said: ““The new Toyota Parasport Fund will help more people run inclusive activities so more disabled people can benefit from getting active in the way I have.”

“Learning to swim and trying something new really gave me confidence and it helped me make new friends. Swimming has broadened my horizons, allowing me to travel and it has basically changed who I am.

“You don’t have to want to be a Paralympian there are huge benefits to becoming more active whether its physical and mental wellbeing, building confidence or making new friends.”

Parasport was launched in March 2019 and already has more than 1,600 activity providers offering disabled people the opportunities to become more active through Parasport.org.uk, which creates a vibrant community for people to share their experiences and become advocates for the benefits of being more active.

Parasport empowers disabled people and their networks by providing the information, inspiration and confidence they need to become active.

Andrew Cullis, Toyota GB Marketing Director said: “We are extremely proud to launch the Toyota Parasport Fund as the next step in our support of inclusive sport and activity in the UK.

“Alongside our partners from Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Disability Sport Wales and Scottish Disability Sport, we have a fantastic opportunity to improve the options available to disabled people to get active and make a lasting impact on the grassroots landscape.”

Mike Sharrock, Chief Executive at the British Paralympic Association said: “Thanks to the launch of the Toyota Parasport Fund we are delighted to offer training to coaches and volunteers to further improve the opportunities to disabled people.

“Parasport is a crucial part of helping us to deliver our vision: through sport, inspire a better world for disabled people. It enables us to highlight the wide range of opportunities available for disabled people and will help improve the experience of disabled people taking part in physical activity across the country and will be a welcome boost to the array of activity providers registered with Parasport.”

The training aims to improve the quality and quantity of sport and activities available to disabled people. To register interest in attending a workshop, please complete the form below.

The Inas Global Games 2019 took place in Brisbane, Australia and the event was the most successful in its history, with more than 1000 high performance competitors with an intellectual impairment taking part. The competition takes place every four years and the sports contested were athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis and cycling.

Scotland had athletes represent Great Britain in athletics and tennis, whilst we also had coaches involved in athletics, tennis and cycling.

Athletics: Sam Fernando (Cupar, Fife) and Tommy Patterson (Team Manager/Head Coach)

Cycling: Tom A Hara (Team Manager/Head Coach)

Tennis: Dominic Iannotti (Ayrshire, Scotland), Anna McBride (Dunfermline, Fife but now living in Nottingham), Karen Ross (Team Manager/Head Coach)

In athletics, Fife AC competitor, Sam Fernando, delivered a personal best in the 3000m Steeplechase to clinch a silver medal, whilst he also finished fourth in the 50000m. The experienced Tommy Patterson led the athletes throughout the competition.

In Dominic Iannotti and Anna McBride, we have two of the most successful II1 tennis players in the World and both continued their fine form from the 2018 World Championships. Between them they amassed three gold medals in the men’s singles, ladies’ singles and the mixed doubles where the partnered each other. Iannotti also secured Mens Doubles silver, as well as gold in the men’s team event! The tennis players were ably led by our very own Karen Ross, who is now the Head of Performance at Tennis Scotland.

Whilst we never had any cyclists in the Great Britain team, West based coach, Tom A Hara led the cycling team throughout the games and coached the very successful duo Lauren Booth and Kiera Byland. The pair delivered multiple medals in both the road and track events.

Scottish Disability Sport would like to thank UKSA for selecting and preparing the team for the Games.

basketballscotland’s Wheelchair National Academy claimed victory at the recent Leuven Bears International Youth Tournament, held in Blankenberge, Belgium from Friday 18^th to Sunday 20^th October.

The tournament saw a squad of 10 players from across Scotland compete against other youth players from Belgium and Germany, looking to build on the success achieved at this summer’s National Junior Championships held in Worcester.  The tournament was seen as a great opportunity for the young Scots, basketballscotland’s Tina Gordon highlighting ‘the tournament will not only greatly enhance players on court basketball skills by playing against players from Belgium and Germany, but also personal development and teamwork’.

The competition was aimed at players under 17 and included youngsters from Lothian Phoenix, Dundee Dragons, Glasgow Rollin Rocks and Grampian Flyers.

Scotland moved through the first day of competition unscathed claiming victories against Belgium’s BC Ostende (70 – 18) and Leuven Bears (58 – 21) with some impressive individual performances including an incredible 28 points for Lothian Phoenix player Logan Kidd (versus BC Ostende).  The victory over Leuven Bears was a tremendous result considering the young Belgians had won their own National Cup back in May.

Day saw two matches against German opposition in the form of BG Baskets Hamburg, with both head to heads proving very close indeed.  The first game saw the Scottish Wheelchair National Academy edge a close encounter 34 v 30 with Captain Ben Leitch recording a game high 19 points.  Later that day saw the top two teams from the group stage face off – the young Scots to take on the young Germans for a second time.  However, the outcome was to remain the same as the Scottish side claimed a 48 v 44 victory to finish the competition as winners.

 

Competition Results

Final

Scottish Wheelchair National Academy 48 v 44 BG Baskets Hamburg (Germany)

Pool Matches

Scottish Wheelchair National Academy 34 v BG Baskets Hamburg (Germany)

Scottish Wheelchair National Academy 70 v 18 BC Ostende (Belgium)

Scottish Wheelchair National Academy 58 v 21 Leuven Bears (Belgium) – tournament hosts and winners of a recent

 

Squad List

Name	Club	Classification
Ben Leitch	Glasgow Rollin Rocks	4.5
Cameron Watson	Lothian Phoenix	4.5
Logan Kidd	Lothian Phoenix	4.0
Ronnie Cassels	Glasgow Rollin Rocks	3.0
Blair Marshall	Dundee Dragons	3.0
Jack Caird	Grampian Flyers	3.0
Jason Gillies	Lothian Phoenix	2.5
Daniel McLaughlin	Lothian Phoenix	2.5
David McLaughlin	Lothian Phoenix	1.0
Rhys Colliar	Dundee Dragons	1.0
Jen Scally	Head Coach

 

 

 

 

 

The 2019 Stirling Wheelchair Curling International was won by Sweden who went undefeated for the week winning all seven of their round robin games.  The Swedes secured victory with one match to spare when they won a tight match against England on Thursday and then rounded off their week with a win against title contenders Norway on Friday. Many thanks to Stirling Council baillie Douglas Dodds who was on hand to present the trophy.

The 8 team international event was a great success with some fantastic curling on show over four days at the Peak.  Scotland finished strongly, winning their last two games to end 4th in the standings.  We look forward to welcoming the best wheelchair curlers back to Stirling in 2020.

All details of our event including the draw are on our website.

http://stirlingwheelchaircurling.btck.co.uk/

Stirling Wheelchair Curling Club hold wheelchair curling sessions weekly every Wednesday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.  Please contact Jacky McLaren if you would like to try out the sport jackymclaren@talktalk.net

Chair SWCII 2018

Andy Hemming

MOB: 07971 769851

The news we have all been waiting for arrived from Brisbane this morning that Sam Fernando had won silver in 3,000 metres steeplechase at the INAS Global Games. Sam ran a personal best time and was in contention for gold down the final straight. Earlier in the week Sam finished 7th in 10,000 metres and we all knew he was in an excellent form going into his strongest event, the steeplechase. Congratulations Sam we are all so proud of you.

1 Foratier T20, Quentin 97 France 9:57.24
2 Fernando, Sam Ruwan 98 United Kingdom 9:58.82
3 Gomez Lucas, Manuel 97 Spain 10:36.50
4 Martinez Morote T20, Jos 84 Spain 10:48.19
5 McIntosh T20, Kyle 94 Australia 10:53.10
6 Mengual, Sebastien 93 France 11:19.70

Quentin Foratier from France and Sam finished well ahead of the remainder of the field in this most demanding of events for T20 athletes with intellectual impairments. Sam has enjoyed considerable success in steeplechase over the past couple of years but this was the first occasion he has run under 10 minutes. Sam travelled to Australia with a PB of 10:04.25 and to day he lowered his personal best time by almost five seconds. There will be lots of excited Fife Athletic Club members and coaches thrilled but not surprised by this performance.

Sam as we all know has enormous family support. Congratulations to the Fernando family and all relatives and friends who have contributed so much to this special moment.

The INAS Global Games are the world’s biggest sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment. More than 1,000 athletes from all around the globe gather every four years to compete for medals and titles. The sports contested are athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis and cycling. Demonstration events are also included at every Games. These reflect the most popular sports of the host nation not already on the INAS programme. The Global Games are also an important event in the build-up to the Paralympic Games. Many athletes who have made their major international debut at the Global Games have gone on to win Paralympic titles.

The first multi-sport event for athletes with an intellectual impairment were held in Harnosand, Sweden, in 1989. Named ‘the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability’, they took place three years after INAS was formed. Over the following years the focus shifted to getting on to the Paralympic programme, adding sports and countries. More information about this can be found on the history of INAS page. Then after more than a decade of continued development of sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment, the Global Games returned to their roots in Sweden.

The 2019 INAS Global Games are expected to be the most successful to date. The Games are being hosted by Sport Inclusion Australia – INAS member organisation in Australia. The organisers are working with many national and international sporting bodies. More than 1,000 athletes were expected to travel to Brisbane just under one year ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

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

Not surprisingly Sam Fernando from Gateside and Fife Athletic Club ran strongly in his first event at the Inas Global Games 2019 at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane earlier in the week.

Japanese athletes dominated the T20 10,000 metres INAS World Championships final, winning all three medals. Kazuhiro Morito won the race in 31:53.04 and Sam finished seventh in 33:56.77. The sixth placed athlete finished in a time that was six seconds faster than Sam’s personal best for 10K. Eighteen athletes contested the final.

Sam started the race comfortably and after ten laps was running with the pack. One Japanese athlete was well out in front but the other competitors were sensible enough to let him go. The pace was intense and not surprisingly Sam lost confidence in his ability to stick with the pack and he sensibly allowed a gap to open. The next ten laps were not his best but as other athletes tired he picked up again and made his way back into contention. Two of the runners he ran against at the INAS European Championships in Paris last year were well ahead of him but in a couple of laps, he caught and then passed them which boosted his confidence.

It cannot be underestimated how challenging it is for an athlete with additional support needs to compete over 10,000 metres when the ability of the competitors varies considerably. Athletes were spread over the full 400 metres of the track and in this particular race the winning Japanese athlete lapped all other seventeen competitors. Sam became confused and stopped one lap early and lost at least 10 seconds. Interventions from officials and Team UK staff and supporters encouraged him to start running again but the delay undoubtedly influenced his finishing time if not his finishing position. My understanding is that despite this unbelievably challenging situation, Sam managed to put in a very strong final lap.

Sam ran very well in his first INAS Global Games event. Processing information and coping with the many changes that happen in distance races are just some of the challenges faced by athletes with intellectual impairments. Sam had lots of decisions to make but he coped admirably. The heat also made the setting more demanding and Sam did well to finish ahead of top T20 athletes from Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Sam has enjoyed some quality steeplechase training in preparation for his major event on Thursday over 3K plus of course the barriers and water jump. All of us in Fife and beyond wish Sam all the very best in his strongest event of recent times.

The 10K was another learning experience for the young Fife athlete. He will now be even better prepared to take on the world’s leading athletes over the barriers and water in his second event at the INAS Global Games. Come on Sam we are all behind you.

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

Grampian Clay Pigeon Shooter, Allan Ritchie, has scooped a Bronze medal on day 2 of this year’s World Shooting Para Sport Championships.

The event, held this year in Sydney, Australia, showcases the very best of shooting talent from across the globe, and Allan has done Scotland proud by bringing home 3^rd place in the Para Trap 1 event after facing some stiff competition from 2018 silver medalist, Italy’s Orsete Lai, and Finland’s Juha Myllymakim, who claimed the gold & silver positions respectively.

Allan is an extremely dedicated athlete who puts in an incredible amount of mileage and effort to train with the national squad whilst working full-time, and devotes some of his limited spare hours to inspiring the next generation of athletes through volunteering with Aberdeenshire Sports Council.

Well done, Allan! What an incredible achievement.

If you, or anyone you know, lives with a physical, sensory or learning disability in Grampian & is interested in getting involved in sport, please get in touch with Alison on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 07828 744 848.

Derek Rae from Kirkcaldy led the way with a brilliant half marathon performance in Tokyo last month. Derek his a role model for all Fife athletes but in particular Sam Fernando and Owen Miller.

Sam Fernando from Gateside headed off to Brisbane on Friday for the Inas Global Games 2019 and we wish him well. Sam is under consideration for 5K, 3K steeplechase and 10K but is unlikely to run all three. Sam is a former pupil of Bell Baxter HS.

Next month it will be the turn of Owen Miller from Dunfermline to step up to the plate as he heads to Dubai for the World Para Athletics Championships. This will be Owen’s first full selection for the full GB team and offers him the opportunity to stake a claim for consideration for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next year. Owen is a former pupil of Woodmill HS.
All athletes are members of Fife AC and Derek and Sam are coached by Ron Morrison and Owen by Steve Doig. Disability Sport Fife is a proud partner of Fife AC.

All three athletes are products of the Disability Sport Fife performance pathway that supports athletes across all sports from participation to performance to podium potential.

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

The 6th Stirling Wheelchair Curling International Invitational will be held at the Peak from October 15^th to 18^th.  We are delighted to welcome 8 national teams to take part in this year’s round robin event, which is part of the World Wheelchair Curling Tour. Home favourites Scotland will be aiming to build on their run to the final of the 2019 World Championships which were held here in March. This will be the first home event with new skip Hugh Nibloe who said “Playing back at the Peak will be great, we are looking to continually improve on the successful style of game we developed last season and build on last seasons silver medal”.

Previous winners Norway and Russia return with new team line-ups, while Sweden will be trying to finish one better than second place last year. Also competing are England, Switzerland, USA and competition newcomers Slovenia. Many of the teams will be coming from Wetzikon, Switzerland where they will be aiming to gain valuable experience of the ice conditions before the World Wheelchair Curling Championships are held there in March 2020.

Game times are 10.00am and 2.30pm from Tuesday 15^th to Thursday 17^th October with the final matches scheduled for 10.00am on Friday 18^th October. Spectators are welcome and entry is free so please come along and watch some world class curling.

Chair SWCII 2019

Andy Hemming

MOB: 07971 769851

All details of our event including the draw are on our website http://stirlingwheelchaircurling.btck.co.uk/

Stirling Wheelchair Curling Club hold wheelchair curling sessions every Wednesday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm at the Peak. Please contact Jacky McLaren if you would like to try out the sport jackymclaren@talktalk.net

 

 

Boccia UK travelled to the European Regional Open in Nymburk, with a mixture of experienced and improving players as part of their preparations for the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020. As ever, a strong Scottish presence was included, and Scottish Disability Sport is delighted with the progress of our high performance players.

The competition included events for Team and Pairs, as well as Individual and the selected Scots put in some very strong performances:

• Scott McCowan (BC3)
• Patrick Wilson (BC3)
• Stephen McGuire (BC4)

McCowan relished the opportunity to compete at this level once again, following several events where he has been overlooked for selection. He made his mark in emphatic style by winning double gold in both the Individual and Pairs competitions. It was McCowan’s first individual gold medal at international level and what a time to make a statement.

Wilson didn’t make it to the knockout rounds in the individual competition but did clinch a gold medal in the Pairs event, alongside Scott McCowan and Beth Moulan. With Jamie McCowan and Jess Hunter (ENG) left out of this event, the BC3 pair is looking very strong ahead of next year’s showpiece.

In the BC4 events, Stephen McGuire was back to his imperious best as he scooped individual gold and pairs gold, alongside Evie Edwards (ENG) and Louis Saunders (ENG). McGuire, who captains the BC4 group is targeting his third successive Paralympic Games.

The 2019 Nymburk Boccia Regional Open provided unprecedented success for Boccia UK, as they delivered all seven Gold medals available in the competition, as well as one bronze medal.