Scotland under 14 and under 18 sides travelled south of the border at the weekend (3^rd / 4^th August) to compete in the British Wheelchair Basketball National Junior Championships, sponsored by the Lord’s Taverners.  The games were hosted at the University of Worcester and invited players from across the United Kingdom to showcase their skills and test themselves against their peers.

The Scotland under 14 side finished day one 2^nd in their group, winning four matches and losing one to set up a semi-final against their Wales counterparts on day 2.  The youngsters continued their good form, claiming a comprehensive 22-12 victory before falling just short in the gold medal match against the Midlands (22-13) to claim second spot and the silver medal.

In addition to the team achievement, Lothian Phoenix player Ben Flanigan was awarded the U14 most improved player to cap off a wonderful weekend for the young Scots.

Scotland under 14 head coach Conor Smart said post championships, ‘I couldn’t be prouder of the squad.  They gave everything they had in the face of tough opposition.  I’m really pleased to come home with a silver medal and looking forward to returning next year’.

The U18 squad went unbeaten on day 1, claiming 4 victories from a possible 4 including a 2 point match with East Midlands (28-26) to finish top of their pool.  On day 2, they were matched with the South East at the quarter final stage and went down 22-14, ending their journey in the competition.  However the under 18 side galvanised to defeat Northern Ireland 24-18 to set up a 5^th/6^th place play-off match against the East Midlands which they won 27-23 to finish in 5^th place overall.  This result meant that Scotland only lost one match from seven throughout the tournament.

Head coach Jen Scally reflected on the team’s performance, ‘We had a difficult start in the quarter-final.  Whilst tough at the time, it was fantastic to see how the team handles this.  They bounced ack well for the final games.  I’m proud of the character we displayed in adversity’.

Squad lists for both the under 14 and under 18 teams can be found below –

Scotland U14 Squad:

Scotland U18 Squad:

For the fifth consecutive year the Bowls Scotland National Championships included para bowls disciplines, and once again, we witnessed some highly competitive matches across the five physically disabled and visually impaired competitions.

Bowls is a hugely inclusive sport and Bowls Scotland have embraced the inclusion of para disciplines within their showpiece event that draws large crowds to Northfield every year.  The para bowls competitions always attract a lot of spectators and this year was no different.

Notably, Pauline Wilson (Willowbank BC) competed in the ladies over 55 singles competition, as well as the para competition.

Everyone involved in the sport is delighted to see Kevin Wallace back competing in the para game.  Kevin is the former World B7 Champion (2011) and formed part of the B6/7/8 triple that finished fourth at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The results were:

Gents B2/B3 (Director)
Winner: Sandy McIntosh (Nigel Walker)
Runner-up: Ian Graham (Kathleen Sweetland)

Ladies B2/B3 (Director)
Winner: Mary Stevenson (Chris Morrow)
Runner-up: Melanie Inness (Grace Whitton)

Gents B6
Winner: George Guthrie
Runner-up: Billy Allan

Gents B7/B8
Winner: Kevin Wallace
Runner-up: Garry Hood

Ladies B7/B8
Winner: Pauline Wilson
Runner-up: Barbara McMillan

Allan McDougall Solicitors has appointed Scottish Disability Sport as its charity partner for 2019 / 2020.

As part of its commitment to the charity, the firm will offer a five-figure funding package comprising both financial and practical support.

With plans to help fund its national events programme, offer hands-on volunteering support, and take part in various fundraising activities, Allan McDougall Solicitors is aiming to make a positive impact on the charity for the year ahead.

The firm has already hit the ground running, as four of its employees recently completed the 5K and 10K races in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival to raise funds for the cause.

Jackie Raitt, partner at Allan McDougall Solicitors, said: “We have been reviewing and consolidating our corporate social responsibility activities in order to truly make an impact to one charitable organisation. We selected Scottish Disability Sport due to our shared commitment to justice, inclusivity and opportunities for the ordinary person. In addition to financial support, many of our staff are also willing to roll up their sleeves and help with the charity’s annual events programme.”

Scottish Disability Sport encourages the development of sport and physical recreation for disabled people throughout Scotland. It promotes sport for athletes with a physical, sensory or learning disability of all ages and abilities.

The charity’s national events programme comprises a range of sporting activities, including swimming, athletics, football, bowls, cross country, archery and boccia.

Gavin Macleod, chief executive officer at Scottish Disability Sport, said: “Scottish Disability Sport would like to thank Allan McDougall Solicitors most sincerely for their support of our national events programme. These events attracted more than 1,800 participants last year and offer competition for all levels of athletes and players.”

Allan McDougall Solicitors is one of Scotland’s most highly regarded specialist litigation firms. It recently won the coveted Litigation Team of the Year award at the Scottish Legal Awards 2019, having been successful in the same category in the Law Awards of Scotland 2018.

Everyone at SDS is saddened and devastated to hear of the sudden death of Janice Eaglesham MBE. Janice was an amazing and inspirational person who did so much for so many. She was compassionate and caring person who supported athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff in her various roles as SDS chair, coach and tutor and our thoughts are with Ian her husband. Janice was motivational , enthusiastic, self effacing and funny. It is so difficult to put into words all her positive qualities and talents.  

Janice has been Chair of Scottish Disability Sport since 2014, leading the Association through the development and roll-out of the current Strategic Plan. Janice was also involved in all aspects of SDS life and was an active tutor delivering education and training courses across Scotland. Her leadership of the SDS Board was exemplary and her experience, knowledge, friendship and expertise will be greatly missed by all.

Janice was also one of Scotland’s most respected coaches of athletes with a disability who gave up a huge amount of her free time to help take her athletes from grassroots involvement all the way to Paralympic participation. 

Janice became involved in disability sport in 1983. Her involvement with Scottish Disability Sport commenced in 1985 and she was part of the organising committee for the Association’s Silver Jubilee celebration events in 1987. 

At a local level, Janice was one of the founder members of the Red Star Athletics Club, along with her husband Ian Mirfin, where she coached twice a week. Red Star is recognised as the leading athletics club in the UK for athletes with a disability. Originally based in Glasgow, Red Star Athletics Club offers track athletics for people with disabilities of all levels, from beginners right through to competitive athletes. Red Star has also produced a large number of athletes who have progressed to compete at all international and Paralympic level. High performance athletes such as Karen Lewis, Ritchie Collins and Allan Stuart have emerged from the club in recent years. The club has also received many honours over the years, including Glasgow Club of the Year, and Janice and Ian jointly won Scotland’s Unsung Heroes. 

At a national level, Janice acted as Athletics Co-ordinator for Scottish Disability Sport and was a Scottish Athletics national coach for athletes with a disability on the Bank of Scotland National Squad. She was also involved in the  organisation of the Scottish Disability Sport National Athletics Championships for athletes with a learning disability . She was responsible for opening up access to coaching and competition to hundreds of disabled athletes over the years and she was a major force in the development of athletics. 

Janice was also active at an international level, acting as team manager and head coach to numerous Scottish squads competing on the world and European stage. She was also heavily involved in the sport of racerunning, coaching many of the leading Scottish athletes. She also represented Scottish Disability Sport on the UK Sports Association for People with a Learning Disability, where more recently she held the position of Vice Chair, and was active on working groups with both Scottish and UK Athletics. 

In 2016 Janice and Ian were both awarded MBEs in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in recognition of their services to disability sport.

Janice was one of the most influential individuals involved in disability sport in Scotland. Her knowledge, expertise and kindness touched so many people and her influence will be missed.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday 31st July at 11.00am at South Lanarkshire Crematorium, G72 0TL. A reception will be held afterwards at the Parkville Hotel in Blantyre.

Exciting opportunity to enable newly

paralysed people to take part in and enjoy sport.

Pembrey Country Park’s closed road circuit played host this weekend to the 2019 British Para Cycling Road Race Championships. The two-day event saw riders from across the UK battle it out across the various classifications for the National title.

The MC3 classification was where the Scottish interest was, and Highlands Fin Graham and Grampian’s Colin Wallace were both in action. Within the MC3, strategies and game plans were employed by the leading three throughout the hour’s race, which saw the winning position change hands on several occasions between the three riders. Fin Graham clinched the win to retain his national jersey with Benjamin Watson (Glossop Kinder Velo CC) in second place and Colin Wallace (Deeside Thistle CC) in third.

MC3 Podium

1. Fin Graham
2. Ben Watson (Glossop Kinder Velo Cycling Club)
3. Colin Wallace (Deeside Thistle CC)

The World Wheelchair Curling Tour arrived in Scotland to run the first International Mixed Doubles Wheelchair Curling Event. The Peak Sports Village in Stirling was the host for this prestigious event from the 5^th -7^th July.

Teams from England, Estonia, Russia, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, Finland and hosts Scotland competed in two groups on a round robin basis. Scotland represented by Aileen Neilson and Michael McCreadie and Finland represented by Markku Karjalainen and Sari Karjalainen both emerged from the group stages unbeaten setting up an exciting prospect for the gold medal match. Group runners up Andrey Meshcheryakov and Alexandra Chechetkina from Russia and Rado Ďuriš and Monika Kunkelová from Slovakia would play for the bronze medal.

In the final match Scotland got off to a good start with a shot in the first end but the Finnish pair powered back to take the inaugural title and gold medal by 9-1. The bronze medal was awarded to the team from Slovakia who emerged at 9-4 winners against Russia.

Our congratulations go to Aileen and Michael on a fantastic silver medal against the strongest nations in the world.

The Peak Sports Centre in Stirling played host to the 2019 RGK Wheelchair Basketball Regional Junior Festival, welcoming young people from across the county and providing them with an opportunity to proudly represent their regions.

Young players from five regions travelled to Stirling on Saturday 6th July to compete in both the under 13 and under 18 competitions, displaying a high level of enthusiasm and skills throughout the day. The event provides young aspiring players an opportunity to pit their skills against opponents from other areas of the country while also introducing players to the sport in a friendly and welcoming setting.

Tayside and Fife proved to hot to handle in both the under 18 and under 13 sections, claiming the top spot in each. The under 18 side, including GB Under 23 long list player Ben Leitch, defeated the experienced West side 32-17 in the final while a combined Grampian / East side ended the day in 3rd place after claiming victory 22-10 versus their Central counterparts. The under 13 squad from Tayside and finished top of the table with 3 wins from 3 and scoring over 30 points in each match.

The event was delivered by basketballscotland and supported by a number of key partners including RGK, CliniMed and the Lords Taverners with former GB Paralympians Lee Fawcett, Sinclair Thomas and Matt Byrne all present on the day to pass on their experience and knowledge of the sport.

With regular wheelchair basketball sessions in many regions of the country, the development of the game is looking bright and this was reinforced by the quality of play over the weekend. A summary of opportunities is listed below –

• East of Scotland – Lothian Phoenix
• Grampian – Grampian Flyers
• Tayside – Dundee Dragons
• West of Scotland – Glasgow Rocks

basketballscotland’s Disability Talent & Pathways Manager and event organiser Tina Gordon recognised the quality throughout the day stating, ‘It was great to see so many young wheelchair basketballers enjoying our sport, the future of wheelchair basketball throughout Scotland definitely looks bright’.

Scottish Disability Sport are also working in partnership with basketballscotland and several other partners to develop wheelchair sport opportunities in the country. A current example of this can be found in the East of Scotland with a week of activity being delivered in Edinburgh for school aged young people with a physical disability. More information can be found by clicking here.