The 2018 Stirling International Wheelchair Curling Tournament was won by the Canadian national team, which was skipped by double Paralympian, Mark Ideson.

In the final, the Canadians beat the national team of Sweden by 7 shots to 6 with the Canadians coming from behind to secure the title by taking a double at the last end.

The event, which was made up of national teams from 11 different countries, was a great success with some fantastic curling on show over 4 days at the Peak.  Paralympic Champions China withdrew at a late stage with their place in the draw taken by a Scotland ‘B’ team, which featured Stirling Wheelchair Curling Club member Charley Mckenna.

Scotland finished 6th in the standings with the Scotland ‘B’ team rounding off their tournament with an 8 – 3 victory over a strong Swiss team.

Many of the teams will be back in Stirling for the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championships, which is held at the Peak from March 3rd to 10th.

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

After a busy summer term with our regional team and players zooming around schools delivering boccia, one girl from Grampian won the chance to get up close with the world’s boccia stars at the BISFed World Boccia Championships 2018 in Liverpool in August.

Lillie, from Aberdeenshire, entered a competition as part of SDS’s School Boccia Programme, and was selected as the lucky winner of the grand prize: return travel, accommodation abd tickets to the Championships for her and her mum, Eleanor.

Lillie, who is relatively new to the world of boccia, had a blast on her 2-day visit, and her mum reported back with Lillie’s reflections on the event:

“Lillie enjoyed her trip to Liverpool to watch the Boccia Championships. She got to see Stephen McGuire play then she liked when he came to speak to her in the restaurant at night. Next day she got to meet his brother Peter who was commentating for the BBC and she really enjoyed chatting to him. She is keen to take up boccia but just need to find a time and place to suit her.”

We’re now working with Lillie’s school and the Aberdeenshire Active Schools Team to ensure that she gets the opportunity to play boccia in her local area regularly!

If you or anyone you know is living in the Grampian area with a physical, sensory or learning disability and would like to get more involved in sport, please get in touch with Alison Shaw, Regional Manager, on 07828 744 848 or alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

Scottish Disability Sport held a Scottish Invitational Individual Boccia Event at the Engage Centre in Sighthill, Edinburgh on Saturday October 6th. Players from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Ireland travelled to Edinburgh for an opportunity to test themselves against some of the leading players from these nations in the BC1 – 4 classifications. Experienced players were joined by a sprinkling of relatively novice players with the potential to advance in the sport and this event offered an outlet that ensures that there is a good range of competitive opportunities available in Scotland on an annual basis.

As the Scottish International Individuals, Teams & Pairs event – held for the first time last year at Inverclyde Centre – is scheduled to be a Biennial event SDS wanted to ensure players, assistants, coaches and our ever-growing band of officials are given the opportunity to test their mettle in a competitive environment. Thanks to all the nations for supporting this event and ensuring there was a diverse competition.

All sections headed into the last fixtures of the day still uncertain as to where the gold medal was heading as the round robin groups reached their conclusion. The BC1 section saw Scotland’s Reegan Stevenson and Jabe Peake contest for the gold medal. Despite Reegan winning the first and last end it proved not to be enough as Jabe won 3-2 to take the gold back to England. Northern Ireland’s William Graham completed the medallists.

In the BC2 section the leading contenders were Northern Ireland’s World No 31 Claire Taggart and England’s Reshad Saraj. Reshad saved his best for the final as he eased to victory over Claire. An honourable mention for Ireland’s Stuart Wiley who took Reshad to the wire in their group match and claimed the bronze medal in one of his first competitions.

The section with the most entrants was the ever-popular BC3 section which unfortunately lost the formidable McCowan brothers from Ayrshire at the 11th hour to illness. World No 2 Jamie and brother Scott were sure to have been in the mix for medals. This left World No 11 Patrick Wilson from the East of Scotland as the player to beat. He was severely tested in consecutive matches with England’s Lewis Fisher who pushed him all the way in the group stage and in their semi-final but Patrick ultimately fought his way to the final. There he faced Matt Berry from England who was in scintillating form in the group stages, losing only 2 points in his 3 group matches. After seeing off Ireland’s Connor Corroon – himself in excellent form – comfortably in the semi-final, Matt – ably assisted by his mum Sue – performed excellently in the middle ends of the final to hold on for the gold medal despite an almighty effort from Patrick in the final end who fell just one shot short of taking it to a tie-break. England’s Lewis Fisher defeated Connor for the bronze.

The final section of the day, the BC4 section, had a welcome return to competitive action for Scotland’s Kieran Steer after a hiatus from the sport. Kieran and his fellow countryman Ross Munro navigated their way through the group to play a winner takes all fixure against each other i the final match of the day. They won two ends each but ultimately Kieran had amassed a significant score after two ends that couldn’t be reeled in. Northern Ireland’s Jayne Milligan completed the podium place ahead of her compatriot Paul McLister.

Thanks to all players and team support along with the excellent officials marshalled superbly yet again by Darren Thomson. SDS look forward to the next competition on October 27th at the same venue for players outside the BISFed BC1-4 classifications.

Medals were presented by Stephen McGuire – who also officiated at the competition – and SDS Vice-Chair Claire Morrison.

Photo by Claire Morrison: All the medallists from the 2018 Scottish Boccia Invitational Individual Event

Scottish Disability Sport has partnered with the Celtic FC Foundation, RNIB, Haggeye, Guide Dogs Scotland, FABB Scotland, Visibility, JudoScotland, Scottish Swimming, Scottish FA and scottishathletics to provide an opportunity for people across Scotland with visual impairments to try a variety of sports. This fantastic opportunity is open to everyone over 10 years.

This event provides anyone living with a visual impairment with the opportunity to try a wide range of sports.
Scottish Disability Sport Regional Managers will be on hand on the day to raise awareness and support participants to get involved in their chosen sport in their local area. If you would like to have a chat about the event please do not hesitate to contact us.

All participants will have the opportunity to try the following sports:

• Athletics
• Bowls
• Cycling
• Football
• Goalball
• Judo
• Swimming
• Tennis

If you have a visual impairment or know someone with a visual impairment who would like to get involved in sport and would like to attend, please register by completing the form below, telephoning Scottish Disability Sport on 0131 317 1130, email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or book online here:

visual-impairment-sports-engagement-day-2

A meet and greet service will be available at Dundee bus station and / or Dundee railway station to direct you to the venue. Please let us know you need this support when booking.

Details of the Event

Venue: St Paul’s RC Academy, 90 Gillburn Road, Dundee DD3 0EH
Date: Saturday 17th November 2018
Time: 11.00am – 4.00pm (10.30am registration)
Cost: Free

Closing Date: Friday 2nd November. Please note that booking is essential.

Despite narrowly losing out on an individual podium place due to a bib number technicality, Grampian clay pigeon shooter Allan Ritchie performed astonishingly well alongside team mates Paul Bailey and Mathew Goodwin to help Team GB take home team gold at this year’s World Shooting Para Sport Para Trap World Championships.

The inaugural event, held in Lonato in Italy, was the last of Allan’s trio of world class events and followed the British Championships in Wales and the World Cup in France…both of which took place in the preceding fortnight.

Allan admits that his initial qualification round started shakily, but he hit an astonishing 25/25 in the second round on the finals layout – the first 25 to be shot in the inaugural Para World Championships. This left him on the highest seated score on Day 1, which gained him the Pieter Bortolin Trophy for his category.

After some challenging light conditions which proved detrimental to his performance, Allan made it through to the final on Day 2 of the competition. Unfortunately, Allan dropped to 6th place in the initial rounds of the finals, but pulled himself back up to joint second place! However, it wasn’t meant to be, and with Allan sitting in joint 3rd place with a tie at the end of the tiebreak round, he was pushed out of a podium spot based on bib number.

Allan is now on the return leg of his journey back to Grampian – a cool 1,400 miles by car!

Well done to Allan on his incredible back-to-back performances over the last three weeks, which has seen him return home with the following medal haul:

• Gold – British Shotgun Para Champion 2018
• Silver – Individual WSPS World Cup, Châteauroux
• Gold – Team GB, WSPS World Cup, Châteauroux
• Pieter Bortolin trophy – Day one leader at WSPS World Championships, Lonato
• Gold – Team GB, WSPS World Championships, Lonato

To see Allan in action, skip to 52 minutes at https://www.paralympic.org/shooting. It sure is impressive stuff!

Photo credit: Allan Ritchie

The Daihatsu Japan Para-Badminton International 2018 took place between the 26th and 30th September and Scotland had only one competitor, Mary Wilson, in attendance.

Playing all three events, Mary was successful in reaching the quarter final stages of the SL4-SU5 women’s singles, losing out to Chanida Srinavakul of Thailand, 17-21, 12-21. This was not the end of her singles though; playing on the SL4 women’s bronze medal match Mary was narrowly defeated by Germany’s Katrin Seibert 20-22, 14-21.

In the mixed doubles, pairing up with Germany’s Jan- Niklas Potts, the pair came up against some tough opponents and were unable to reach the knockout stages.

The Bronze came in the form of SL3-SU5 Women’s doubles event, partnering Frances Veronique Braud, the pair came through to the semi-finals having finished second in their group, guaranteeing a bronze medal. Bronze would be what they had to finish with, having lost to Seibert and Srinavakul, 15-21, 5-21.

Stirling Wheelchair Curling Club are hosting their annual invitational wheelchair curling tournament which is being held at the Peak, Stirling from October 16^th to 19th 2018.

We are delighted to welcome to this year’s event twelve teams from the cream of world curling including current Paralympic champions China and their fellow medallists Norway and Canada. Standing in their path to the trophy are our defending champions Russia and last year’s runners-up Scotland. Teams from Latvia, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, England and Czech Republic join them in our round robin format.

Game times are 9.45am and 2.30pm daily from Tuesday 16^th to Thursday 18^th October with the final scheduled for 9.45am on Friday 19^th October 2018.

The 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championships are to be played here at the Peak in our very own City of Stirling in March. Our tournament gives the teams an opportunity to experience the on ice conditions and we anticipate many hotly contested matches as teams strive for a competitive edge.

Spectators are welcome so please come along to watch the best wheelchair curlers display their great skills, accuracy and hopefully you will be inspired!

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. If you would like to try out the sport, please contact Jacky McLaren on jackymclaren@talktalk.net.

The deadline for the upcoming Central Parasport Festival 2018 has been extended to 15th October 2018.

Date:   Tuesday 23rd October 2018

Time:  10.00am – 3pm (9:30am arrival and registration)

Venue: Grangemouth Sports Complex, FK3 9JB

This festival is targeting pupils within a mainstream school setting in the Central area, with a physical, visual or hearing disability aged between P1 – S6. The key outcome of the event is to provide a multisport opportunity to these pupils, identify talented individuals within specific sports, alongside channelling pupils onto local, regional clubs/ programmes. With a wide range of new sports on offer we would like to welcome back all pupils who have attended in the past, alongside engaging new pupils to attend for their first experience. We will also have performance athletes attend on the day for an inspiring Q and A session.  Please see promotional video from East Parasport festival by clicking on the link   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzP4sztaDY.

Booking information

Please see and complete the Central Parasport Application form attached or online at https://www.cognitoforms.com/ScottishDisabilitySport/CentralScotlandParaSportFestival2018  with a closing date of Tuesday 2^nd October 2018 (forms requested to be returned directly to Cheryl Lappin – Central SDS RDM).

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the event or disability sport in Central Scotland, please contact:

Cheryl Lappin SDS Regional Development Manager for Central Scotland on cheryl.lappin@scottishdisabilitysport.com / Phone: 07577830360

Para Sport Festival 2018 – Event Information

After an incredibly rocky start where a podium finish was doubted, Aberdeenshire clay pigeon shooter, Allan Ritchie, performed an incredible turnaround to take home individual silver and team gold at the World Shooting Parasport World Cup.

The event, held in Chatearoux in France, saw Allan finish just one target behind Australia’s Scottie Brydon, who took the top spot in the PT1 class. Brydon’s overall score in the qualification and final rounds also saw him beat the World Record, previously set by Allan.

Allan is in the final leg of his mammoth 3,200 mile round trip for a series of world class events, which also included the British Shooting Grand Final in Wales, and the World Shooting Parasport Grand Prix, which he is currently attending in Lonato, Italy.

We’re all cheering for Allan and keeping our fingers crossed that he can get back on top and reclaim the World Record!

Good luck to Allan for the next few days of competition (and for his lengthy drive home), and thank you to the sponsors that are helping him reach his potential!

The inaugural Goalball UK ‘Home Nations’ tournament at York St John University was a great success with the four teams battling it out in a fiercely competitive but friendly atmosphere.

The opening game on Saturday afternoon, between England and Wales, was end to end action and set the tone for all the games to follow. David Lloyd had the accolade of scoring the 1st goal of the tournament (for Wales) but England were the eventual winners.

Next up, Northern Ireland made their competitive debut against Scotland. Anyone watching wouldn’t have known though as they played exceptionally well, only narrowly losing by 1 goal.

Scotland were then immediately back on court to face their ‘Auld Enemy’ – England.  It was yet another great game with England triumphing.

The remaining games of the day resulted in both Northern Ireland and Scotland winning against Wales, whilst England beat Northern Ireland to maintain their 100% record.

Play resumed on Sunday morning after a Saturday night social when ‘Alternative Awards’ were presented – the categories included ‘Considering I’m sighted I’m not bad at this crazy VI sport’; ‘I got out of bed the earliest this morning’; and ‘Don’t tell anyone but really I’m English’!

Northern Ireland continued to play fantastically and, although they were unable to record a win, Wales were by no means outplayed in any of their games. Scotland, rather than tiring, got stronger as the tournament progressed, winning all 3 of their games and putting the pressure on England. In the final game, they cheered on their ‘Celtic cousins’ knowing that a win or draw for Northern Ireland against England would result in them being crowned Home Nations champions – but despite taking an early lead, it wasn’t to be, and England won.

The final table therefore had England and Scotland tied on 15 points but 1st place went to England because of their superior goal difference. So Scotland were 2nd whilst Northern Ireland finished 3rd and Wales 4th.

A massive thank you to everyone who was involved – players, coaches, officials, volunteers and Goalball UK staff – and to York St John University for hosting the tournament. We’re already starting to make plans for 2019!

Congratulations to the Scottish Team of:

Alan Lewis
Andrea Logan
Graeme Roache
Lorna Morisset
Mark Borthwick
Paul Cunningham

Results – Saturday 8th September:
England 7 – 4 Wales
Scotland 11 – 10 Northern Ireland
England 10 – 6 Scotland
Northern Ireland 7- 4 Wales
Scotland 10 – 9 Wales
England 8 – 4 Northern Ireland

Results – Sunday 9th September:
Scotland 7 – 4 Northern Ireland
England 8 – 5 Wales
Scotland 5 – 2 England
Wales 5 – 6 Northern Ireland
Scotland 7 – 3 Wales
England 5 – 3 Northern Ireland

If you or anyone you know has a visual impairment and would like to try goalball, contact Scottish Disability Sport on 0131 317 1130 or email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.