The forty-first Junior Championships for sensory impaired and physically disabled swimmers organised by Scottish Disability Sport were held at Grangemouth on Wednesday 7^th November. For over two decades successive generations of Grangemouth staff have supported the event. The Junior Swimming Championships are one of the longest running events in the national calendar organised by SDS.

The Junior Championships have witnessed memorable contests over the years between emerging and established Scottish swimmers. SDS and its partner governing body Scottish Swimming have developed a comprehensive pathway in the sport so there is a competitive outlet for swimmers with a disability at every stage. This event has witnessed most of the finest para-swimmers Scotland has produced. Many of the entrants on Wednesday will aspire to follow in the considerable footsteps of Paul Noble MBE, Sean Fraser, Stephen Clegg, Abby Kane and Lara Ferguson to mention only a few who have graced this event through the years. Thanks to the bespoke time-banding classification system used, swimmers new to competition can swim at the same meet as Paralympians and Commonwealth Games representatives. This means that these athletes are accessible and inspiring to all participants there. SDS were delighted to welcome one of these athletes back for her final year at this competition. Beth Johnston has been a mainstay at this event for years and won yet another Best Female trophy thanks to her 5 gold medals. Beth headed up a buoyant Borders team who secured further medals through Connor Livingstone, Amy MacKay, Jenna Brus and Kirsty Gibb. Another swimmer competing in their final junior championships is Fife’s Cara Smyth who chased Beth all the way. It was fantastic to see her back in the pool. They will both be missed from this event, however we look forward to seeing them again at the senior events.

Grampian’s Rhys Gill engaged in some thrilling battles with the West of Scotland pair Kyle Hughes and Lewis Beagrie on the male side. Rhys and Kyle –  – both medalists  at the 2018 CPISRA World Games in Sant Cugat, Spain – were on this occasion outstripped by Lewis who claimed all 5 titles – along with the inevitable Best Male Performer (his first time winning the award) – and was under a second away from some of the Championship Records – four of which were claimed by Fife’s Ollie Carter in 2017. The one record that eluded Ollie was the 50m Backstroke which still belongs to Lothian’s Robert Dalgleish as he swam 31.96 in 2011. It was fantastic to see Robert back at the event to help Jim “The Swim” Anderson OBE dish out the medals to the deserving youngsters. It also gave Robert a chance to have a reunion with his old adversary in the pool, but firm friend outside it, Stefan Hoggan who did yet another sterling job as the announcer. Mentored by the maestro Paul Noble MBE in previous events, Stefan is a man at ease on the microphone and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role.

There were many other performances of note amongst the other teams. Lothian’s brothers Aaron and Corey McDowell turning in some excellent performances with Aaron winning the sibling rivalry on this occasion. Fife’s Katie Pake returned to the Kingdom with no less than 4 golds. Many other swimmers from those areas and Tayside, Highland, Forth Valley, Grampian and a strong West of Scotland team also put in some brilliant times. A big thank you to all the committed coaches, volunteers and parents for creating such a lively atmosphere at the event. Many had taken time off work to support the event and it is very much appreciated by all at SDS.

It was heartening to see another rise by 10% in entries following a similar rise in 2017. This shows that more and more swimmers are being engaged in schools, clubs and branches in swimming and are being identified in learn to swim programmes or at engagement opportunities such as parasport days. Swimmers should continue to be identified in order to ensure this event remains for a further 40 years and beyond. The SDS/ Scottish Swimming partnership is one of the longest running in Scottish sport and both organisations continue to work closely to drive forward the development of disability swimming in Scotland.

Congratulations to all the swimmers and especially Beth and Lewis on their respective titles and we look forward to the second Junior Swimming Championships now at Tollcross on the 21^st November for our athletes with a learning disability.

Mike Mellon’s 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney ended with a third medal as a member of the Team UK basketball squad. At the previous Games in Canada Mike won silver and bronze but he leaves Australia as the only Scot in Team UK and with two silvers and one bronze medal. An amazing journey, incredible energy and commitment from the all rounder from the “village of Cardenden,” as 1984 GB Paralympian Andrew Brennan recently described his beloved home town.

RAF veteran Mick Mellon was medically discharged in 2005 from his role as a senior aircraftman. Michael targetted the 2018 Invictus Games as part of his ongoing recovery journey. Mike is a highly respected member of Disability Sport Fife and Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club. Mike applied and qualified to compete in the 2018 Invictus Games in sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Mike had already won silver medals for sitting volleyball and wheelchair rugby when he lined up in the Team UK basketball team.

Team UK defeated Australia in qualifying but a critical loss to the Netherlands by only 18 – 21 resulted in Team UK having the more challenging route to the final stages of the tournament. Netherlands topped the pool with 4 points and UK and Australia had 3 and 2 points respectively. Team UK was drawn against the mighty USA in the semi final and despite it being a match to remember and a wonderful performance by Mike and his colleagues, Team UK was on the losing end of 41 – 35 result. Netherlands progressed to meet USA in the final following a victory against New Zealand but lost by 17 – 29. Team UK defeated New Zealand 32 – 6 in the bronze medal match and added another excellent medal to their 2018 Invictus Team Games tally.

Well done Team UK and of course our own Mike Mellon. Brilliant support yet again from Help for Heroes. All of us back home are fiercely proud of all that you have achieved and all that you have sacrificed to excel in Australia. Your amazing wife and family must be so proud of you and deservedly so. Your journey is by no means complete and you have much more to offer Para sport and the Invictus movement as a competitor and ambassador. Safe home from “Down Under” and once again congratulations.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

The Invictus Games is an international adaptive multi-sport event, created by Prince Harry, in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans take part in sports including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, and indoor rowing. The word ‘invictus’ means ‘unconquered’. It embodies the fighting spirit of wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and personifies what these tenacious men and women can achieve post injury.

RAF veteran Michael Mellon was medically discharged in 2005 from his role as a senior aircraftman. The 38-year-old from Cardenden in Fife, is Scotland’s only representative in Team UK in Australia. Michael has targeted the 2018 Invictus Games as part of his ongoing recovery journey. “The training camps and events have really opened my eyes on how people in similar conditions have coped and progressed with their lives. Being around these people has helped me start to get my life back on track. “After becoming medically discharged I thought my life was over. Every day I just wished I was still in the RAF and with my friends. But I love being with the lads again – I feel like I’m accepted when I’m around them.”
Michael Mellon is a highly respected member of Disability Sport Fife. 2017 was an incredibly busy but wonderfully successful year for Michael. Michael applied to compete in sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, discus and shot at the 2017 UK Invictus Games and he attended his first training camp in December 2016.

As Michael was training for four events he had to attend camps almost every weekend. Trials were held at Bath University at the beginning of April and then Michael had to wait for five weeks before hearing if he had been selected. The official announcement came in the second week in May that he was off to Toronto for the 2107 Games as part of the UK Team.

The Tower of London was the venue for the main public announcement.
Squad training camps started immediately and Michael was at a camp almost every weekend from June right up to the week before departure for Canada in September. Michael also was selected to play for the Scotland rugby league team in the 2017 World Cup in July over 10 days in the south of France. Scotland played Italy and Spain in the group stages but failed to make the quarter finals. Scotland finally played a France select team before returning home.

For Michael the Invictus Games in Canada were an amazing experience. Michael made it into the finals for discus and shot, finishing 6th in discus and 5th in shot. Team UK made it through the prelims without losing a game in wheelchair basketball but unfortunately lost to Holland in the semifinal. In the bronze medal match against Denmark, Team UK was victorious. In sitting volleyball Team UK never lost a game in the prelims and also won their semi final. In the final, as we all saw on TV, Team UK played a strong team from Georgia and had to settle for a brilliant silver medal.

In November 2017 training camps for the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney started. The number of athletes applying set new records for the UK Invictus. Michael attended trials for wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball and supported endless training camps throughout 2018. BBC 1 is covering the Games from Australia at 19 30 every evening. Michael is a devoted family man.

Michael’s Games began with two days of sitting volleyball. Team UK made it through to the final where they met defending champions Georgia …. yet again. The outcome was the same as in Canada with Team UK lifting the silver medal. Michael made a significant contribution to a superb Team UK performance. The Georgians are a very powerful team. Well done Team UK and the only Scot has won team silver in his first event. Wheelchair rugby and basketball to follow…….come on Michael.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

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.