Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is the recognised governing body for para lawn bowls in Scotland and is tasked with selecting players that are capable of delivering medals at the highest levels of international competition, including the Home Nations Championships, IBD World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

From the 8 to the 10 June Scotland will compete in singles, pairs, triples and four bowl formats against England and Wales at Clarence Park Bowls Club in Weston-super-Mare.  This is the first international since the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and all players now have the opportunity to impress.

Commenting on the team selection, SDS Performance Manager, Gary Fraser said:

“Following the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games we have re-selected our national squad and we have included several new players.  The coaches are looking forward to this test series and we are delighted to announce a strong field of players, some of whom will be making their first appearance.  This presents the ideal opportunity for all players to stake their claim as we look ahead to the IBD World Championships in 2020.”

Scottish Para Lawn Bowls Squad

Player	Classification	Town	Local Authority
Ian Graham	B2	Dunfermline	Fife
Mary Stevenson	B2	Barrhead	Renfrewshire
Melanie Inness (R)	B3	Balerno	Edinburgh
Maria Spencer	B3	Dunfermline	Fife
Robert Barr	B3	Glasgow	Glasgow
Sandy McIntosh	B3	Inverness	Highland
Billy Allan	B6	Cowdenbeath	Fife
Fraser Mathieson	B6	St Ninians	Stirling
George Guthrie	B6	Glasgow	Glasgow
Ian Donaldson (R)	B6	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway
Barbara McMillan	B7	Cowdenbeath	Fife
Derek Hartley	B7	Tullibody	Clackmannanshire
John Hughes	B7	Stewarton	East Ayrshire
John Wardrope	B7	Ayr	South Ayrshire
Garry Brown	B7	Kirkmuirhill	South Lanarkshire
Rosemary Lenton	B7	Dumfries	Dumfries & Galloway
Brendon Handling	B8	Stranraer	Dumfries & Galloway

Coach	Town	Local Authority
Bob Dick (Head Coach)	Cupar	Fife
Christine Morrow	Dalmuir	Clydebank
Sarah-Jane Ewing	Dunfermline	Fife
Bob Christie	Brechin	Angus
Chris McGready	Grangemouth	Falkirk
Eric McMillan	Cowdenbeath	Fife

(R) Reserve

Will play a minimum of three matches

Gordon Reid and Lucy Shuker earned the perfect preparation for next week’s Japan Open wheelchair tennis Super Series tournament when they won Saturday’s Korea Open men’s and women’s singles finals at Seoul’s Olympic Park Tennis Centre.

Saturday’s double success meant a clean sweep of all three titles contested by the two Brits at the ITF 1 Series event after Shuker also won her third Korea Open women’s doubles title on Friday’s penultimate day of competition.

With top seed Reid concentrating his efforts on the men’s singles this week the world No.5 claimed straight sets wins over Myung-Ho Bae of Korea, eighth seed Satoshi Saida of Japan and fourth seed Ben Weekes of Australia to earn his place in Saturday’s final against Japanese second seed Takashi Sanada. Rio Paralympic champion Reid saved his best performance until last, racing to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over world No.8 Sanada.

“I’m very pleased with the performance today against a top level opponent. I played positively and was clinical throughout the match. It’s great preparation for the start of a busy summer season,” said Reid, who will now bid to defend his Japan Open men’s singles title in Iizuka from Monday.

Reid and Shuker will be joined at the Japan Open in Iizuka by fellow Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programne members Alfie Hewett and Antony Cotterill.

Mary Wilson made another quick tournament turn around this time heading to Konya for the Turkish Enescup Para-Badminton International.

In the Sl4 singles the Scottish number 2 seed was pushed in three very tough group games being beaten only once by Thailands Nipada Seangsupa in a tight two sets, 21-23, 18-21. Having beaten both Turkey’s Halime Yildiz, 21-18, 21-14 and Frances Veronique Braud, 21-19, 16-21, 22-20, Mary secured a place in the semi-finals versus French rival Faustine Noel. This was where the Scots journey was to end being beaten in two sets 17-21, 16-21. This defeat finished Mary’s singles contest with a bronze medal to bring home.

In the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles, playing with Russian Pavel Kulikov, Mary’s journey was to end at the Quarter final stages. Having finished second in their group the pair were defeated in the quarter finals by Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom and Nipada Seangsupa 12-21, 13-21.

The SL3-SU5 women’s doubles was a tough contest and playing with new partner Halime Yildiz, from Turkey, it wasn’t to be as the pair lost both group matches in a very strong group.

Having had 3 very successful tournaments very close together Mary will now get a well-deserved tournament break where she will be preparing for the Irish International in June, where she will be joined by 8 of her Scottish Team Mates.

The UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability have published the GB Selection Policy for the 2018 INAS European Summer Games from  14^th – 22^nd July 2018, Paris, France.

This will be of interest to high performance athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Swimming Selection Policy – Inas European Summer Games 2018

Form 1a – Athlete Selection to GB Team (Part 1 Performance Training) S.._

Colette Martin and Lynsey Speirs are shining for Scotland at the Women’s Para Ice Hockey World Cup. The event is taking place from 1st – 6th May in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The tournament is being supported by the Agitos Foundation, the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), with the aim of developing and growing Women’s Para Ice Hockey across the globe.

Martin and Speirs, who are typically wheelchair basketball players for Lothian Phoenix and West of Scotland Wheelchair Basketball Club, leaped at the opportunity to further participate in the sport. They were introduced to the sport by renowned Canada National Team member, Peggy Assinck, who now resides in Scotland.

Martin and Speirs are training with Great Britain and representing Scotland in a joint team with Australia. The team came away with a 2 – 0 victory against France in their first game of the cup. You can follow their progress on International Women’s Para Ice Hockey’s Facebook /womensparaicehockey and Twitter @WomensPIH.

Fresh off her success in Dubai Mary Wilson was back on the plane to Uganda’s second Para-Badminton International held from 24^th-29^th April. Playing in all three events Mary was hoping to build on her performances from a few weeks previous.

In the singles event seeded 2^nd and a predicated spot in the final Mary eased through her group booking her spot in the semi-finals versus Kenya’s Asha Kipwene Munene, which she won in straight sets 21-7, 21-7 solidifying her spot and 2^nd seeded rank in the final. The final proved her toughest game yet, coming out on top with a score of 21-14, 21-6 against Uganda’s Khadija Khamuka and picking up her first of 3 gold medals of this championships.

The doubles contest was decided in the pool stages with five couples competing in this class. Mary and SL3 partner Elizabeth Mwesigwa from Uganda outshined their opponents winning the gold medal in their final match 21-19, 21-5 against Khadija Khamuka and Rose Nansereko from Uganda.

Her third and final gold medal was won with France’s Guillame Gaily in the SL3- SU5 mixed doubles coming out on top of their group they breezed past their opponents to book a spot in the quarter finals. Here she would face Cameroons Isidore Kamgue and Cristance Moffouo, where they would win and move on to the semi-finals with a 21-8, 21-10 win. They came out on top once again over India and Ugandas Indrajit Pal and Lillian Namarome. Winning this match 21-9, 21-16 guaranteed them at least a silver medal, this was not good enough for the pair winning out in the end against Rafio Bello and Chinyere Okoro of Nigeria 21-10,21-12.

Sitting 6^th in the world at the moment Mary is in great form at the moment which has to give her hope for the qualification period starting next year for the 2020 Paralympics where Para-Badminton will make its debut.

Photo: Alan Spink

Are you highly motivated and up for a challenge?

Do you have an eligible impairment?

Are you over the age of 16?

Are you eager to try new sports?

Are you interested in transferring from one sport to another?

#DiscoverYourParaPotential is an athlete recruitment campaign looking to provide an opportunity for athletes with an impairment.

Scottish Disability Sport and the sportscotland Institute of Sport are working closely with UK Sport in order to deliver a profiling event on Sunday 10 June at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

The intention is to identify high potential individuals who, with the right support, have a realistic opportunity to achieve selection to represent Great Britain at future Paralympic Games, in all sports.  In addition, and due to the Scottish focus, we are really interested to hear from individuals keen to explore the options in Boccia, Nordic Sit Ski, Wheelchair Curling and Para Lawn Bowls.

Broadly, the #DiscoverYourParaPotential campaign is seeking individuals across all eligible impairment groups:

• Visual impairment
• Intellectual impairment
• Physical Impairment including but not exclusively: limb deficiency (inc. amputees), short stature, spinal cord injury, Spina Bifida, Polio, Cerebral Palsy, impaired passive range of movement, leg-length difference

More information can be found at https://www.paralympic.org/classification

REGISTRATION PROCESS

Website:       www.uksport.gov.uk/talent
Sign up:         https://henry216.typeform.com/to/Nx8PHC
Closes at midnight on Tuesday 15 May 2018

If you do not meet all the criteria listed above, but would still like to get involved, SDS would like to hear from you. Please contact us on 0131 317 1130 / admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

DYPP Fact Sheet 2018

41st AGM and Awards Evening of Disability Sport Fife (SCIO)

The final photograph taken by Rebecca Lee captured the atmosphere of the occasion and the significance of the Awards Evening to so many athletes, players, coaches and volunteers associated with Disability Sport Fife (DSF). The evening was supported by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust.

The Provost of Fife, Councillor Jim Leishman MBE, was the guest of honour at the 41st AGM and Awards Evening of DSF. The Provost was ably assisted by Janice Eaglesham MBE, Chair of Scottish Disability Sport Sport and Oonagh Aitken Chief Executive Officer of Volunteering Matters with the presentation of awards to successful recipients. Caroline Baird MBE and Kerry Hick also assisted with individual presentations.

Disability Sport Fife is indebted to the delegates who turned out in significant numbers to support the event. Over the next few weeks information will be shared about the evening but many thanks to Rebecca for producing such a quality photo within a few hours of the event finishing.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Scotland’s Stephen McGuire won double gold in the BC4 singles and pairs of the BISFed World Open in Montreal.

McGuire – the world and European champion in his BC4 class – beat Canada’s Alison Levine in the final to take gold.  Earlier in the competition he, and playing partner, Evie Edwards defeated Columbia 5-0 in the pairs final.

Scotland also had representation in the BC3 classification, with Scot McCowan, Jamie McCowan and Patrick Wilson all in action.  The trio formed part of a successful GBR pair’s team that delivered a Bronze medal after defeating Hong Kong in the play-off.

Jamie McCowan and Patrick Wilson were also in the singles competition and both players progressed from the group stages.  However, they were knocked out in the quarter finals after defeats to Hansoo Kim (KOR) and Yuen Kei Ho (HKG) respectively.

The tournament is one of the key events ahead of August’s World Championships in Liverpool.

Women from Aberdeen joined the newly-formed Scottish Womens Warriors 2 team this year to compete in the British Wheelchair Basketball’s National Womens League with teams competing from all across the UK in the largest gathering of female wheelchair basketballers in the world. Rachel Gilbert, Vicky Cruickshanks, Eilidh rattray, Vicky Boddice, Sarah Hawken and assistant coach Debbie Baxter all live and play wheelchair basketball for Aberdeen’s local team, the Grampian Flyers.

From all over Scotland women came together this season for the Scottish Women Warriors 2 Team that formed with thanks to Spirit of 2012’s funding gained by the 1st team based in Glasgow. This all-women team trained in Dundee, and journeyed to Nottingham and Sheffield to compete. Entering in at Division 3 for the first time the team’s sporting debut showed strong competitiveness as they soon became the team to watch over the course of the League. The team competed against a pool of 9 teams from all over the UK and succeded in coming 2nd in Divison 3 and has been promoted into National Divison 2 next season.

Debbie Baxter, Assistant Coach, 43: “I am proud of all the hard work these ladies have put into training, and couldn’t be happier with the team’s promotion. Our women’s team have proved that good team spirit and the will to succeed is all you need to go places in sport.”

Eilidh Rattray, Player, 21: “Being part of the women’s team has given me a boost in confidence after having to give up on rugby and kickboxing. Because of our diverse team it really showes me and other that the only disability in life is a bad attitude and that no matter what there is sporting opportunity’s out there for everyone.”

Vicki Boddice. Player, 37: “The win gave me a huge boost, it’s the first time I have had physical success since being in a wheelchair. I feel that Ican achieve so much and that I have a team behind me who would help in any way they can. The women’s team has given me back a social life and belief in myself. It gives me the chance to develop skills and improve my fitness while having some of the best laughs imaginable.”

Grampian Flyers are offering taster sessions for women only in the Aberdeenshire area to come along and try out wheelchair basketball, alongside players from the Scottish Women Warriors 2 team. These sessions are Mondays 6pm-7pm, 23rd April to 2nd July at the Beach Leisure Centre. If anyone is interested in coming along please contact wheelchair@flyersbasketball.co.uk.