The 2017 National Boccia Open for non-BISFed classes was held again at the excellent Engage Centre at the Sighthill Campus of Napier University.

SDS would like to extend their gratitude to the Celtic FC Foundation who have financially supported this event this year and allows SDS to provide a quality competitive opportunity for our players in Scotland, many of whom qualified for this event by succeeding in their regional championships.

This event is part of the new National Boccia Open Series alongside the inaugural International event held in October at Inverclyde and is a development of the restructuring of the Boccia calendar that took place in 2014. There are now many more quality competitive opportunities for our Boccia players in Scotland alongside an opportunity for increased match-time at these events. To validate this restructuring it is imperative the sport continues to grow. Boccia is clearly a sport which a wide demographic people enjoy playing and competing in and SDS feel it is important to ensure the competition pathway in this sport remains accessible for all players. To this end we encourage entries to both events from outside of Scotland and we were delighted to see that many of 2016’s champions returned to defend their titles, including players from outside these borders.

England’s Derek Sked – Section A Champion in 2015 & 2016 – was pushed all the way by the Borders’ Neil McMurdo – playing in his first national championships. Derek prevailed in the final by 4 shots to 3 but only by winning two shots on the final end of the match.

Section B was again split into two sections: Male and Female. This time there was a new name on the roster for the male section as last year’s winner James Muirhead didn’t progress through the group stages in what was a hugely competitive field. Michael Gilooly from Kirkriggs defeated the experienced Darren Rooney from Forth Valley in an entertaining final.

Last year’s winner in the female section, Jodie Lavin, was sadly unable to join us this year however, Kirsty McCallum ensured the title stayed in Lothian as she defeated Dundee’s Rebekah Perry in the final by 5 shots to 1. The No Limits athlete had previously won the title in 2012 and 2008 so completes her hat-trick of titles in this category.

The Junior section did not run this year so all junior players competed in the relevant adult section, many with great distinction. The final award of the day was the Dundee Trophy which is awarded to the most improved junior each year. This year the trophy was awarded to Kyle Latto from Dundee Boccia Club in recognition of his development this year.

A huge thanks must go to Lothian Disability Sport for assisting in hosting this event. A lot of work has been done in the region to progress Boccia and the fact they are hosting this national event is testament to the efforts of the many volunteers and staff from across the country that have helped with the event in terms officiating and supporting players to attend.

The standard of play across Scotland has gone from strength to strength and has certainly benefited from the increased number of players taking part at local level.

 

On behalf of Scottish Disability Sport and Lothian Disability Sport, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all players, clubs and teams every success in the competition.

2017 Boccia Non-BISFed Results

A very warm welcome awaited Scottish Disability Sport at the new sportscotland Inverclyde Centre in Largs for the inaugural Scottish Boccia International Open event. SDS was delighted to host this event in conjunction with North Ayrshire Council and sportscotland. This event was a perfect opportunity to showcase this excellent facility at an event tailor-made for the fully accessible residential venue, which is now able to host up to 120 wheelchair users. The centre was at capacity with players, assistants and coaches from Scotland and neighbouring countries competing, featuring many of the very best players in the UK and from further afield taking part in a teams, pairs and individual sections for the first time in Scotland. This represents another major development for the sport of boccia in Scotland in attracting international-level competition to these shores.

Competition was fierce throughout with Friday witnessing some high quality Teams & Pairs events played to a finish, followed by Individual events on Saturday and Sunday. The Scottish BC2/2 players Reegan Stevenson and Callum Glasgow joined forces with Northern Ireland to finish in bronze position behind the team from Ireland in silver and the Boccia UK team in gold.

The strength in depth in the BC3 Pairs section was formiddable and so it proved as the two teams from Boccia UK battled it out with represenatives from the English Scorpion and Viper Academies – who had both impressively topped their respective groups. The Boccia UK pairs – featuring the mighty Scots players Patrick Wilson and the McCowan brothers – Jamie and Scott – drew on their consdierable top level experience to contest the final with the English pair of Jess Hunter and Rich Amos defeating their Scottish stablemates in a formidable performance.

Scottish interest continued in the BC4 Pairs section where Scotland’s Peter McGuire and Ross Munro battled against Evie Edwards and Louis Saunders across the best of three fixtures. The Scottish team outperformed all expectations to win all three matches.

In the individual sections Reegan Stevenson claimed his second bronze of the weekend qualifying from an extremely close group in second place on points difference. This meant he met Paralympic Gold Medallist David Smith MBE and, despite winning the first end and remaining competitive throughout, lost out on a final place. Reegan’s determination to complete the bronze set won through as he managed the match v Ireland’s Niamh Dunphy superbly to ease through to claim the podium place. Smith went on and claimed gold in victory over his teamate Tia Ruel.

Ireland’s Beijing Paralympian Padraic Moran eased to the BC 2 title and was only really stretched by England’s Reshad Saraj who defeated him in a tight group match, yet failed to qualify on the points difference as three players finished the group stage on equal points. Scotland’s Callum Glasgow struggled in a strong field but this experience will give him some targets to aspire to in squad training. Boccia UK’s Will Hipwell and England’s Tim Hayes completed the medals in the BC2 section.

The largest entry was in the BC3 section and the top seeds in each of the four groups were members of the UK Boccia Squad and were expected to qualify for the semi-finals. However, players from other countries had other ideas and England’s William Arnott and England Scorpion’s Cecilia Turk had other ideas defeating Patrick Wilson and Scott McCowan respectively in the group stages. This left one unseeded semi-final and a seeded semi-final in the latter stages. William Arnott continued his fine form in comfortably seeing off Cecilia to make the final whilst Jess Hunter defeated Jamie McCowan – who has been enjoying a great year – in the other semi-final. The final was a thrilling affair and resulted in a final end shootout which William Arnott won in front of the large crowd who had assembled.

This only left the BC4 section where five players competed in a round robin tournament. Peter McGuire and Ross Munro were hoping to take their impressive Pairs form into the Individual event against the strength of Boccia UK’s Evie Edwards and Louis Saunders alongside Harry Thompson, competing as an Independent. Evie and Louis shrugged off their Pairs disappointment to set the early pace in the section closely followed by Harry. Peter’s only victory was against Ross, whilst the young Scot found the going tough against the talented quartet in the section. It came down to the final fixtures and Evie emerged victorious with a 7-2 win over Louis, whilst Harry kept his nerve in a tie-break to claim the scalp of Peter.

Thanks to a successful bid to the Big Lottery People’s Project a number of new Boccia sessions will be rolled out around the country with a view to identifying the next generation of players in this sport. The national Boccia Engagement Days on Sunday 26 November in Easterhouse, Glasgow and Saturday 24th March (venue TBC) will support this aim so this excellent sport can continue to grow and strengthen its infrastructure in Scotland.

Thanks to all players, federations, officials (especially Steve Furber who stepped into the breach at the eleventh hour to assume the role of Head Referee) and volunteers for their support of this event, it was great to feature high quality competition in an enjoyable environment at a phenomenal facility.

2017 Boccia International Open Results

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) today announced that RaceRunning is to be introduced as a World Para Athletics event.

World Para Athletics and the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) have been in discussions for some time about increasing the participation of athletes with more profound physical impairments in World Para Athletics track events. The move will occupy the current T31 and T32 classes which have had no representation in recent years.

For the full announcement please click here.

Well done to Para Trap shooter Mike Drever from Leven who responded immediately to a last minute call up from British Shooting Talent Pathway Coach Christian Schofield to compete in the British Shooting Grand Final at the Faux Deglas Shooting Ground in Wrexham Wales. It took no time at all for the proud Orcadian to accept the invitation and head south to compete alongside the leading GB Olympic Trap and Skeet performers plus six of the country’s top Para Trap shooters. Many of these performers are among the best in the world in their respective disciplines.

Practice went really well for Mike, achieving a new Personal Best in a round of 23 from 25 with a high hit percentage of 77%.  Although he started slowly, Mike carried his good form into day one of competition and in the end was pleased with his overall consistency in such a prestigious event. On Day 2 Mike started well with a 19 and signed off with another PB of 23 from 25 in competition, and an overall score of 95 from 125.  Although this was not good enough for a podium finish Mike was delighted with his performance.  Had he achieved this score at the Para Trap World Cup in Italy earlier in the year he would have qualified for the final.  Mike also finished the competition 8 targets ahead of the current ranked British no. 1 in class PT3 Para trap. 

Wrexham was a great confidence booster ahead of next year’s World Cup competitions that are scheduled for France and the United Arab Emirates. Most importantly Mike is now confident that he can compete with the best at the highest level in the sport. He has only been shooting the discipline for 6 months but his scores are improving with every competition. Understandably Mike cannot wait for the 2018 season and the challenges that lie ahead for him if he is to gain a place in the British Shooting Team for the World Championships in Italy.  

Mike supports the fore end of the gun with his impaired left arm. Because he has no hand he does not have the ability to grip the gun and this of course makes gun control more difficult. Mike is coached by Iain Macgregor, one of the world’s leading coaches in his shooting discipline. Mike shoots 2 to 3 times a week depending on his weekend competitions programme and has a midweek practice at Auchterhouse Country Sports. For the past three years Mike has been employed as Project Manager in the Estates Department at the University of St Andrews

In 2015 Mike set himself a goal of representing Scotland in Olympic Skeet. After only 12 months of shooting competitively Mike was selected to represent Scotland at the 2016 Home Countries International Tournament, in Lispopple, Ireland. Later in the same year he was also invited to the CSF (ED) in Wales. It was there he became aware of Para Trap and he shot his first trap competition in March 2017. Mike has now set his sights on becoming successful internationally in Para trap and perhaps one day competing at a Paralympic Games.

Mike is the first Para athlete based in Fife to excel in international shooting. He is indebted to the Association of Fife Rotary Clubs and the Fife and Scottish Disabled Sports Trusts for financial assistance with his competition programme to date.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Derek Rae from Fife AC has rounded off his most successful season to date with an excellent run on his first visit to Amsterdam for the Mizuno Half Marathon.

Derek represented Team GB at the Paralympic Games in Rio in the T46 class and in the Netherlands clocked 71.59 and 7th position overall, running from within the pack. An amazing end to a brilliant season where Derek has set personal best performances for 3K (9:19.98), 5K (15:46.04), 10K (32:32), 5 miles (26:09) and 10 miles (53.38), half marathon (70.06) and marathon (2:33.34).

Most athletes would be looking forward to a relaxing time after such a tough race but not the highly committed Fife marathon runner who has his short term sights on the 2018 London Marathon and longer term on gaining GB selection for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

The run in Amsterdam was yet another experience of competing overseas in a completely new environment. Coach and athlete now turn their attention to a winter of heavy weights, high mileage and cross country races all across the nation. In the words of the very talented Fife AC athlete “exciting times ahead.”

Derek’s wife Susan was in Amsterdam providing her usual exceptional support and even captured a brilliant image of Derek at the start of the Amsterdam race. Brilliant season Derek and best wishes over the winter from all your fans in Fife and beyond.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife