The season for Para trap shooter Mike Drever from Leven officially came to an end at the 2019 British Shooting Grand Final at Fauxdegla shooting ground in Wales on the final weekend in September. Most importantly on this occasion Mike finished with a silver medal and brought his season to a very positive conclusion.

The weather conditions were very challenging with wind and rain making positioning and stability incredibly difficult at times. After a poor first round, Mike chatted with his coach Marco Micheli who promptly brought him back on track. Improved performances and consistency followed until the end of the competition.

Although he was unable to catch up with the leader Reg Toms, Mike recorded a score of 96/125 for his highest finishing position in the Grand Final. Coach and athlete were pleased with the performance considering the poor weather conditions and slow start to the competition.

The proud Orcadian has identified 2019 as his most successful season to date. It was very special and memorable because he represented Orkney in his first Island International Games in Gibraltar; represented GB the world stage once again; picked up his first Grand Final medal at the end of the season.

Mike has come a long way in shooting these past few years and apart from increased confidence and belief in his considerable ability he has been receiving compliments from those around him including GB coaches. Mike is reaping the rewards of hard work and dedication. Mike is a proud and committed member of Scottish Target Shooting (STS)

Mike is regularly seen in the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre pursuing his personal fitness training programme. Mike like many leading Fife Para athletes is supported by Fife Sports and Leisure Trust. Since the Grand Final he has been enjoying time away from the shooting range. Soon Mike will start thinking about next year’s goals and a plan to achieve these goals. It will not be too long before he is fully into winter training ahead of the 2020 season with the World Championship and World Cup scheduled for Italy and UAE respectively.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF Board of Charity Trustees

Fife’s leading Para swimmer has started his second year at the University of Stirling. The swimming year started in September and Ollie Carter from Cupar launched himself into training with his usual commitment, enthusiasm and determination. If dedication and application are guarantors of success then Ollie is definitely on target to achieve his dream of representing Great Britain as an S10 swimmer.

Ollie’s first major competition of the year was the National team championships in Glasgow where his first race of the season was 50m free. Ollie was delighted to return a small PB of 26.59 but most importantly an S10 Scottish record and a great start to the season. Ollie followed this performance with another small PB of 32.68 for 50m backstroke.

Ollie then headed to the British Swimming Academy camp in Manchester which was hard but great fun. Next on Ollie’s schedule was the Carengie Winter Meet in Glenrothes in the middle of a busy, hard training block. A good chance for the former pupil of Bell Baxter HS to put some technique work into practice in a competition environment.

Next month Ollie has the short course championships in Sheffield on Nov 15th where he will be competing in all seven MC events. Definitely a challenge but something the young Fife swimmer is up for and looking forward to. Performance Para swimmers are very committed and currently heavily involved in tough training sessions. Following on from this cycle Ollie will head south at the beginning of December to chase quality performances at the National Para Champs in Manchester.

All of us in DSF wish Ollie all the very best in the months leading up to Christmas and beyond.

The photo is of Ollie with his team mates at the team championships.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees

HUGE SUCCESS at the 2019 Central Parasport Festival last week held at the Peak, Stirling. Great partnership approach with 8 sports on offer on the day. Thanks to all involved and to Active Stirling for hosting and capturing the event with this FANTASTIC footage. For more information on the Central Parasport or disability sport in Central Scotland please contact Cheryl Lappin (SDS RDM) on cheryl.lappin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 07577 830360.

October marked Get Out Get Active Forth Valley’s 3 year celebration event which gave a warm welcome to 80 individuals!
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking part in both our multisport event and weekly cycle sessions to celebrate the success of our GOGA project!

Firstly a big thank you to our event volunteers and committee members, without them this day would not have been achievable. Furthermore a warm thanks to John, Stephanie & Helen from Volunteer Matters, Brenda & Rosie from PAMIS, Arthur Aniolowski Boxing and Barry & staff from Cricket Scotland. Our participants all had a ball trying new activities, meeting new people and being active together.

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer with us or find out more about our weekly activities then please get it touch:
goga@fvds.org.uk / 01786 466486.

The sun shone on athletes for the annual Jed Renilson Wheelchair & Handcycle Race, welcoming 11 individuals to the Scottish Borders to take on the 10km course.

The event, organised by Borders Disability Sport and supported by scottishathletics and Scottish Disability Sport, took place on Sunday 27th October.

Claiming another victory at the event, Ben Rowlings (Red Star AC) was the first wheelchair athlete to cross the finish line in 23 minutes 40 seconds – around 30 seconds slower than his 2018 time. As in previous years, the headwind back towards the finish line proved challenging with GB athlete Rowlings recognising this, stating ‘conditions were good on the whole, however the headwind back into the finish was tough’.

The first two Scottish Male athletes across the line were Luke Deighan (27.22) and Kyle Brotherton (28.00).

First across the line in the woman’s race was another GB athlete, Borders very own Sammi Kinghorn (Red Star AC) who clocked a time of 25.38 to finish around 2 seconds faster than 2nd placed female Mel Woods. Sammi stated after the event, ‘Always so nice to race locally at the Jedburgh 10k and better when friends and family can come and support’.

Both Ben and Sammi, along with coach Ian Mirfin, will be heading to Dubai next month to compete at the World Para Athletics Championships.

The event also hosts the annual 10k Handcycle Race, won this year by Edinburgh based athlete Ken Talbot who recorded a time of 17.56. This time was enough to claim top spot on the day, however was outside of the current course record. Talbot held of the challenges from Mike Thomas (21.26) and Dave Wise (21.30) who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.

There were debuts at the event for a number of athletes including Fife’s Callum Sloan (3rd Scottish Male) and Mel Woods (2nd Scottish Female) in the wheelchair race while Stuart McMillan and Andrew Eastcroft tasted competitive action for the first time in the Handcycling race.

The event continues to run in the honour of late founder Jed Renilson and is now organised and driven by Graham Cook and Borders Disability Sport. The event is also heavily supported by the local community including Kelso Wheelers, Jedburgh Rugby Club and local officials.

Full results can be found below.

Position	Name	Time
1	Ben Rowlings	23.40
2	Sammi Kinghorn	25.38
3	Luke Deighan	27.22
4	Mel Woods	27.23
5	Kyle Brotherton	28.00
6	Callum Sloan	41.47

 

Position	Name	Time
1	Ken Talbot	17.56
2	Mike Thomas	21.26
3	Dave Wise	21.30
4	Stuart McMillan	27.45
5	Andrew Eastcroft	30.27

 

Wednesday 23rd October saw the success of the 2019 Central Parasport Festival seeing children and young people with physical, visual and hearing impairments taking part at the event held at The Peak, Stirling. Pupils from P1 – S6 in mainstream schools travelled from across Central Scotland to take part in a variety of sports such as boccia, badminton, swimming, athletics, football, curling, and new sports of climbing and sailing, all delivered by local sports clubs, Trust/ SGB representatives, regional/national coaches and GB athletes.

The event was a great triumph, kindly hosted by Active Stirling and supported by the Celtic FC Foundation, it offered new and exciting sports on the day. Strong partnerships from Forth Valley Disability Sport, Falkirk Community Trust, Active Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council supported the identification of pupils attending this years event and future pathway opportunities.

We were delighted to welcome esteemed VIP representatives from the 3 local Councils, Trusts, FVDS Branch, sportscotland, Celtic FC Foundation sponsorships and local Councillors to showcase the impact and support of the event. Inspirational speeches closed the event from two-time GB Wheelchair Curling Paralympian Bob MacPherson and 2014 Scotland Commonwealth Games athlete Meggan Dawson Farrell, both sharing their personal experience through disability sport and coaching the pupils on the day.

Cheryl Lappin (SDS Regional Development Manager for Central Scotland) said: “The event was a fantastic success and a worthwhile experience for not only many pupils engaging in sports they may never have tried before, but also their parents and teachers alike. The message is certainly getting out there that there is opportunities and pathways in place for all pupils with a disability within Central, from a local level to an international level. Most of all, it has been great to see so many pupils with a physical and sensory disability in mainstream schools engage in sports, have fun, and potentially move up the pathway”.

A special thank you to the Celtic FC Foundation for supporting this years event, as well as hosts Active Stirling, Forth Valley Disability Sport, Falkirk Community Trust, Clackmannanshire Council, Scottish Swimming, Badminton Scotland, Scottish Boccia, Scottish Curling, British Curling, Forth Valley Flyers, Central Athletics, Riverside Powerchair Football club, Falkirk Football Foundation, Stirling Wheelchair Curling Club, Sailing representatives, Arion Swimming Club, Denny High School senior pupils, Stirling University volunteers, sportscotland and the Active Stirling and the Peak staff for all their support

To find out more about this event or disability sport in Central Scotland, please contact: Cheryl Lappin – cheryl.lappin@scottishdisabilitysport.com / Phone: 07577 830360.

The Royal National Institution for Blind People (RNIB) are hosting a football session for individuals with a visual impairment. The aim is to build on the huge success of the previous session held in Glasgow in April and introduce people to the sport of football.

This session will welcome individuals of all ages and will be delivered by coaches from the Scottish FA and Rangers FC at Whitburn Community Education Centre, West Lothian on Sunday 17th November (1pm – 3pm). No previous experience of playing the sport is needed.

To register a place at the event, please contact Daniel Meikle on Daniel.Meikle@rnib.org.uk or 0131 652 3140.

NEW College Lanarkshire student Alexander Thomson is on track to a career in athletics after impressing at a Scottish Student Sport event at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.

The 18-year-old from Hamilton, who studies NQ Level 4 Access to Sport and Fitness, competed in the first Scottish Student Athletics Opening Match.

Scores of student athletes competed in the Scottish Athletics-licensed event in a range of track and field events, including sprint and middle distance running, pole vault, long jump, shot putt, high jump and triple jump.

Alex was one of only two students to represent a college at the event, with the majority drawn from Scottish universities.

He competed in both the Men’s 200m and 400m distances, winning his first heat in the 200m and finishing in fifth place in the 200m final.

As a sprinter, Alex is making a name for himself in both mainstream and disability athletics.

The ex-Hamilton Grammar pupil combines his studies at the College’s Motherwell Campus with participating in national and international athletics events.

Alexander was the only athlete at the Emirates student event to have a disability classification. He is categorised T38, which is a classification for athletes with cerebral palsy.

In March, he won a silver medal in 400m at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, where he also finished in fifth place in the 800m final and fourth in 4x100m relay.

He represented Great Britain at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Switzerland in August, finishing in fourth place in both 100m and 200m.

He is currently training for two BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) Athletics events: the Indoor Championships in Sheffield in February, and the Outdoor Championships in Bedford in May.

Furthermore, a good performance from Alexander at the European Championships in Poland in June could lead to selection for the GB Paralympic team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Alexander trains several times a week with Whitemoss Amateur Athletics Club, which is based at John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride.

He said: “I used to play rugby when I was younger, and I decided to take up running when I was about 13 or 14. It was hard at the start, but it’s got easier as I’ve kept at it.

“My dad, who’s also called Alexander, encouraged me. I think he saw something in me – he used to run long distances, but I’m a sprinter.

“My long-term goal is to become a professional runner, and if not that, then I want to be a personal trainer or an athletics coach.”

Alexander was supported in competing by the College’s Learner Engagement team and Students’ Association, who covered the cost of his entry fees. He was also cheered on at the day-long event by Student President Calum Smith.

His lecturer Chris Wilson said: “Alexander is a conscientious, diligent student who is a pleasure to have in the class.

“We try to prepare students like Alexander as best we can so they can balance their academic and sporting interests, often by giving them coursework in advance to allow them to attend international competitions and meetings.

“We also try to build in study skills they will need while they are away, and they can always communicate with us by email.

“We have a lot of students who are involved at a high level in their chosen sport and as a college we are keen to support them wherever we can.”

To find out more about the range of Sport courses on offer at New College Lanarkshire, please visit www.nclanarkshire.ac.uk/courses/sport or call 0300 555 8080.