Category: A News

Miller heads off to Dubai and World Championships

Best wishes to Owen Miller from Dunfermline and Fife AC who will face the greatest challenge in his illustrious career to date as a T20 athlete with an intellectual impairment, when he arrives in Dubai for the World Para AthleticsWorld Championships from 7th – 15th November.

The former Woodmill HS pupil is coached by Steve Doig at Fife AC and has flourished since the two came together two years ago. Owen is now second on the all time British T20 1500m list with a personal best of 3:56.32. This has opened up this opportunity to compete at the very highest level of world Para athletics and earn him his very first full Great Britain vest.

Owen has had a very successful career as an international athlete competing in INAS European and World Championships but being part of a WPA event has so far eluded him. He is a proud custodian of INAS medals of different colours won indoors and out over 800m and 1500m but he has never given up hope of one day wearing a full GB vest.

Inclusion on the British Athletics Paralympic Futures Academy Programme for the 2018/2019 season came at exactly the right time for athlete and coach and they have taken full advantage. Owen was disappointed when he missed out on selection for the Paralympic Games in London in 2012 but he has never given up hope of one day achieving his dream. Similarly Fife Athletic Club, Scottish Athletics and Disability Sport Fife have always believed in Owen and thank you British Athletics for providing Owen with the opportunity to realise his dream.

Owen has a very supportive family and club colleagues who have been assisting with pacing in the lead up to departure date of November 2nd. Mum and Gran have been there for Owen at all times along with his brothers and sister. Fife Sports and Leisure Trust supports Owen along with all other high performance Fife Para athletes and Fife AC is nationally recognised for its commitment to inclusive practice and coaching over many years. Previously great Fife AC athletes like Caroline Baird MBE, Colin Keay and more recently Derek Rae have worn the GB vest with pride and no shortage of success at Paralympic and World level.

Owen is scheduled to run on Thursday 14th November around 20 00 Dubai time. DSF will make every effort to keep Owen’s followers and supporters informed about how he is coping with this chance of a lifetime opportunity to compete against the best T20 athletes in the world.

Owen has been a massive influence on the Disability Sport Fife cross country and middle distance programme and he has always been a superb role model for emerging young athletes. Owen has dominated Scottish T20 middle distance running for a decade and Dubai will be an opportunity for him to bring his learning of the past two years and before to the international stage of Para athletics. All of us in Fife and beyond congratulate Owen on his selection and wish him well.

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

Fife all rounder is Grand Slam Champion

Congratulations to Fife’s leading all round ambulant physically disabled sportsman Connor Brown from Dunfermline, following another Para kata Grand Prix success at Ravenscraig on Saturday.

The former Woodmill HS pupil rounded off his most successful year to date with a 4th Para kata gold medal and the 2019 individual trophy as overall Grand Prix Grand Slam Champion. A most fitting end of season outcome for a very dedicated young sportsman whose commitment to daily strength and conditioning is exemplary.

Connor is coached by Paul Giannandrea at the very inclusive JKS Scotland club in Dunfermline. Paul and his team promote karate for players of all levels of ability including those with additional support needs. Connor has been a club member for many years and has been inspired by club members and coaches to commit fully to the training regime expected of high performance karate players.

Dedication and commitment have paid off across a wide range of sports including track and field and cross country as well as Para kata. Connor (T37 and F37) is also a member of Fife AC where he is coached by Steve Doig.

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

Fife wheelchair racer records PB in Jedburgh event

Eleven wheelchair racers and handcyclists headed to Jedburgh last weekend for the Annual Jed Renilson 10km. The race was set up many years ago by the late Jed Renilson who was an outstanding activist in the Scottish Borders for disability sport.

The event is organised by Borders Disability Sport and is supported by Scottish Athletics and Scottish Disability Sport. The event is heavily supported by the local community including Kelso Wheelers, Jedburgh Rugby Club and local officials

Callum Sloan (T53) from Dunfermline and Disability Sport Fife competed in the race for the first time and was third Scot across the line in 41.47 for a personal best by 1.37. Coach Pamela Robson was pleased with Callum’s performance, considering he hit a pot hole at 5km and his steering was all over the place for the final half of the race. Race conditions were however considered good apart from the usual headwind towards the end of the race.

Ben Rowlings from Red Star AC recorded the fastest time for a wheelchair athlete and Ken Talbot from Edinburgh was the fastest handcyclist in 17.56. Ben is off to Dubai this month with Sammi Kinghorn as members of Team GB for the IPC World Para Athletics Championships. Also in that team will be our own Owen Miller (T20) from Dunfermline and Fife AC.

Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF Board of Charity Trustees

£250,000 Toyota Parasport Fund Launched

Parasport powered by Toyota, an online hub to empower disabled people to become more active, has launched a new £250,000 UK fund. An element of the funding has been allocated to provide disability inclusion training for club coaches and volunteers across Scotland.

The new Toyota Parasport fund opens today and will be delivered in partnership with the British Paralympic Association, Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Disability Sport Wales and Scottish Disability Sport.

This exciting new opportunity means training will be rolled out through SDS Branches to support coaches and volunteers to improve the quality and quantity of activities available to disabled people.

The new UK-wide funding programme has the backing of ParalympicsGB athletes including multiple Paralympic swimming gold medallist Bethany Firth from Northern Ireland. Prior to starting swimming lessons as a pupil at Longstone Special School, Bethany had a fear of water, having fallen into a pool as a four-year-old on holiday in Australia.

Bethany said: ““The new Toyota Parasport Fund will help more people run inclusive activities so more disabled people can benefit from getting active in the way I have.”

“Learning to swim and trying something new really gave me confidence and it helped me make new friends. Swimming has broadened my horizons, allowing me to travel and it has basically changed who I am.

“You don’t have to want to be a Paralympian there are huge benefits to becoming more active whether its physical and mental wellbeing, building confidence or making new friends.”

Parasport was launched in March 2019 and already has more than 1,600 activity providers offering disabled people the opportunities to become more active through Parasport.org.uk, which creates a vibrant community for people to share their experiences and become advocates for the benefits of being more active.

Parasport empowers disabled people and their networks by providing the information, inspiration and confidence they need to become active.

Andrew Cullis, Toyota GB Marketing Director said: “We are extremely proud to launch the Toyota Parasport Fund as the next step in our support of inclusive sport and activity in the UK.

“Alongside our partners from Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Disability Sport Wales and Scottish Disability Sport, we have a fantastic opportunity to improve the options available to disabled people to get active and make a lasting impact on the grassroots landscape.”

Mike Sharrock, Chief Executive at the British Paralympic Association said: “Thanks to the launch of the Toyota Parasport Fund we are delighted to offer training to coaches and volunteers to further improve the opportunities to disabled people.

“Parasport is a crucial part of helping us to deliver our vision: through sport, inspire a better world for disabled people. It enables us to highlight the wide range of opportunities available for disabled people and will help improve the experience of disabled people taking part in physical activity across the country and will be a welcome boost to the array of activity providers registered with Parasport.”

The training aims to improve the quality and quantity of sport and activities available to disabled people. To register interest in attending a workshop, please complete the form below.

Most successful season to date for Fife Para shooter

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

Great start to season for Fife’s leading Para swimmer

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 2019 Central Parasport Festival

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.

3 Year GOGA Celebration Event

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.

Multiple Medals at the Inas Global Games

The Inas Global Games 2019 took place in Brisbane, Australia and the event was the most successful in its history, with more than 1000 high performance competitors with an intellectual impairment taking part. The competition takes place every four years and the sports contested were athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis and cycling.

Scotland had athletes represent Great Britain in athletics and tennis, whilst we also had coaches involved in athletics, tennis and cycling.

Athletics: Sam Fernando (Cupar, Fife) and Tommy Patterson (Team Manager/Head Coach)

Cycling: Tom A Hara (Team Manager/Head Coach)

Tennis: Dominic Iannotti (Ayrshire, Scotland), Anna McBride (Dunfermline, Fife but now living in Nottingham), Karen Ross (Team Manager/Head Coach)

In athletics, Fife AC competitor, Sam Fernando, delivered a personal best in the 3000m Steeplechase to clinch a silver medal, whilst he also finished fourth in the 50000m. The experienced Tommy Patterson led the athletes throughout the competition.

In Dominic Iannotti and Anna McBride, we have two of the most successful II1 tennis players in the World and both continued their fine form from the 2018 World Championships. Between them they amassed three gold medals in the men’s singles, ladies’ singles and the mixed doubles where the partnered each other. Iannotti also secured Mens Doubles silver, as well as gold in the men’s team event! The tennis players were ably led by our very own Karen Ross, who is now the Head of Performance at Tennis Scotland.

Whilst we never had any cyclists in the Great Britain team, West based coach, Tom A Hara led the cycling team throughout the games and coached the very successful duo Lauren Booth and Kiera Byland. The pair delivered multiple medals in both the road and track events.

Scottish Disability Sport would like to thank UKSA for selecting and preparing the team for the Games.

16th Jed Renilson Wheelchair and Handcycle 10k Race

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