Sunday 14th May 2017, 1.30-3.30pm
Stonehaven Bowling Club, Recreation Ground, Stonehaven AB39 2RD

Are you interested in starting a new sport or physical activity?

Are you interested in perhaps representing your country at international competition, up to and including the Commonwealth Games?

This may be the opportunity that you have been waiting for!

We are working in partnership with Stonehaven Bowling Club to deliver an outdoor para bowls taster session for all interested people with a physical, learning or sensory impairment.

We invite you to come along and meet and work with experienced para bowls coaches, and enjoy the opportunity to learn new skills. All abilities are welcome!

For more information or to register your interest in the day, please contact Claire McDonald on 07533 056 564 or claire.mcdonald@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

If your or anyone you know would like more information about para bowls in Scotland, contact Ron McArthur, National Performance Bowls Development Manager, on 07788 878 470 or ron.mcarthur@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

 

Following a great season, Tayside Dynamos clinched their third Scottish Powerchair Football Association League title on Sunday.

The Dynamos secured their position at the top of the table with two very tough victories and a showdown against Clyde Alba for the title. Despite a create performance from Alba, the Dynamos rear guards Kelsey Speed and Logan Mitchelson had the game of their lives. Kein Speed and Nicky Duncan proved they had taken in the last training drills and again proved to be a dynamic duo up front. Young Eythan Galloway was deployed as a secret weapon taking the pressure off the back two. A large amount of credit must also go to Liam Ritchie and Kristen Macmaster, who embodied the team ethos of “Respect, Determination, Teamwork”. Dynamos look forward to sharing their next season with teammate Alexander Johnstone.

Behind any great team is great coaching and support staff in the form of Garry, Gareth and Ryan. Many thanks to Head Coach Garry Johnstone who has led the Tayside Dynamos on an amazing journey and has helped raise the standard of powerchair football in Scotland.

Tayside Dynamos, an incredible squad based in Dundee and Forfar, are currently looking to recruit more players for a second squad. If you are interested in trying powerchair football in Tayside, please contact Jennifer Scally at jennifer.scally@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

Young Tyler McLelland from Glenrothes has recently experienced boccia at the highest level in Scotland and he loved every minute. The weekend started with confirmation of his classification of BC4 on the Friday prior to the tournament proper and ended with a bounce pairs match with the outstanding GB international McGuire bothers from the West of Scotland. In between he competed in his first ever BC4 singles competition winning one match and losing another for a debut silver medal.

Tyler is being mentored and coached by GB Paralympian Kieran Steer. Overseeing the progress of the young Fife novice is GB Boccia lead coach Claire Morrison from Dalgety Bay. Tyler has only been playing a few months but his progress has been steady and is evident for all to see. Mum and Dad are very involved with Tyler’s new boccia career as well as being hugely supportive of his swimming ambitions. Tyler is an excellent young Disability Sport Fife sporting prospect and keen to follow in the footsteps of Kieran who represented Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Rio.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

The Davidson family from Inverkeithing have just enjoyed a spectacular weekend at the UK Dwarf Sports Association National Games in Birmingham. Inspired by the enthusiasm of her two children for sports, mum Hailey has only recently returned to active participation with immediate success.

Hailey and children Finlay and Skye competed in a wide range of sports events, as is the tradition at the National Games, winning 13 national titles. Sport is massively important to every family member and their lifestyle is one of daily physical activity across a range of sports within their local community.

Disability Sport Fife (DSF) is a much richer organisation since Hailey, Skye and Finlay signed up to DSF less than a year ago and everything they turn their hand to it is with total commitment. From martial arts to swimming, athletics to team Games, if there is an opportunity to be active the children will take the chance to join in. By attending the DSF Thursday run, jump and throws session at Pitreavie weekly, their track and throwing skills in particular have improved immensely. This was remarked upon by the officials at the National Games.

Hailey is an inspirational lead advocate in the Scottish Branch of the National Dwarf Sports Association. DSF coaches recently provided a training session for Branch members prior to their involvement in the National Games. Hailey is keen to encourage as many Scottish families with children with achondroplasia to become involved in sports as possible.

The Davidson family have been supportive of the Get Out and Get Active programme in Fife (GOGA) and value enormously the benefits of regular involvement in physical activity. The full list of their achievements at the weekend was as follows:

Hailey:
60m gold
Discus gold
Shot putt gold
Javelin silver
Shooting silver

Skye:
20m gold
10m gold
Cricketball gold
Frisbee bronze
Hockey gold
Football gold
Cycle silver
Swim gold

Finlay:
60m gold
40m gold
Relay 60m gold
Javelin gold
Shot putt bronze
Hockey bronze
Basketball bronze
Cycle bronze
Football bronze

Finlay and Skye head out to Canada for the World Games for Dwarf athletes later in the year and we wish them well. The Birmingham Games were perfect preparation. Well done to the Davidson family – outstanding sporting role models.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

Congratulations to Ollie Carter on his outstanding performances at the British Para Swimming International Meet at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. The Carnegie Swimming Club member from Cupar competed in four events and reached two world finals and one GB final.

Ollie is coached by Morag Mitchell and is having a wonderful season. In Sheffield he broke his own Scottish record for 100m freestyle with a time of 59.13 for the S10 class. He also set a superb PB for 400m freestyle of 4:35.09 and another for 100m butterfly of 1:10.89. Ollie rounded off four days of excellent competition by swimming close to his PB in 200m IM.

Ollie has recently learned that he has been selected to swim in the World Para Swimming World Series in Indianapolis later in the year along with his Fife squad team mate Cara Smyth from Incas. The young Bell Baxter HS pupil was voted East Fife Sports Council Disabled Athlete of the Year at the Sports Council Awards Evening held recently in St Andrews.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

Horrendous weather conditions resulted in the postponement of the 2017 Scottish Cross Country Championships until the end of April. The Championships are organised by Scottish Athletics and Scottish Disability Sport and Disability Sport Fife was represented by athletes from Woodmill HS, Balwearie HS, Lochgelly HS, Levenmouth Academy, Bell Baxter HSand Fife AC.

There were many fine performances by Fife junior athletes but it was Fife AC athletes Sam Fernando and Carter Taylor who turned in the outstanding senior performances of the day. Competing over 3K they finished first and second respectively with Sam recording 12.30 and Carter 13.58. Sam is one of the leading class T20 middle distance athletes in the UK with a very bright future ahead. Carter has only recently taken up cross country and track racing but he is improving with ever race. Sam is coached by Ron Morrison and Carter by Steve Doig at Fife AC. Brandon Eason from Balwearie HS was the only junior competing over 3K and he finished in third place in his event.

In the girls 2K race (S3-S6)Louise Harley from Lochgelly HS continued her fine run of form with a another win. Allan Wilson from Levenmouth Academy also recorded a win in 11.12 in the S1/S2 boys 2K race. Mathew Blair from Woodmill HS won silver in 10.32 in the 2K race for S5/S6 boys.

There was only one Fife winner in the 1K races and that was the brilliant young Sophie Coughlin (S1) from Bell Baxter HS in 6.52. Sophie’s time was the fifth fastest female 1K time of the day and she is only a first year pupil. A young athlete with a very promising future.

Megan Wilson Woodmill HS won silver in the S2 girls 1k, Marie Davidson Levenmouth Academy won bronze in S2 girls 1K, Kerry Kotlewski Bell Baxter HS won bronze in S4 girls 1K and Billie Lowe Balwearie HS won bronze in the S6 girls 1K.

Edwin Barron from Woodmill HS won silver in the S2 boys 1K, Arran Howe from Bell Baxter HS won silver in the S4 boys 1K, and Balwearie HS pupils Reece Dickson and Calum Robertson won silver and bronze respectively in the S6 boys 1K race.

Once again excellent performances by Fife’s junior and senior athletes at the national cross country championships. Athletes now turn their attention to the Fife Championships to be organised by Disability Sport Fife and Fife AC at the Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy on Thursday 18^th May. Thereafter attention turns to the 2017 Fife Track and Field Championships to be held at Pitreavie on Wednesday June 14^th with support from the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

Over the three days of the 2017 National Para Bowls Indoor Singles Championships at Falkirk Indoor Bowls Club, Fife bowlers won a total of five singles titles and two runners up medals from eight individual championships contested. Congratulations to Fife’s leading bowlers with a physical, sensory or learning disability.

On day one, reserved for Scotland’s leading bowlers with a learning disability, three out of the four finalists in the men’s and ladies’ open sections were from Fife. Pamela Mitchell from Dunfermline is a member at Headwell Indoor and plays in the Ladies four. In her first SDS Indoor Championships final, Pamela had a 15 – 3 victory over Amanda Craig from Lothian after pulling away in the fifth end. Darryl Stewart from Cowdenbeath and Craig Donaldson from Kinghorn and Central Fife CSS have enjoyed many close matches in carpet bowls, indoor bowls and lawn bowls over many years at local and national level. This was their first national indoor final and it was one of their closest encounters to date. The match finished 9 – 8 in favour of Darryl but it could have gone either way.

Following the amazing start on day one, Fife’s two representatives on day two maintained the run of excellent form in the men’s and ladies’ championships for visually impaired bowlers. IBD World Champion Marie Spencer from Dunfermline and the Abbeyview club, is often the player for the big occasion and yet again at Falkirk she produced her best form with a 21 – 11 victory over her Scottish team mate Irene Edgar. Fellow Abbeyview club member Ian Graham similarly had an excellent championships, winning silver in the men’s final with a 15 – 21 shots performance against experienced international Billy Edgar from the West of Scotland.

Scottish International Barbara McMillan from Cowdenbeath won the ladies’ open title for physically disabled bowlers with a fine win over Rosemary Lenton from Dumfries and Galloway. Fellow Scottish International Billy Allan, also from Cowdenbeath, retained the men’s B6 title with a win over Gary Clelland from West Lothian. Barbara, Billy and Gary were part of the Scottish team that played so well in the recent Home Nations Championships in South Wales.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

Michael Simpson from Auchtermuchty and Martin Hunter from Burntisland are relatively new to indoor bowls. In their efforts to appropriately prepare for the Home Nations Para Bowls competitions in Wales and England this year and the 2017 Test Match on the Gold Coast in preparation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, they joined East Fife Indoor Bowling Club at Aberhill. What a positive experience it has been for the Para Bowls medalists from the most recent IBD World Para Bowls Championships in New Zealand.

Paired together Martin and Michael won the Gents KO Pairs and they joined forces with Sandy McKenzie and Mick Connelly to win the KO Fours. What a brilliant first season with the East Fife Club and what excellent preparation for the challenges that lie ahead at International level for the leading Scottish B7 Para Bowlers.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

Triathlon Scotland are working with Scottish Disability Sport and a number of local partners to facilitate three ‘come and try’ style triathlon events across Scotland, beginning in West Lothian on Sunday 21^st May at Armadale Academy.

The introduction of the series has been born from the success of the Disability ‘Come and Tri’ event held at Blantyre Leisure centre over the last two years where a number of individuals have been successfully introduced to the sport of Triathlon.  The series will aim to develop this and hopefully engage a number of additional athletes with a physical, learning or sensory impairment from across other regions of the country – the remaining two events will be held in Blantyre (September) and Huntly (date TBC).

The first event in the series will be held at Armadale Academy with local branch Lothian Disability Sport, West Lothian Council Sports Development and Active Schools all working closely with Triathlon Scotland and Scottish Disability Sport to create this opportunity that will be open to all athletes regardless of ability, experience or where they are from.  Local clubs GRC and West Lothian Triathlon club have also been heavily involved in the lead up and will provide a more regular opportunity to any athlete who wishes to take their experience in the sport further and attend regular sessions.

Triathlon is a sport that consists of three disciplines – swim, cycle and run – and is one of the fastest growing sports in Scotland and the UK, with Scotland also boasting a current Paralympic silver medallist in Alison Patrick – the Fife based athlete is blind and competes in the PT5 category in Paratriathlon.  The event series is very much focused on participation and introducing individuals to the sport and this is reflected in the distances offered, the West Lothian event details can be found below and will offer two varying distances ‘sprint’ and ‘standard’ depending on the individual’s preference.

Event Distances

Event	Swim	Cycle	Run
Sprint	100m	800m	350m
Standard	200m	1600m	700m

If you are keen to enter the event, then please click here.  Additional information can also be found be following the link to the Triathlon Scotland website.

If you are keen to discuss this event further, then please contact Calum Reid (Triathlon Scotland Development Manager) on 07860 716418 or Neal Herbert (Scottish Disability Sport East Regional Manager) on 0131 625 4414.

 

The Get Out Get Active (GOGA) in Fife programme plans to encourage and support inactive individuals and groups to engage and remain “active for life”. It focuses on increasing the number of people who are active, through effective engagement and signposting to local quality physical activity options.

Supported by Spirit of 2012, GOGA in Fife will inspire children, young people and adults with a physical, sensory or learning disability, plus significant others, to access and enjoy physical activity including sport. GOGA in Fife is inclusive in ethos and practice and will involve key Disability Sport Fife partners Fife Council, Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, Scottish Disability Sport, the local voluntary sector and three national partners concerned with walking, cycling and swimming.

Allan and Mandy Robertson from Glenrothes are two DSF members who are benefitting from GOGA in Fife. Allan has always been active and has an impressive history of representing DSF in a number of sports. Along with wife Mandy he has embarked on a daily walking programme that is recorded in a DSF diary and celebrated at an agreed time each month in the DSF office. They also swim together in a DSF session supported by GOGA. There is a clear commitment by this Fife couple to be more active more often and the introduction of GOGA in Fife has provided the incentive for change. Well done Allan and Mandy.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife