Disability Sport Fife (DSF) is proud of the many partnerships it enjoys with sports clubs across Fife. InCAS (Inverkeithing Competitive Amateur swimmers) was established in 1975 and from its inception there has always been a strong inclusive ethos throughout the club. A number of swimmers with physical impairments or learning disabilities have made their mark in national and international Para swimming because of the InCAS approach to inclusive performance coaching and training.

Currently five of InCAS 65 performance swimmers have a physical impairment or learning disability. Four are currently members of the DSF swim team, two train with the Scottish Disability Sport swim squad and one is attached to the GB Para-academy programmme.

InCAS Head Coach Garrie Roberts has enjoyed considerable success in Para swimming and mainstream swimming over many years with Fife clubs. Garrie has been a Commonwealth Games Coach as well as coaching Paralympic and World Championship medalists Paul Noble, Lara Ferguson, Rebecca Lee, Paul Johnston and Andrew Lindsay. Garrie has also been involved with GB Youth European team members and Commonwealth Games members Bryan Morgan and Lynn McLaren.

InCAS members believe strongly that the word “family” best describes the reason for their success as a strong inclusive club. The club is run entirely by parents and other volunteers. As swimmers progress through squads there is a parallel parental committee progression. Fresh blood and new ideas are encouraged and actively sought, while at the same time maintaining the InCAS commitment to affordable and accessible swimming for all. Swimmers with different impairments are not assigned to a specific InCAS session but blended throughout the club at times appropriate to their ability. The InCAS club is committed to all members regardless of ability.

InCAS members are proud of their rich history as the local swimming club based at the Inverkeithing HS Community Use swimming pool. The “Wing” is where the first Fife disability swimming club was based and under Jean Wilson’s guidance William McQueen made it to the Paralympic podium. It is not recognised as one of the most advanced training settings but it is where a number of Fife’s most talented swimmers started out – Tain Bruce, Rebecca Lee, Lucy Ellis, Eloise Barbour are identified among the alumni. The Inverkeithing pool is shorter and narrower than most and learners feel less overwhelmed and considerably safer when moving from lessons to club training. InCAS members are well respected for their turns. After all they have to turn more than those who train in the majority of Fife venues.

The InCAS club continues to grow and develop as a true community swimming resource. The catchment area is no longer restricted to Inverkeithing and as well as the “Wing” InCAS members access the pools at HMS Caledonia (the Cally), Carnegie Leisure Centre, Lochgelly HS Community Use and Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre. The inclusivity of InCAS families stretches to Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Rosyth, North Queensferry, Lochgelly, South Queensferry, Dunfermline, Duloch and even as far afield as Ladybank and Cupar.

Disability Sport Fife is proud to identify the InCas club as a major partner in the promotion of swimming at all levels of the performance pathway. InCAS is proud that it does not have a waiting list. Trials are readily available and the diversity of the squad structure means that all swimmers are welcome to join the family that is InCAS.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

On Thursday 6th April  from 12 – 2pm we will be taking part in a tubing session at Bearsden Ski Club, with one of the clubs instructors where we will be going down the slope on an inflatable tyre!

After the session we will have some lunch and social time in the clubs café.

Places for this event are limited so booking is essential.

If you would like to join us on the day please get in touch by calling Clare Sweeney on 0141 332 4632 or emailing Clare.Sweeney@visibility.org.uk.

The 40th Anniversary Disability Sport Fife Football 5s and Unihoc 6s Championships, supported by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and Fife Council, were held at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre on Thursday 9th March. The Fife Referees Association supported the football and fresh from their mid week victory against St Mirren, Raith Rovers Football Club was represented by manager John Hughes plus youth coach Craig Easton and members of the youth squad. Aileen Penny and Helima Mutch umpired the unihoc matches.

Twenty-one teams (over 160 players) from East Fife CSS, West Fife CSS, Central Fife CSS, Lochgelly HS Sports Club, Lochgelly HS, Balwearie HS, Fife College Dunfermline, Scottish Autism and Glenrothes Strollers competed in the best of spirit and fair play.

Pupils from Balwearie HS and Lochgelly HS contested the football and unihoc junior competitions with Balwearie HS winning both junior titles for the first time. Only one point separated the first teams of each school at the end of football qualification with the final ending up a 4-2 victory for the Kirkcaldy School. Lochgelly HS second team finished in third place. In the unihoc competition the girls from Balwearie and Lochgelly High Schools contested three matches with two matches drawn and one victory for Balwearie HS. That single win was enough to win the overall competition by 4 – 2.

The senior women’s unihoc championship was closely contested over three matches. Defending champions East Fife Community Support services won the first two qualifying games by 1 – 0 and 2 – 0 to accumulate an unbeatable total of 4 points. Central Fife CSS came back strongly in the final game to win by a single goal and take the overall points total to 4 – 2 in favour of East Fife CSS. East Fife CSS remain the undisputed champions of senior unihoc.

Queen Anne Lads won the Division 3 football championship with a convincing win against Scottish Autism. Scottish Autism players had an excellent championship winning through to the final undefeated throughout qualification. The final on this occasion was a step too far. West Fife CSS 2 and East Fife CSS reached the Division 2 final with a win and a draw in qualifying. The West Fife players played magnificently in the final to run out worthy winners by 4 – 1.

The Division 1 competition for the Fife Regional Council Cup was as always a series of closely contested matches. Lochgelly HS Sports Club qualified for the final without losing a match or even conceding a goal. DSF Strollers lost only one match but in the final they lost out by the odd goal in five. A wonderful match played in the best of spirit. Fife College Dunfermline and West Fife CSS lost out during qualifying.

Presentations were made by Raith Rovers staff and young players. With three events of the 2017 Fife Annual Sports Festival completed, attention now turns to badminton, basketball and netball competitions in week two in Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes.

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

The West of Scotland Para-sport Festival takes place on Friday 10^th March 2017 at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility, Motherwell.  The festival is funded by the Celtic Foundations ‘Inspiring Sport’ initiative who have been great supporters of this festival for the past 4 years.

The festival is open to P6/P7 and secondary pupils who have a physical disability and/or visual impairment.  This will be the 8^th Para-sport festival held in the West of Scotland where over the years just under 400 distinct participants have had the opportunity to try different sports and participate with other pupils of a similar age and ability.  The sports are all delivered by qualified coaches who have links to local sports club, and is supported by students from Ayrshire College.

Due to the number of pupils in the West of Scotland the festival is split between the 13 local authorities, with Friday 10^th March being for South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway.

Later on in the year, Friday 10^th November, there will be another Para-sport festival for Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Argyll & Bute and Inverclyde.

For further information please contact

Lynn Allison 07974 448580 lynn.allison@scottishdisabilitysport.com

or

Lori Ure 07806 815591 lori.ure@scottishdisabilitysport.com

Application form can be downloaded here

Alternatively you can complete the online form here

 

 

On Sunday 5^th March Grampian Disability Sport held their Get Out Get Active (GOGA) project launch at Garioch Sports Centre, Inverurie.  The launch was a great success with over 35 participants coming along with their families to hear about the project and get involved in the adapted cycling taster session.

The overall project aim is to have better opportunities for people with disabilities of all ages, along with their families and friends, to be included within existing mainstream walking, cycling, swimming and  triathlon programmes across the rural and urban Grampian region.

The main focus of the project in Grampian is the set up of three adapted cycling hubs one in Aberdeenshire, one in Aberdeen City and one in Moray.   As part of the launch Fabb Scotland travelled up from Edinburgh with their adapted bikes so people could see and try the variety of adapted cycling equipment on offer.  The bikes never stopped the whole day with participants moving from one bike to another with many managing to find a bike they could use independently.

The next stage of the cycling project is to train staff in the adapted cycling equipment which will take place on 21^st April in Inverurie.  GDS have also been successful to secure funding from Inverurie Youth Sports Foundation to purchase a container to store the adapted bikes at Garioch Sports Centre.  All there is left to do now is to get the adapted cycling equipment ordered with the Spirit of 2012 GOGA money.  This will allow for the first EVER adapted cycling hub to up and running in Grampian at Garioch Sports Centre, Inverurie.  Everyone who attended the launch was very excited about having this hub local to them with not too long to wait until it is in full swing.

There is work also taking place with Paths for All to open up their existing health walks to anyone of any ability across the Grampian area.  Scottish Swimming our swimming partner are offering training to swimming teachers to make adaptations for children with disabilities within a learn to swim environment.

The launch event would not have been the success it was without the support of Aberdeenshire Sport Council who provided funding for the launch to allow us to have a relaxed social gathering to chat with families about their needs in the area and also bring the specialised equipment up for the day for families to try.

For further information about the GOGA Project please contact Gemma Lewis on 01467 534730 or email: gemma.lewis@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

The second event of the 2017 Annual Fife Sports Festival organised by Disability Sport Fife (DSF) and supported by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and Fife Council, was held at Queen Anne HS in Dunfermline. The Fife Indoor Archery Championships have been part of the Sports Festival programme since the mid 70s but this was the first occasion that the event has been held in the west of Fife.

Queen Anne HS Archery Club and Queen Anne HS Community Use came to the rescue when it was clear that DSF was experiencing difficulties finding a venue in central Fife. DSF is indebted to Kirk Hannah and the young archery club volunteers who played such a significant role in the running of the Championships. DSF is also indebted to Anna Capon, Ronan Capon, Ian Paterson and Scott Fenton from Fife Council whose interest in relocating the event made a group of enthusiastic archers very happy.

All the participants in the 2017 Championships access archery coaching through West Fife Community Support Services. Archers were grouped into two divisions according to their level of ability and experience. Results were as follows:

Division 1:
Gold – Paul Arthur
Silver – Wayne Sammut and Craig Pollock
Bronze – Aaron Kean

Division 2:
Gold – Lauren Jack
Silver – James Cormack
Bronze – Ryan Cormack

Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife

The 2017 Fife Swimming Championships organised by Disability Sport Fife and supported by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and Fife Council were held at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre on Friday 3rd March. The Championships launched the 2017 Annual Fife Sports Festival and incorporated a 70 event programme of individual events and relays. Glenrothes Swimming Club officials and Sports Leaders from Kirkcaldy HS supported DSF volunteers to run a five hour programme of quality swimming.

West Fife Community Support Services retained the Anne H Brodie Team Trophy with 71 points, almost 30 points ahead of second placed East Fife Community Services. West Fife CSS also retained the Sonia Kane Memorial Relay Trophy. Ryan Peterson East Fife CSS and Nikki Baxter West Fife CSS won the men’s and women’s individual Trophy Races.

In the senior events for athletes with a learning disability Shaun Rowcliffe, Paul Coultard and Carter Taylor were the leading swimmers in the men’s races. All swimmers are coached by Kathy Bijak and attend DSF weekly swimming sessions. Briony Clark and Nikki Baxter were the leading senior women with a learning disability.

The senior swimmers with a physical impairment were Kirsty Brunton INCAS, Mary Wilson and Michelle Hill. The leading junior swimmers with a physical impairment were Connor Brown Woodmill HS, Cara Smyh INCAS, Logan Harley, Kerys Ballard Carnegie SC, Steven McCormick FINS and Cameron Hemphill INCAS.

There were many fine swims by junior swimmers with a learning disability and in particular Andrew Chapman Burntisland SC, Arran Howe Bell Baxter HS, Mathew Blair Woodmilll HS, Calum Robertson Balwearie HS, Megan Morgan Woodmill HS and Holly Jane Gray Madras College.

Madras College swimmers achieved something very special by winning the boys and girls junior relays. Congratulations to Nathan Orr, Kieran Beaton, Laurie Doran, Josh Gibson, Chloe Hutchison, Holly Jane Gray, Caitlin Pringle and Danielle Adamson.

DSF Fire won the senior open relay – Shaun Rowcliffe, Pauline Bryson, Jamie Thomas and Robert Anderson. DSF 2 won the challenge relay – Michelle Hill, Kirsty Brunton, Cerys Venters Scott and Steven McCormick.

Paralympian Derek Rae from Kirkcaldy presented medals along with DSF Chairman Paul Noble MBE.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

Cameron Hemphill from Ladybank is a second year pupil at Bell Baxter HS in Cupar. Cameron was introduced to Disability Sport Fife (DSF) by NHS Fife physiotherapist Joyce Cummings in 2013 and he has not looked back since.

Initially Cameron swam for an hour with Anna Tizzard at the Wednesday DSF session at the Michael Woods Sports and Leisure Centre before joining Cupar and District Swimming Club eighteen months later for an additional hour in 2015. DSF secured a classification for Cameron through Scottish Swimming in 2016 and he was then called up for national junior squad training once a month in Stirling.

Cameron travelled to Manchester in December 2016 with the Scottish squad for the British National Para – Swimming Championships. Cameron thoroughly enjoyed the experience and when he returned a meeting was set up with DSF to look at increasing training time. This resulted in a move to INCAS and coach Garrie Roberts for four sessions per week in addition to his single DSF session with Anna.

Like every novice swimmer who wants to be a performance swimmer Cameron made steady progress from late 2013 through to early 2016. Cameron’s 25 metres backstroke dropped from 42.07 to 28.87. His 25 metres freestyle time was 37.91 when he started out but at the DSF Championships in March 2016 he had a PB for 50 metres of 58.91. Because Cameron has a hemiplegia and has a weakness in an arm and leg on one side of his body he has always looked upon breaststroke as his third stroke. In early 2016 he had a PB for 50 metres breaststroke of 1.24.94.

Since joining INCAS and being able to access additional water time Cameron’s times have tumbled. At the recent Scottish Disability Sport Performance Gala Cameron recorded PBs for 100m backstroke 2:12.28; 100m breaststroke 2:32.52; 100m freestyle 1:50.78; 50m freestyle 48.3. These were improvements by 17 seconds, 32 seconds and 15 seconds for his 100 metres swims. At the Fife Championships last Friday Cameron swam 50 metres freestyle in 44.93:50 metres backstroke in 1:00.63; 50 metres breaststroke in 1:04.90; all three swims were PBs.

Cameron also attends the DSF Monday badminton session in Glenrothes and enjoys mountain biking. Cameron is a scout and is interested in all things Science and Technology. Cameron’s long-term goal is to represent Scotland and Great Britain at many major Para-Swimming Championships.

Cameron is an exceptionally pleasant young man and a very popular member of DSF with coaches and fellow athletes. Cameron works hard and early signs are that his more challenging training regime will pay dividends. As with so many successful junior sports participants Cameron has an amazing family support team behind him.

Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife

 

This year, for Disabled Access Day, Dance Base is making two of the regular Friday dance classes free for all to attend. Come and try out Inclusive Hip Hop or Inclusive Party Playlist on Friday 10 March:

Inclusive Hip Hop, 10.00 – 11.00

Inclusive Party Playlist, 11.00 – 12.00

This classes are free and you can simply drop in. Both disabled and non-disabled dancers are welcome to attend together. Prepare for a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

At Dance Base, we try to make all of our courses and drop-in classes as inclusive as possible and our dance studios in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket have won Euan’s Guide Accessible Edinburgh Festival Awards in 2015 and 2016.

This is a great opportunity to check out Dance Base with two classes specifically designed for disabled and non-disabled dancers, and to explore our award-winning venue.

Dance Base is Scotland’s National Centre for Dance and a commitment to inclusivity is at the heart of our programme of more than 100 different dance classes every week.

The first Disabled Access Day took place on 17th January 2015, where an amazing 261 venues took part across 11 countries.

Find out more about Disabled Access Day here: http://www.disabledaccessday.com/

Find out more about Euan’s Guide here: https://www.euansguide.com/

Read our access statement here: http://www.dancebase.co.uk/about/access-69