Scotland will be represented at under 19 and under 15 level at this weekend’s National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Championships as they go into battle with the other Home Countries in this highly prestigious event within the youth calendar. Both age groups will be travelling south of the border with a 10 player squad, supported by the coaching and management staff and will contribute towards nearly 200 talented junior wheelchair basketball players from across the United Kingdom.
The under 19 squad kick off their campaign against London on Saturday afternoon, followed by a fixture later on that day against Northern Ireland. As England have a greater pool of players to select from, they are in a position to select teams from a number or regions across the country whereas the other Home Countries (Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) select players from across the Nation, highlighting the achievement of being selected to represent your country. The business end of the under 19 competition gets underway on Sunday and the Scotland team will be confident on improving their 7th place finish in 2016.
This year’s championships will see some new players represent their country for the first time whereas some of the more experienced players will play at this age group competition for the last time. Josh Manson, currently of West Lothian club Lothian Phoenix, will pull on the Scotland under 19 vest for the last time at these championships having gained valuable experience which has significantly supported his development as a player throughout the years.
The under 15 squad will be keen to equal the result from last year having claimed victory in an 11 strong team competition and the youngsters tip off their defence on Saturday afternoon against Wales (1.40pm). The young squad will keen to make a better start this year after losing their opening two games of 2016’s competition before remaining unbeaten throughout the remainder of the competition, culminating in a 17 v 8 win against East Midlands to claim the gold medal.
A full player and coach list is highlighted below –
| Under 19 Squad | Under 15 Squad | ||
| 1 | Rhys Collier (Lothian Phoenix) | 1 | Jack Caird (Grampian Flyers) |
| 2 | Dylan Cummings (Worcester Wolves) | 2 | Charlie Redmond (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 3 | Craig Brown (Lothian Phoenix) | 3 | Jason Giles (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 4 | David Beattie (CWSC Panthers) | 4 | Ben Flannigan (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 5 | Tom McCaffrey (Lothian Phoenix) | 5 | Blair Marshall (Dundee Dragons) |
| 6 | Adam Donnachie (Lothian Phoenix) | 6 | Logan Kidd (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 7 | Josh Manson (Lothian Phoenix) | 7 | Finlay Erskine (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 8 | Cameron Watson (Lothian Phoenix) | 8 | Sarah McCaffrey (Lothian Phoenix) |
| 9 | Ben Leith (Lothian Phoenix) | 9 | Owen Leitch (Dundee Dragons) |
| 10 | James Beattie (CWSC Panthers) | 10 | Sophia Law (Grampain Flyers) |
| H/C | Jen Scally | H/C | Niall Ritchie |
| A/C | Gemma Lumsdaine | A/C | Conor Smart |
| T/M | Tina Gordon | T/M | Yvonne Amour |
Updates from the Junior Championships can be seen by following British Wheelchair Basketball on Twitter @BritWheelBBall #LTJC2017.
A full list of fixtures for the 2017 Lord’s Taverners National Junior Championships can be found on the British Wheelchair Basketball website – http://www.britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/gbwba/index.cfm/the-league/juniors-programme/national-junior-champs/national-junior-champs-2017/#598333e448ad1.
*photo credit – under 15 squad member Charlie Redmond at a recent Scottish Disability Sport Para Sport Festival.