Forth Valley Disability Sport Team has excelled themselves in the 10th Special Olympics National Summer Games which was hosted in the City of Sheffield from Monday 7th August and Saturday 12th August 2017. Forth Valley Special Olympics Teams medal haul has reached 44 medals overall.
The Forth Valley Team of 53 athletes and 29 coaches / carers competed against athletes from all over Britain. The team was made up of individuals from Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire. Athletes represented Forth Valley in the Special Olympics National Summer Games which is a competition for people with learning disabilities and is organised by Special Olympics GB.
The athletes have competed against 2600 athletes from 19 other regions in the UK in athletics, boccia, bowls, football, golf, and swimming.
The games began with an exciting opening ceremony which set the scene for the three day competition with performances from world famous signer Tony Hadley and many other well know celebrities. Cheers from family and friends welcomed the athletes in their parade as they entered Bramell Lane, home of Sheffield United FC.
The Forth Valley Team has been training hard for the competition which took place in 13 venues throughout Sheffield. The commitment of the athletes has been evident in the results which you can see listed below. Well done to all of our Special Olympics athletes, many of whom medalled and recorded personal best.
Graham Harvey, Team Manager, said: “It has been a fantastic competition and for many of the athletes it has been their first time away from home and competing in a National event. Everyone will be going home with memories they will never forget.” He also went on to thank the many local business that have supported the team including RJM sports who supplied the Forth Valley teams Uhlsport kit, M-line for transporting the team to and from Sheffield and the volunteer coaches, escorts and careers who have made it possible for the team to be here.
Forth Valley Disability Sport would also like to thank everyone who helped the Special Olympics team to be so successful. A few companies, clubs and organisation are listed below:
Awards for All ,The Schuh Trust, Bannockburn Miners Welfare Social Club, EDF Energy, Morrisons Supermarket, Aldi Supermarket, Asda, Forth Valley Flyers Athletics Club, Right on Target Boccia Club, Stirling City All Stars, Enable Arion Swimming Club, Falkirk Indoor Bowling Club.
If anyone reading this article would like more information about sports participation opportunities for people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities please telephone Forth Valley Disability Sport on 01786 466486.
The extensive individual and team medal haul is as follows:-
| Athletics | |||||
| Name | Area | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Steven Stone | Falkirk | 3 | 4th | ||
| Chloe McLean | Stirling | 2 | 4th, 6th | ||
| George Le Hardy | Falkirk | 3 | 1 | ||
| Alanna Burton | Falkirk | 1 | 3 | ||
| Caitlyn Ross | Falkirk | 2 | 1 | 6th | |
| Niall Finlayson | Stirling | 1 | 4th, 5th, 5th | ||
| Kenneth Holderness | Falkirk | 4th, 6th, 7th, 7th | |||
| Bruce Anderson | Stirling | 1 | 6th, 7th | ||
| Liam Nolan | Falkirk | 2 | 1 | ||
| David Harley | Falkirk | 1 | 2 | 8th | |
| Grant Waplington | Falkirk | 1 | 5th, 6th, 8th | ||
| Amy Currie | Stirling | 1 | 4th, 7th, 8th | ||
| Ellen Wotherspoon | Falkirk | 1 | 6th | ||
| Paul Wotherspoon | Falkirk | 1 | 4th, 5th, 6th | ||
| INDIVIDUAL MEDALS | 12 | 4 | 10 | ||
| TEAM MEDALS | 1 | 1 | |||
| Boccia | |||||
| Name | Area | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Lee Duncan | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 1 | ||
| Connor Whannel | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 1 | ||
| Darren Rooney | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 4th | ||
| Barbara-Ann McGinn | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 5th | ||
| INDIVIDUAL MEDALS | 1 | 1 | |||
| TEAM MEDALS | 1 | 1 | |||
| Indoor Bowls | ||||
| Name | Area | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Craig Stirling | Falkirk | 1 | ||
| Frank Maguire | Falkirk | 1 | 1 | |
| Robert McWilliams | Falkirk | 1 | 1 | |
| PAIR MEDALS | 1 | |||
| TEAM MEDALS | 1 | |||
| Football 7-a-Side | |
| Forth Valley A Team | Forth Valley B Team |
| Gold Medal | Bronze Medal |
| Names: | Names: |
| Hendry Bell | Stephen Donaldson |
| Craig Boyle | James Ferguson |
| Garrie Knight | Jamie Henderson |
| Paul Lucy | Peter Holden |
| Paul Marshall | David Lenton |
| Iain McLeod | Callum Macdonald |
| Stuart Munro | Daniel McLean |
| Shaun Wotton | Patrick McLean |
| Christopher Pearson | |
| Gordon Reid | |
| John Shanks | |
| Golf | ||
| Name | Area | Medals |
| Andrew Stuart | Stirling | 1 silver |
| Swimming | |||||
| Name | Area | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Andrew McMillan | Falkirk | 2 | 2 | ||
| Gavin Miller | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 1 | 4th, 4th | |
| Claire Robertson | Clackmannanshire | 1 | 5th | ||
| Mark Lumsden | Stirling | 2 | 5th | ||
| Lewis Kellett | Falkirk | 1 | 5th, 6th, 8th | ||
| Nathan Boyle | Stirling | 7th | |||
| James McDonald | Stirling | 5th, 7th | |||
| Virginia Shaw | Stirling | 6th, 8th | |||
| Claire Mathewson | Stirling | 5th, 8th | |||
| Sharon Sloan | Stirling | 4th | |||
| Darren Byrne | Stirling | 6th, 8th | |||
| John Thompson | Stirling | 6th, 7th | |||
| INDIVIDUAL MEDALS | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||
| TEAM MEDALS | 1 | ||||
THE TOTAL OF THE MEDAL SUCCESS OVERALL IS: 44 MEDALS