Tag: Championships

Photo collage of the medallists on the podium from the Scottish Boccia Championships.

Newcomers and Squad Members Unite at Scottish Boccia Event

The National Scottish Boccia Closed Championships took place at The Peak in Stirling on Saturday 15th of July, with 25 athletes competing for the title of Scottish Champion.  

A development squad was also present on the day, with 12 athletes joining to make it the biggest draw to date.   

The development draw provided potential classifiable athletes the opportunity to compete and learn more about higher level competition; watching some of Scotland’s finest boccia players in action- proving to be a great experience for the development squad with plenty of learnings to takeaway. 

Within the development draw there were two categories: a mixed BC1,2 & 4 category with 5 athletes and a BC3 development draw with 3 athletes and their ramp operators. For some of the athletes, it was their first time competing at a National competition, whilst for others, it was their first ever boccia competition.  

“It has been a fantastic event with many close games,” said Jonathan Kennedy, SDS’s Boccia Development Officer.  

“What is really great to see is the amount of players in the development draw coming to this event. I spoke to one who said that this is their first ever event and quite a few of the other players have spoken to the Scottish squad athletes. 

“It’s great to see the Scottish squad players taking the time to talk and share their knowledge with the development players all in the same place,” said Jonathan.  

There were some fantastic games played throughout the entire day. Podium placers per each category are listed here:  

BC2: 

Gold – Alex Medley 
Silver – Kayleigh Haggo 
Bronze – Lewis McConnell 

BC3: 

Gold – Patric Wilson & Meredith Greenwood 
Silver – Ross MacNeil & Stewart MacNeil 

BC4: 

Gold – Stephen McGuire 
Silver – Tyler McLelland 
Bronze – Fiona Muirhead   

Development Draw:  

Gold – James O’Brien 
Silver – Murrin Widley 
Bronze – Layla McCloskey 

BC3 Development Draw: 

Gold – Zac Cameron & Kevin Davidson 
Silver – Ellie MacLaren & Lisa MacLaren 
Bronze – Caoimhe Potter & Katie MacMillan  

Many thanks to all the officials who helped the event run smoothly and for providing support to the development athletes; ensuring that they understood the rules and call room procedures. Thank you also to Barclays volunteers who helped support the officials. A final thank you goes to Motability and their sponsorship of this event.   

Highest Turnout for Mary Duncan Gala

Grampian swimming events appear to have fully recovered post-covid with a record level of entries for the annual Mary Duncan Swimming Gala.

We were delighted to be back at the gala’s home pool – Fraserburgh Community & Sports Centre – where 62 swimmers gave it their all across 53 events.

The event welcomes swimmers of all ages and all disability types from across Grampian and is a qualifying event for the Scottish Disability Sport National Senior Swimming Championships. It was fantastic to see a growing number of clubs from across the region entering their swimmers – in particular, the mainstream clubs which have welcomed swimmers with disabilities into their main squads.

We were delighted to be joined by Michelle Lamont, the daughter of the late Mary Duncan, who the gala has been named in honour of, to present medals to our winning swimmers.

The selection process for the National Championships, where we expect a strong Grampian representation.

Huge thanks goes to Marie Cheyne for arranging the programme and running events on the day, Pauline Stirling for starting the races, and for all the parents, carers, coaches and teachers who got stuck in to help with timekeeping, announcing, marshaling and supporting their swimmers.

If you, or anyone you know, lives with a physical, sensory or learning disability in Grampian or Shetland & is interested in getting involved in sport, please get in touch with Alison on alison.shaw@scottishdisabilitysport.com or 07828 744 848.