Last month, the Scottish Women in Sport Conference featured a great lineup of inspirational speakers, including SDS’s YPSP Administrator Grace Stirling and Commonwealth Games Para Cyclist Laura Cluxton.  

Laura Pilkington, SDS Board Director, hosted the session, during which Laura and Grace shared their experiences in sport. 

They both delivered fantastic presentations highlighting sports’ positive contributions to their lives. They described situations where inclusive practice, implemented to support their safety and well-being, could have improved their experiences.  

They challenged the audience to think inclusively to promote and support the safety, inclusion and well-being of participants and athletes with disabilities. The key messages from Laura and Grace were: 

• Focus on an athlete’s ability, not disability 

• Educate sports staff and coaches to embed inclusion in their practice  

• Athletes feeling safe will lead to better performance 

• Be proactive, not reactive 

• Small changes can make a big difference 

• Contact Scottish Disability Sport for support. 

 

You can watch the highlights of the video here.  

If you are an organisation that would like to offer more inclusive opportunities, please contact Scottish Disability Sport at admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or telephone 0131 317 1130. 

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And in other news… Scottish Women in Sport Awards! 

Scottish Women in Sport are seeking nominations for this year’s awards. You can use this SW/S Nomination Form to submit the following. Deadline is this Friday 13th September!

• Sportswoman of the Year  

• Young Sportswoman of the Year  

• Para Athlete of the Year  

• SW/S Inspiration in Sport  

• Team of the Year 

• Coach/Manager of the Year  

• Community Champion of the Year  

• Volunteer of the Year  

• Pioneer in Sport  

• Most Valuable Partnership