Tag: review

Referee Darren, playing a game of boccia with a group of young people

Boccia 2024 Recap: A Year of Sport

By William Moncrieff, Communications Coordinator  

What a year it has been for boccia across Scotland. Throughout the year, events, partnership working and sponsorships along with new playing opportunities and developing clubs have all played a factor in increasing the interest in this rising sport. 

 

EVENTS 

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) would like to thank all coaches, volunteers, officials and athletes for the role that they have played in the event schedule this year. It would not have been possible without their ongoing support. 

 

SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS 

The national events calendar kicked off on March 20th, with the Scottish Schools Championship. The event went well and there was no drop in the number of entries from the inaugural championship (in 2023). It was a great day at The Peak, Stirling, with branches being able to showcase their talent and put forward the same representation as previous years. 

Across the day there was some great boccia on display, with athletes keen to come up trumps in all classifications. Starting with athletes with an Assistive Device, gold went to Sophia Walsh, silver to Ellie MacLaren and bronze to Logan Millar. In the athletes with a Learning Disability classification, gold went to Eleanor Little, silver to Scott Chafey and bronze being won by Kate Burton. In the final classification, athletes with a Physical Disability, Layla McCloskey came out on top to take the gold medal, followed by Emma McManamon with silver and bronze going to James O’Brien. 

 

SCOTTISH OPEN 

Next up was the Scottish Open, which took place on the 5th October. It was a great championship with athletes from all over Scotland coming together to showcase their respective boccia abilities.  

In the BC2, Perth and Kinross’s Alex Medley came out victorious, winning gold. Kayleigh Brown (nee Haggo) finished second and bronze was awarded to Lewis McConnell. 

In the BC3, gold went to Paralympics GB’s Patrick Wilson and Meredith Greenwood. In second place and picking up the silver prize was the duo of Ross MacNeil and Stewart MacNeil. 

In the BC4, gold went to Paralympic champion Stephen McGuire. Silver was won by Tyler McLelland with bronze going to Fiona Muirhead 

The Open had a Development Draw which acted as a further opportunity to develop young talent across Scotland. The event also enabled up-and-coming athletes to experience a national tournament, which gave them valuable exposure. 

In the Development Draw, the Physical Disability Competition gold went to James O’Brien, silver to Murrin Widley and bronze being won by Layla McCloskey. 

In the Development Draw, Assistive Device Competition, gold went to Zac Cameron and Kevin Davidson, silver to Ellie McLaren and Lisa Mclaren, and finishing in bronze was Caoimhe Potter and Katie Macmillan. 

 

SDS NATIONAL NON BISFED SCOTTISH OPEN 

Next up was the SDS National Non BISFed Scottish Open. The event took place on October 26th, with athletes from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland competing. 

Starting in the athletes who use an assistive device competition the Scotts had a strong Showing, with Ross & Stewart MacNeil winning gold with Becky and Fiona Tyler winning the silver.  The junior athletes with a physical disability winner was Oliver Hastings from England with silver going to Emma McManamon and bronze to James O’Brien. 

Next up was the Senior athletes with a physical disability. The winner was Duncan McIntyre, silver was won by Connor Dixon. 

The female Learning disability Champion was Sarah Digby, with silver going to Zoe Irving and bronze won by Casey Wilson. The event finished with the male learning disability competition. The champion being Hayden Keir, silver going to Jordan Shepherd and the bronze medal going to Jean Pierre Cossigny. 

 

UK CHAMPIONSHIPS 

On the 15th of November the UK  Championships began. Taking place at the renowned facilities owned by Sportscotland at Largs, Inverclyde. It was a great championships with 39 players arriving on the west coast of Scotland in a bid to come out victorious. The day had 7 Scottish athletes. With Paralympic trio winning medals. Winning BC3 Gold was Patrick Wilson. Finishing  on top in the BC4 and taking home Gold was Stephen McGuire. Kayleigh Brown had another strong compitition and finished Silver in the BC2. 

 

BOCCIA DEVELOPMENT DAY 

The Inaugural Invitational Boccia Development Day took place on the 30th of November. This day saw five of Scotland’s up and coming athletes being invited along to learn from two of Scotland’s most prolific boccia coaches from the national set up. The day served a purpose of getting young athletes and providing them with an opportunity to develop their skills and abilities, with a possibility that this will result in the athletes being able to continue along the national performance pathway.  

 

PARIS 2024 PARALYMPICS 

The Paralympics took place from the 28th August to 5th September. Three Scots were selected to represent ParalympicsGB: Kayleigh Brown, Patrick (Paddy) Wilson and Stephen McGuire. 

What a Paralympics this was, with Kayleigh Brown achieving her childhood dream and becoming the Paralympian she always wanted to be. Kayleigh put in a really strong showing throughout the group stages and was defeated in the Individual BC2 quarter finals, 8 – 2 by Gischa Zayana. In the BC1/2 team competition Kayleigh Brown was joined by  Claire Taggart and David Smith. The team had a good run to take them through to the quarter finals. Despite being down early in the match the trio battled back to take the game down to a nail-biting finish where they were beaten by the BC1/2 Indonesian team in a 7 – 7 tie break. 

Paddy Wilson qualified for the Paralympics through a bipartite slot. Paddy put in an impressive showing in the group stages to finish in second place. However, Paddy was defeated in the quarter finals despite a strong performance, going down 4 – 1 to Damien Iskrzycki. 

It will be hard to forget about BC4 athlete, Stephen McGuire’s tournament. From qualifying through a bipartite slot, to being the first Scottish athlete to win a Paralympic medal in boccia. A dream he has waited 20 years to fulfill. 

Stephen wasn’t the only McGuire making waves out in Paris with brother Peter commentating in the BC4 final, giving all the McGuires a moment to look back on with pride. 

 

NATIONAL BOCCIA DAY 

National Boccia day took place on 27th of September. The day saw each home nation pick their own theme to engage the boccia community. SDS chose to raise the topic of communities. Boccia plays a vital role in growing and connecting communities, from friendships to support networks. Throughout the day, SDS member branches, clubs, athletes, volunteers and officials all showed how the community of boccia has impacted them. 

SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP 

In 2024, Scottish boccia had a first by receiving financial support from Shepherd Chartered Surveyors. This was provided to support further boccia development throughout Scotland. The backing from Shepherd will help fund SDS’s ongoing commitment to providing opportunities for people of all abilities, to try and participate in boccia across the country.  

Throughout 2024, SDS have continued to work with Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland. The organisation has worked hard to develop the sport of boccia within their network to ensure that more individuals can continue to gain the psychological and physiological benefits of boccia. Currently the organisation has got over 300 regular participants playing boccia in their bases, with 20 boccia sessions being delivered within their peer groups.  

SDS made decent progress in 2024, in the education sector. Working alongside the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA), updates were made to the list of activities in which young people can assessed as part of their PE qualifications at National 3 through to Advanced Higher level in school.  

This has resulted in school pupils throughout the 2024 -25 school year being able to have their performance assessed in Paralympic sports such as boccia, goalball and other wheelchair, powerchair and Parasport activities. 

CLUBS AND OPPORTUNITIES 

In 2024 Forth Vally Right on Target boccia club were made an associate member club of SDS. This was due to the club continuing to provide a service that is up to date with relevant legislations, policies and procedures. Furthermore, the club committed to continually meeting SDS’s minimum operating requirements. 

Throughout 2024 SDS has received feedback from organisations, about the rising popularity of boccia. This can be seen by the work that Scottish Student Sport have put into developing a strong playing base; with boccia being their fifth most popular sport in 2024, with 181 sessions and over 2000 participants taking part across their associated Universities and Colleges. 

The popularity, interest and demand for boccia has continued to grow throughout 2024. The 2023-2024 boccia audit showed that there is currently 39 opportunities to get involved in boccia. These opportunities are found within 18 local authorities across Scotland.  

If you would be interested in finding out more about these opportunities, you can do so by reaching out to your Regional Development Manager. This manager will be able to provide you with information on local opportunities to get involved as a volunteer, coach, official or player. 

Alternatively, you can contact SDS’s Boccia Development Officer, Jonathan Kennedy by email: jonathan.kennedy@scottishdisabilitysport.com  

 Make sure to stay uptodate on all opportunities throughout Scotland, by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website. 

Photo of Claire Morrison smiling as Stephen McGuire practices throwing boccia balls. The camera is low down and next to the white Jack, so Stephen is aiming towards the camera and Jack.

“It was a year where dreams came true.”

2024 – a year in sport, for Claire Morrison. 

By William Moncrieff, Communications Coordinator 

What a year 2024 has been for Claire Morrison, a current board member of Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) and performance coach with Boccia UK. Claire attended the Paris 2024 Paralympics, helping Paralympics GB reach new heights on the boccia court. 

However, the year started off with uncertainty, with Paralympic qualification looming over athletes and coaches: “The year started off with a focus on trying to qualify the BC4 pair (Stephen McGuire and Fiona Muirhead)”, Claire explained. 

Things were looking good when Kayleigh Brown achieved her lifelong dream and qualified for the Paralympics. However, this news was followed quickly by a disappointing result where the BC4 partnership of Stephen and Fiona didn’t manage to qualify as a pair. Meaning Claire’s and the coaching team’s plans had changed. “When the pair didn’t qualify the focus shifted to Stephen trying to qualify as an individual.” 

For Stephen, things were still looking turbulent as his only option of going to Paris was via a bipartite slot; the first time that World Boccia had done this.  

On July 1st, Stephen found out that both he and fellow Scot, Patrick Wilson (BC3), received bipartite slots. To mark a fourth Games for Stephen. 

“I was absolutely delighted, because he was sitting 3rd in the world rankings at the time, having won one world cup, having come second in another and won a Challenger in the season so far. It was one of those ones where you thought, there should be no reason why he doesn’t get a slot, based on his form that year, his position in the rankings and overcoming injury.” 

The Paris Paralympics started on August 28th, and Stephen was continuing his form, nicely working his way through the pool stages to advance to the quarterfinals. “The quarter final was going to be one of his biggest tests as he was probably going to be facing a Paralympic medallist and he just absolutely blew him away. Stephen just went out on court and played one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play”, reflected Claire. 

Next up was Stephen’s semifinal and despite a shaky end to the game, he found himself proceeding through to the BC4 Paralympic final. On the morning of the final Claire said: “I remember saying to him, ‘whatever happens today, it is going to be a good day. You’re going to get your Paralympic medal’ ”, said Claire.  

In the final Stephen took the first end 3-0, against Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica. The Colombian fought back in the second end drawing level (3-3). Stephen remained calm and bounced back, dominating the third end with five points (8-3). The Colombian had to pull something special out of the bag to leapfrog into the lead. However, Stephen only allowed him to score two points, resulting in Stephen claiming the title, 8-5. 

The win for Stephen was a 20 yearlong dream coming true. “It was amazing, it gives me goosebumps now even just thinking about it. All that work, all that perseverance has come together. To be in that moment with him was unreal”, Claire said. 

 What made the moment extra special was that Stephen’s brother, former Paralympian Peter McGuire, was commentating on the BC4 final with Channel 4.  

“At the time, I thought to myself that once that day was finished, that’s my tears done. Then I heard Peter’s commentary piece and that just set me off again”, said Claire.  

At the same time, Kayleigh was making strides at her first Paralympics. Claire took the time to reflect on Kayleigh’s debut Games.  

“That first game that Kayleigh played, where she went out there and became the Paralympian that she always wanted to be, in some ways for me that was as big as Stephen winning the gold medal.” 

Claire continued to say: “She narrowly lost her first game but the way she held herself, the way she embraced that environment was fantastic.” 

Kayleigh put in a fantastic shift, to make it to the quarterfinals but Gischa Zayana (INA) put an end to her individual Paralympic campaign, taking the game 8-2. 

For Claire to be selected to represent ParalympicsGB as part of the coaching staff is always special. “It is such an honor, I’ve always loved sports and I loved the Olympics but as soon as I got involved with disability sport and SDS, the Paralympics became such a big part of my life, as a spectator and now as a coach.” 

“Even now when I go to something like a training camp it means so much when I put my GB kit on, I have to pinch myself.”  

For Claire it has been an amazing year. “We hear so much about the power of sport and that has played out so much throughout my life, there is such a sense of pride.” 

Now coming to the end of 2024, it is moving into award season and Claire picked up Coach Of The Year at the SDS, Scottish Women In Sport and Sportscotland award ceremonies.  

“Again, that is something that I am proud of. Being in the spotlight isn’t something that sits naturally comfortably with me. It has been amazing to get the Scottish Disability Sport Coach of the Year Award and now the Scottish Women in Sport award, purely because you know that I know that the athletes really value what I have done.” 

However, for Claire these awards mean a lot more than personal recognition: “It is really important as you know, being in different environments – whether it’s being  a women in sport or being involved in Parasport – these are amazing experiences and opportunities for everybody. If I get a bit of recognition, it’s not really about me, it’s about boccia and it’s about Parasports.” 

Reflecting on the year, Claire remarks: “It was a year where dreams came true. I know that sounds cheesy, but in a sentence that’s what it was and it’s truly remarkable.” 

If you have enjoyed hearing about Claire’s journey throughout 2024 and would like to get involved as a coach, participant, official or volunteer, please contact your Regional Development Manager or contact SDS by email: admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call: 0131 317 1130.  

Make sure to stay uptodate on all opportunities throughout Scotland, by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website.