Tag: young start programme

Group of young people making silly faces and smiling to the camera

Young Persons’ Sport Panel Residential 2025

Saturday the 8th of February saw the return of the annual Scottish Disability Sport Young Persons’ Sport Panel Residential! This year being held at the sportscotland National Sports Training Centre Inverclyde in Largs.  Nine of our panel members travelled from all over Scotland to attend and we were delighted to be joined by four members of the Young Start Programme too.  

The weekend kicked off with an overview of our busy schedule from Alison, followed up swiftly with a Social Media refresher from mentor, Ross. Then we jumped right into an amazing dance session, delivered by Scottish Youth Dance. This involved some hilarious partner choreography, and we all managed to get stuck in with learning a brand new dance to some great music. Afterwards we got to check into our rooms before we headed down to Largs Beachfront for a quick walk and wheel before dinner at Tony Macaroni’s, which just had to be followed by some delicious ice cream from the famous Nardini’s!!  

When we got back to the centre it was straight into the Gymnastics Hall for a very active evening session of Trampoline, Gymnastics and a lot of fun! Everyone had a go and most ended up in the foam pit at some point. In case that wasn’t enough, some of us stayed up late to round the night off with some board games.  

Sunday morning, we were back at it all again, recapping yesterday’s events after getting a quick breakfast in at the centre. Hollie delivered a session on LGBTIQ+ Inclusion on behalf of LEAP Sports Scotland which ignited some incredibly interesting conversations around intersectional barriers to sport. Then we headed along to the studio for a Boccia session, expertly led by our very own Boccia Leaders: Charlotte, Grace and Layla. We were so excited to have Aileen Neilson, Paralympic Curler and ambassador for the YPSP programme, along to join us for this and some great chat over lunch afterwards. Our penultimate session of the day was led by Events Administrator Charlotte, where we got the ball rolling on our plans for the upcoming SDS National Exhibition Event on June 14th at Stirling University. 

Our last session was a new, updated, delivery of the Disability, Identity and Sport workshop led by Charlotte, Grace and Ross. We all contributed some great feedback to keep the course updated and interesting and it was so nice to have time to discuss all the benefits we have found from being on the panel and broadening our sense of community. We wrapped up the weekend with a team picture to celebrate before we got packed into the cars and drove off, homeward bound! 

We would love to thank our mentors Caitlyn and Ross for their continued support throughout the weekend, as well as our accompanying SDS Staff members Kathryn, Hollie, and of course, Alison – who we cannot believe has already started planning the residential for 2026! See you next year everyone!  

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Charlie’s Experience –  

Hi, my name is Charlie and I’m a wheelchair user.  

I play wheelchair badminton and am a part of the SDS Young Start programme. As a part of this programme, I got the opportunity to go on a residential weekend with the brilliant people on the SDS YPSP to the Inverclyde national sports training centre, before going on this residential I was quite nervous as it was my first time away from home overnight without either of my parents. I also felt nervous because of the fact I didn’t know many of the other people attending the residential and I am usually not the most talkative and confident person. 

It turned out that there was absolutely nothing to worry about as everyone at the residential was lovely and so welcoming that I felt like I fit right in and almost like I already knew them with how easily I found talking and having fun with them. 

I got the chance to do some amazing things there such as learning an entire dance routine which beforehand I wasn’t sure about but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to hang out with everyone else inside the gymnastics hall which was a highlight for me as getting to just chill and have fun with new people and other people like me was amazingly refreshing. I feel like I have gained a great load of independence and especially confidence from my short time on the residential and I feel I have made some great friends and connections within disability sport. I will always be thankful for this opportunity and will always look back on the great memories I made with happiness. 

Group of young people making silly faces and smiling to the camera

Photo of Callum and Jordon from the Young Start Programme

Young Start Programme – the Importance of Training and Developing the Future Generation. 

By William Moncrieff, SDS Communications Apprentice 

In September – to celebrate sportscotland’s theme of #SportForSkills – Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is shining a spotlight on the Young Start Programme and all of the experiences and skills being learnt and developed by young individuals with disabilities across Scotland. 

The Young Start Programme is a year long course that helps young people aged between 16 – 24 living with a vision impairment, hearing loss, physical disabilities or mild learning disabilities throughout Scotland, to develop their confidence and coaching skills. The Young Start Programme will further help individuals enrolled on the course gain a coaching qualification. 

SDS caught up with two members of the Young Start Programme, Callum and Jordon, to find out how the programme has supported them on their coaching journey.  

Callum Ballantyne is 23 years old and has a learning disability. Callum initially found out about the programme when his athletics coach mentioned it to him.  

“It first interested me by seeing that it could help me get a coaching qualification”, said Callum. 

Before Callum joined the Young Start Programme he was involved in sports, both participating and coaching in athletics and BMX.  

“It helped me on my coaching experiences through picking up different skills”, said Callum.  

“I love being a coach because I am an athlete myself and I love to give back to my sport of athletics.”  

He continued to say: “I love working with kids of all abilities and helping them achieve their dreams. I love to see all of the kids’ smiling faces when they achieve something, small or big.” 

There have been many skills and lessons that Callum has developed throughout his time on the programme. He explained: “The most important thing that it has taught me is that there is a coaching opportunity out there for people with a learning disability. It helps you get the skills you need to become a coach.”  

Providing these coaching opportunities to young people with a disability is something Callum strongly believes in. 

“I think we should see more people with a learning disability work in the coaching world. I think we can bring in skills and experiences that other people can’t bring in. I think it will help the workplace become more inclusive as well,” he said. 

Callum views his experience in the Young Start Programme as being very valuable and enjoyable. 

“I would recommend the programme to other people because the programme helps you build on your skills for coaching and it helps you to get into the coaching world.”  

Callum continued to say: “It’s good because you’ve got a mentor throughout your journey on the programme.” 

 

SDS also connected with Jordon, another member of the Young Start Programme, who was keen to share his experience. 

Jordon is 17 years old and has a learning disability. Applying for the Young Start Programme was something that Jordan was incredibly interested in, with himself being a keen footballer and having done a little bit of coaching throughout school. 

“I found out about Young Start through the sports coordinator in the school,” Jordan said. 

Jordan was instantly happy that he had applied, as he really enjoyed getting out into the field and coaching. “My favorite thing about coaching is helping everyone build up skills. I find this to be rewarding. I am happy when I coach football. I just enjoy it because I get to help different people.” Jordan explained. 

Along with enjoying coaching and meeting participants, Jordan has used the programme to develop skills. 

“I think I have built on my communication and stopping conflict.” He added, “The course helped me grow in confidence. I definitely feel more confident now, compared to before the course. The course has helped me gain coaching qualifications.” 

When looking at what he has managed to achieve and learn from the course, Jordan highly recommends the Programme. “If anyone was thinking of joining the Programme I would tell them just to do it. It will build your confidence along with other skills and you will get a qualification.” 

If you are interested in the Young Start Programme or would like to find out more, please contact your SDS Regional Development Manager.