Teenager Tyler McLelland from Glenrothes continues to progress in the sport of boccia. In the past year he has taken advantage of every invitation tournament that has been available to advance his skills as a competitive BC4 boccia player. Tyler is coached by his mum Emma and at the Lothian Invitation tournament last weekend he achieved his best results to date. Mum Emma also made a contribution to tournament refereeing duties.
For the first time Tyler was offered the opportunity to play in the adult section of the tournament. In his qualifying pool Tyler won all his matches and this set him up for a semi final rematch against a player who had defeated him last year 11-0. Tyler reversed the result on this occasion with a 5-2 win and progressed to the final. The final was however one game too many on this occasion. Tyler felt that he could hardly lift his arm because he was so tired. Tyler played his heart out in the final against Fiona Muirhead but had to settle for runner up position.
This was by far Tyler’s best competition result to date. Coach Emma was pleased with Tyler’s performance and indicated that Tyler gets stronger with every competition and certainly more tactically astute.
Tyler trains at the Michael Woods Sports & Leisure Centre on the competition court provided by the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust. Tyler plays with competition balls purchased in Spain and financed by the Order of St John in Fife. Disability Sport Fife is currently in discussions with Scottish Disability Sport to try and access a series of masterclass sessions with Scotland’s leading BC4 boccia players.
Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife