Lothian Disability Sport News

REGIONAL SCHOOLS BOCCIA FESTIVAL

Tuesday 25th February saw the 2020 edition of the Lothian Regional Schools Boccia Festival take place at the Jack Kane Centre, Edinburgh.

54 players from schools across Lothian were guided through a range of skills sessions by Coaching & Developing Sport students from Edinburgh College who helped to create a fantastic atmosphere throughout the day. Huge thanks must go to these students for delivering such a fun, engaging and enjoyable event.

SDS NATIONAL CARPET BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020

The SDS National Carpet Bowls Championships for 2020 took place on Saturday 22nd February at Dundee International Sports Centre. 10 bowlers had qualified from our regional event to represent Lothian and their efforts led to one of the strongest Lothian performances in history.

In the Men's Ambulant and B3 section, Neil Shirley played well but didn't manage to pick up any points in a tough group.

In the Ladies Learning Disability section, Susan Drummond, Gillian Brown and Carol Whyte all advanced to the second round but it was Emma Armstrong who stole the show with a string of dominant performances taking her to the final where she held off Dundee's Christine Fisher to win 15-10. A phenomenal performance for Emma who only took up the sport 6 months ago.

In the Men's Learning Disability section, Lothian had an unprecedented 4 semi finalists. In the semis, Ronnie McLintock defeated defending champion Colin Robertson whilst Euan Wright won a nail biter 13-12 against Stewart Martin. In the final, Ronnie continued his consistent form to win 17-10 and take home the trophy for 2020.

Congratulations to all of the Lothian team on their fantastic performances.

LOTHIAN CARPET BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020

Saturday 11^th January saw the 2020 edition of the Lothian Disability Sport Carpet Bowls Championships take place at Musselburgh Sports Centre. 15 bowlers competed on the day, with extremely competitive games taking place across the sections.

In the male section of the draw, there were some unexpected results and some extremely tight games with a few bowlers extremely unlucky to miss out on the quarter final stage. The quarters saw Neil Shirley, Euan Wright, Stewart Martin and last year’s SDS National Champion Colin Robertson advance to the semi-finals. Stewart continued his fantastic upturn in form to upset Colin whilst Euan continued his consistent play to defeat Neil. Stewart’s great form came to an end in the final however, as Euan comfortably took home the trophy for this year.

In the ladies section, four bowlers competed in a round robin format with Prestonpans BC’s Gillian Brown emerging undefeated to claim first place. The other places were hotly contested, with every player picking up points but it was Susan Drummond of Lothian Special Olympics who finished runner up.

Spectators commented that this year was one of the most competitive championships in recent memory which highlights the depth of talent currently playing carpet bowls in the region. A team of 9 bowlers will now go on to Dundee to represent Lothian at the SDS National Championships in February.

Thanks must go to the staff at Musselburgh Sports Centre and the volunteers who helped to mark ties on the day, particularly our head umpire Richard Douglas.

LDS ARCHERY COMPETITION 2019

The second annual LDS archery competition was held on 8th December 2019 at Meadowmill Sports Centre. 11 archers took part in the fun shoot with regular Meadowmill archers joined by others from Fife, Borders and West Lothian.

After practice shots and sighters, the competition element of the day took place with each archer completing a half Portsmouth round of 30 arrows. The competition was played out in fantastic spirits with all archers showing great support of one another.

LDS Football Participation Event

Saltire Soccer Centre in Mayfield, Midlothian again played host to this year's LDS Football Participation Event. 59 pupils from across Lothian were given the chance to take on some skills stations delivered by coaches from Midlothian Council and Street Soccer. The stations gave the pupils a chance to brush up on their shooting, passing, dribbling and control before putting those skills into practice during some small sided friendly games which saw some fantastic team work and great goals.

Thanks are extended to the coaches who led stations on the day, Saltire Soccer Centre for providing an excellent venue and to Midlothian Council's Active Schools team for their support in the organisation and delivery of the day.

SDS NATIONAL JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SWIMMERS WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY

Wednesday 20th November saw Tollcross International Swim Centre play host to the Scottish Disability Sport National Junior Swimming Championships for Swimmers with a Learning Disability.

Lothian had a strong team of 17 swimmers representing the region on the day. Each swimmer had qualified via their performances at the LDS Regional Swim Qualifier in October. The majority of the team built on their qualification performances by recording faster times with many reaching finals and even finishing in the medal places.

LDS AUTUMN SWIM GALA & MARK HEADDEN MEMORIAL TROPHY

Saturday 21st September saw the annual LDS Autumn Swim Gala take place at Mercat Gait Centre in Prestonpans. Always well attended, this time was no different with 52 swimmers competing, with many of the region's disability specific swimming clubs represented. The morning session saw some swimmers competing in their first gala whilst the afternoon had some great performances from some of Lothian's top para swimmers.

At this gala each year, the Mark Headden Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Most Improver Swimmer of the Year. This year's winner was Callum McIntosh from Lothian Waves who has overcome anxiety and health issues to have his best year in swimming to date. Callum has managed huge improvements on his personal best times and has been moved in to the top group of swimmers at Lothian Waves, whilst approaching every session with enthusiasm and a smile. Well done Callum!

B Inspired Football Cup

Lothian Disability Sport have been working in partnership with Broxburn United Sports Club to develop a new football event as part of our calendar of events. The first edition of the cup took place on Tuesday 11th June at Albyn Park in Broxburn with teams from Cedarbank and Pinewood Schools in West Lothian battling it out to take home the coveted trophy.

The players had the chance to develop their skills through various stations led by Sports Leader pupils from Broxburn Academy and then had the opportunity to put these skills into practice in some small sided games. Throughout the games, points were awarded for shows of both skill and sportsmanship and the school with the most points were awarded the trophy. On this ocassion, Cedarbank came out on top by just 3 points to take home the B Inspired Cup.

Huge thanks go to Ahren White from Broxburn United for his efforts in organising and delivering the event. Thank yous are also extended to the school staff, sports leaders and pupils who helped make it a great event and one which we hope will continue to grow in coming years.

SDS National Junior Athletics Championships

Wednesday 5th June saw 22 Lothian athletes compete against others from across the country. The Championships, held at Grangemouth Stadium, are a firm favourite in the calendar and historically Lothian athletes have always performed well. This year was no different, as each athlete returned home with at least one medal - fantastic performances all round!

The Lothian team was comprised of athletes who had performed well at our Regional Athletics Championships in May, and included young people from 3 of the 4 local authorities in Lothian. Our full team was as follows: Tiffany Panton, Nathan Gardner, Kyle Schuller, Josiah Adusei, David Lancastle (Kaimes); Abby Bryson, David Pele, Dean Hamilton, Ben McDougall, Jade Isdale (Pinewood); Jenny Doyle, Billie-Jo Faulds, Dylan Kean, Robert Findlay, Rosie Pink-Smith (Cedarbank); Jonathan Daniel, Max Alexander (Elphinstone PS); Finlay Menzies (Balerno HS); Leona Loftus-Stewart (St Gabriel's PS) and Kate Snodgrass (George Watson's).

Congratulations to all athletes involved and a huge thank you to the teachers, school staff, parents and volunteers who help to make these events such a success.

SDS NATIONAL INDOOR BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Four bowlers represented Lothian at the SDS Indoor Bowls Championships for bowlers with a learning disability on Monday 28th April at Falkirk Indoor Bowling Club. Robbie Anderson and Paul Clapperton performed well in the group stages of the Male Open A Section and both were unlucky not to progress to the latter rounds of the competition after each bowler suffered a tight loss to the eventual finalists.

In the woman's section, Christina McSherry registered some impressive wins, but eventually finished in third place overall in the round robin format following some close games.

Lothian had the defending champion in the Open B section in the shape of Euan Wright and the trophy will now be staying in Lothian until 2020. Euan was extremely consistent throughout the competition and ended the day undefeated on his way to the championship. A fantastic achievement!

Congratulations to all 4 bowlers, each of whom represented Lothian brilliantly throughout the competition.

LDS SPRING SWIM GALA

Saturday 30th March saw the annual LDS Spring Swim Gala take place at Mercat Gait Centre, Prestonpans. Entries for this event are always high and this year was no different with swimmers from the following clubs taking part - Lothian Racers, Loanhead Dolphins, Lothian Waves, Livingston & District Dolphins, Musselburgh Flyers, Musselburgh Marlins, Swim-IT, North Berwick Swimming Club, Allstars ASC, Knox Academy and Borders Barracudas.

The event saw plenty of success with many swimmers achieving new personal bests whilst some swimmers took part in their first competitive races.

Thursday 21st February saw over 80 school pupils take part in the Regional Schools Boccia Festival at Jack Kane Centre. The event was organised in partnership with Edinburgh Active Schools and Scottish Disability Sport whilst Edinburgh Leisure staff provided support on the day.

Participants were led through a series of skills stations by Edinburgh College Sport & Fitness students who were fantastic in their delivery. The enthusiasm and enjoyment of the participants and staff was clear to see and the event was once again a great success.

Lothian had a succesful day at the SDS National Carpet Bowls Championships on 2nd February at Dundee International Sports Complex. The region had a strong team of 8 bowlers competing on the day, 

In the Mixed Ambulant & B3 section Lothian’s Neil Shirley a three-time winner of this event competed in a very strong group including multiple title-winning bowlers Billy Allan and Maria Spencer from Fife and newcomer Glen Livingston, also from Fife. It was Glen who ultimately finished with the title beating Neil into second place.

In the section for male bowlers with a learning disability Lothian’s Colin Robertson battled his way to the national title in another very competitive category. Colin came out on top by just one point at the end of the event and took home the trophy for this year.

Well done to all bowlers for representing the branch brilliantly throughout and thank you to the organisers and volunteers at SDS who put on another great event.

Musselburgh Sports Centre once again played host to the Lothian Carpet Bowls Championship on Saturday 13th January 2019. Always a tightly contested event, this year's edition was no different. 15 bowlers with a learning disability battled it out on the day with Alan Gordon and Lisa Wilkie (pictured in the middle above) tasting triumph in the male and female categories respectively. Also pictured are runners up John McMillan and Susan Drummond.

Well done to the winners and all bowlers who participated, making the event very competitive and enjoyable throughout.  Thanks is extended to Musselburgh Sports Centre and all volunteers who gave up time to mark ties and support the event.

The first ever Lothian Disability Sport Archery Competition took place on Sunday 16th December at Meadowmill Sports Centre, East Lothian. The event saw archers come together from the LDS Archery Group, No Limits and Scottish War Blinded to compete over 10m distance. Bill Steven from Scottish War Blinded took home the inagural winner's cup, whilst Aileen from LDS Archery Group took home the Most Improved Archer award for her efforts at the Wednesday morning shoot over the year.

This year was the 15th anniversary of the LDS session at Meadowmill, and founders Richard Vallis and Jimmy Berry were honoured on the day (pictured above). Their dedication over the years has allowed hundreds of people to try archery, many of them falling in love with the sport. They have also been committed to mentoring new volunteers and coaches which has led to the Wednesday group now having a host of dedicated and passionate instructors and coaches who are helping to take the session forward.

Thanks must go to the LDS Archery Group who organised and delivered the event and to archers, all of whom posted some very respectable scores.

Thursday 29th November saw 57 pupils from across Lothian take part in the LDS Football Participation Event at Saltire Soccer Centre in Midlothian.

The event began with the pupils completing skills stations led by SFA coaches from Midlothian. The stations gave the pupils a chance to brush up on their shooting, passing, dribbling and control before putting those skills into practice during some small sided friendly games. The morning's hard work clearly paid off as spectators were treated to some fantastic team goals to compliment the effort on show.

Thanks are extended to the coaches who led stations on the day, Saltire Soccer Centre for providing an excellent venue and to Midlothian Council's Active Schools and Sports Development teams for their support in the organisation and delivery of the day.

Tollcross International Swim Centre in Glasgow played host to the Scottish Disability Sport National Junior Championships for swimmers with a learning disability on Wednesday 21^st November.  Lothian were able to enter a 19 person strong team with many of the swimmers selected from schools such as Cedarbank, Pinewood (West Lothian), Saltersgate (Midlothian) and Woodlands (Edinburgh).

The team produced a host of great performances on the day as many swimmers posted significant PB’s and secured a host of medals to take home. Performances of note came from Cameron Tweedie (Cedarbank & Livingston and District Dolphins) and Tia Timoney (Woodlands) who won two medals each.

Full results from the event can be found here.