Introducing Stephen McGuire, his life in Boccia and how he has responded to the challenges of the pandemic.

---

I have a condition called Muscular Dystrophy or MD for short. MD is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. It’s a degenerative condition which causes you to get weaker. As of yet there is no cure, however there are therapies which can help slow down the progressiveness. Sport and being active has been the catalyst in slowing down the degenerative nature of my MD

I began my sporting journey back in 2004. I have always had a passion for the Paralympics and always knew that competing for ParalympicsGB would be my dream. After Athens 2004 Games had finished I send numerous emails and letters away trying to find a sport which I would physically be able to do. At this time the dream was to compete at a Paralympic games, I had the drive and ambition to throw myself into any sport I could find. In the end Boccia found me. Of all the emails I had sent away a lady called Jacqueline Lynn replied. Jacqui had just returned from Athens as head coach of GB Boccia. She invited me along to watch the Scottish Open in January 2005 and instantly I fell in love with the sport and have been privileged to represent Scotland and GB ever since.

Boccia being a precision based tactical sport takes years to master. I always knew I had the ability to play the shots but I was never tactically astute enough to control matches. This meant it took me 6 years to win my 1st international ranking match. Since 2010 I have been ranked inside the worlds top 10 and been privileged to have enjoyed so much success. I’ve been able to lead the BC4 Boccia Pair into London 2012, a home games which was the best experience anyone could wish for, and into Rio 2016.

The pinnacle of my career came in 2016 where I became individual world champion in Beijing, defeating home favourite Zheng in the final. From this achievement I had my most consistent season in 2017 losing only 2 matches in a calendar year whilst becoming European Champion and World Open Champion to add to my World Championship title. This propelled me to World number 1 which I was able to hold onto for a year. Going forward I hope to lead the team into my 3rd Paralympic games in Tokyo 2021 and fight for the only medal missing from my collection.

My initial reaction to the Tokyo Games being halted was disappointment. We were into the final preparations for the Games, looking at tactics and planning our lead into Tokyo. So to have that stop overnight was not easy. Being Postponed as opposed to cancelled still gave me the motivation to keep focused.

The pandemic has certainly changed the course of our sport. Boccia has athletes with severe impairments and mainly called as vulnerable if they catch Covid. As a result all competition has been cancelled for over 1 year and the 1st time we meet to compete again will be in Tokyo. It’ll be 20 months since I sat on court with my international rivals which is incredible.

Throughout the pandemic I spent 6 months training from home. It’s not been easy throwing boccia balls with only 4.5m of space. But we did everything we could like playing catch over the garden wall to setting up sofa cushions to absorb the impact of power shots. We quickly established a home based gym environment. I have purchased a handbike which has been a lifesaver – 3x per week I will have virtual handbike session with my team mates. SDS have been innovative by creating us yoga and stretching sessions online to keep us in the best shape. Then in October last year I returned to court. It’s still not back to normal as I train on my own without team mates or support staff there. However having that covid secure bridge to boccia and home has allowed me to keep up with everything I need to do.

I hope that Boccia can get back to where it was before with Multiple international competitions each year. We do have to be careful and recognise that boccia athletes are high risk. Boccia is a sport growing world wide year on year. It has been great to be part of it for the past 17 years and fingers crossed that the pandemic does not hinder boccia athletes getting together much longer to do what we love.

Reigning Paralympic champion Gordon Reid claimed his first men’s singles title of 2021 today after beating fellow Brit and top seed Alfie Hewett 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to lift the inaugural Loughborough Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament crown. 

Hewett and Reid later joined forces to claim their third successive men’s doubles title of the season as the first LTA international competition staged in Britain in almost 12 months drew to a close. 

World No.5 and second seed Reid bounced back from a set and 5-3 down against Hewett to earn his first singles title since September 2019 in two hours and two minutes. After his first victory over world No. 3 and Rio silver medallist Hewett in international competition since the 2018 French Open at Roland Garros, Reid said: 

“I think last year was the first year in my career when I didn’t win a singles title. Obviously, we didn’t play many events, so I’m really pleased to take the title home today. I’ve played some really good tennis this week and I thought the final was a really high level today. I had to play some of my tennis to beat Alfie.  

“I had to take a few risks and try to get on the front foot early in the points and take Alfie’s time away from him. When he’s in control and has time then he’s really dangerous, so I had to do what I could to put him under pressure. I thought I did that well from the end of the second set.” 

Saturday’s singles final was the second all-British title decider Reid and Hewett have contested this month after meeting in the Rotterdam ITF 1 title decider three weeks ago. They also won their second doubles title of the year in Rotterdam and the 10-time Grand Slam champions made it a 2021 hat-trick in Loughborough after racing past Dutch second seeds Maikel Scheffers and Ruben Spaargaren 6-0, 6-1.  

With Hewett and Reid having equalled the British record for most successful doubles partnership at the Grand Slams when they retained their Australian Open men’s doubles title last month, Hewett heralded another fine week. He said: 

“We’re stronger than ever on the doubles court at the moment and really dynamic and adaptable. I think that’s one of our biggest strengths. We work hard off the court and to get these kinds of results is a big thing for us. 

“To lose to Gordon in the singles final was a disappointing result,” added Hewett “I feel like I’ve been playing some of my best singles tennis recently and the level of the match was incredible from both of us today. I was playing some really good stuff for the first set and a half and from then on Gordon stepped it up and I struggled. I kept it competitive in the third set but he was too good for me today and deserved to win.” 

The penultimate match of this week’s tournament saw Brits Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley finish runners-up to Dutch duo Jiske Griffioen and Van Koot in the women’s doubles final. 

Playing their first tournament together since winning the ITF 2 Bolton Indoor title early in 2020, two-time Paralympic bronze medallists Shuker and Whiley were edged out 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 by the Rio Paralympic champions. 

A successful event for players on the LTA’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme, the Loughborough Indoor saw Antony Cotterill finish runner-up in Friday’s quad singles final to American top seed Bryan Barten, while Cotterill and fellow Brit Greg Slade were also runners-up in the quad doubles.  

For news and updates from the Loughborough Indoor follow on Twitter @WChairTennisGB and @the_LTA and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GBWheelchairTennis/. 

To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email disabilitytennis@lta.org.uk. 

Photo courtesy of the LTA

With the ongoing restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, this has led to much sporting activity grinding to a halt from grassroots to the elite level. Whilst these measures are undoubtedly necessary, there has been an inevitable impact on all facets of the sporting landscape.

To gain an understanding of this impact on performance sport, we spoke with Boccia athlete Jamie McCowan about the effects of the pandemic on his journey, and how he has adapted where he can to continue playing the sport he loves, including time spent competing against his brother, also a performance Boccia athlete, in a local church hall.

Background on Jamie

Jamie is 26 years old and has been playing Boccia since he was 11, but it was a chance meeting with Claire Morrison, a current SDS Board Member, that set him on his path to success. Spotting his potential at the Ayrshire Special Games, Claire spoke with Jamie but it took a while for him to act upon this unaware of his talent and the opportunities that Boccia could afford him – “the idea of playing high performance sport is something I never thought about”, he said.

Upon a second meeting with Claire he was convinced that a career in Boccia was possible and was soon making strides in his career. He was soon consumed by it and a trip abroad to Canada where he competed against some of the best athletes in the world was enough to convince him that he could represent his country and the paralympics and win tournaments.

Since then he has competed across the globe in a variety of competitions, winning (Jamie to fill this in)

He is also fortunate to have a brother who is also a Boccia athlete who he trains with and competes against, with his parents acting as ramp assistants. In what he describes almost as a “family business”, Boccia has become the “biggest part of my life”, he said.

What was his initial reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Much like most people, Jamie’s initial reaction to the spread of the virus was uncertainty, recalling a journey on the way home from a training camp in Loughborough where he realised there were likely to be effects on Boccia after an event he was due to attend was cancelled that evening.

Mentioning that he was initially worried as to the danger the virus posed, particularly as someone who was in a vulnerable category and his priority was staying safe. He soon knew that Boccia was likely to be seriously affected and that the camp would be his last for a while, with tournaments in Canada and Croatia cancelled it soon became clear that the Paralympic Games in Tokyo would be under serious threat, with it being suspended for a year soon after.

How did he adapt to train during lockdown?

Despite the unfortunate curtailment of competition, Jamie recognises his fortune in that his family is so embedded in the sport of Boccia. Under the lockdown rules, his living room took centre stage as a space to compete against his brother albeit at a slightly shorter distance than usual.

Once lockdown restrictions were temporarily relaxed Jamie and his brother would go to the local Church hall where they were able to play on a full size 10m court, leading to highly competitive boccia battles, which Jamie says exceeded 60 matches in total.

In this compact space, there was an element of competitive tension which helped both brothers keep their eye in and maintain sharpness, something he understands others have not been as fortunate to have. Jamie likened this to ‘cage’ football, where players compete in a fast-paced and confined environment which he says saw intensity levels rise to something even a normal boccia competition may not have.

Has the pandemic affected Jamie’s athlete journey?

Jamie acknowledged that everyone was different and those at different stages of their athlete journey would have been affected in different ways, however for himself he said he treated it like a pause. When lockdown came into force in March 2020, Jamie felt prepared tactically and technically for his next competition in Canada as well as the year ahead which included the Paralympic Games in Tokyo saying, “I love competing so when you take away the competitions it is a blow”. He however remained upbeat and the period of lockdown presented an opportunity to fine tune a few elements including the psychological aspect of the game.

Importantly he knew the priority was maintaining his physical condition and whilst he felt in a good place for 2020, it was about staying that way until he was able to compete again. Being able to compete against his brother certainly allowed himself to keep sharp with a realistic setting to work on his craft.

Jamie also recognised that Boccia is a team sport played in pairs, and that it was crucial for the squad to feel confident and ready to reach the right level when competition begins again. With regular zoom meetings to keep everyone connected they spent a lot of time reflecting on what they do and any further improvements they could make to add to their overall game. With everyone being different and at different stages of their development he was aware that a break would be beneficial for some and detrimental to others but as a group they have remained positive in their outlook with the mindset of using the extra time available to prepare for the games in an even more thorough manner.

What does he think the long term effects of the pandemic will be on boccia?

Answering this question Jamie preferred to remain positive as to how boccia, and wider sport, can be a positive driver in the post-pandemic recovery. He mentioned how it had put things into perspective and how previously taking part in sport was something that was taken for granted. With the pause in sport, he believes people, not least himself, will appreciate it more in future.

In a final positive message, Jamie believes that once sport begins to return we will see an excitement that we’ve likely never seen before, and the power of sport will help us recover a sense of normality once again. Sport, he said, is a place where people come together, uniting those from all backgrounds and it will help us recover from this extremely challenging time.

Get Out Get Active (GOGA) is an exciting programme that started in April 2020 which aims to support people of all abilities to be active together. Funded by Spirit of 2012 and London Marathon Charitable Trust, all partners are focused on encouraging people to move more through fun and inclusive activities. In Tayside, GOGA is a partnership between Scottish Disability Sport and NHS Tayside. GOGA Tayside hopes to engage and support people of all ages to be active.

GOGA is more than being active. It strengthens community spirit, increases confidence and can support local people’s health and wellbeing in a number of ways.

Over the past year, GOGA Tayside has been delivering a free online activity programme delivered over Zoom. The programme has included a variety of activities, delivered 6 days a week, where people from all over Tayside have come together to not only be active but support one another in times of isolation.

There has been a real sense of community throughout the programme, providing a safe space to meet virtually and move together. We have recently introduced a cuppa and a catch up online every Friday which has been really well received by our participants and increased everyone’s ability to get to know one another.

We have seen the positive impact that connecting virtually to take part in physical activity can have; it has lifted mood, boosted morale as well as having many benefits to physical health, strength and mobility. It has reduced loneliness, allowing those who may have been isolated, to communicate daily, create bonds which they would never have been able to create and be a part of something unique.

---

Here’s what some participants had to say about the programme:

“All I can say is, that I don’t know how I would have survived mentally and physically if it hadn’t been for GOGA! My experience has been very positive and beneficial to my whole wellbeing in participating in the classes. I certainly have more energy, my posture and balance has improved, and I look forward to the next sessions over the long drawn out winter.”

“I’ve found it a great help, it’s a good use of time, you see people, its conversation you just wouldn’t have, it boosts your morale, you feel better.”

“GOGA is person centered, its very good, people can go at their own pace, everybody is welcome, its welcoming, its friendly and its free!”

“Its brilliant, there it is in a nutshell.”

---

To find out more about GOGA Tayside please check out our Facebook and Twitter page @GOGATayside. To sign up to our online activity programme please find us on Eventbrite: GOGA Tayside’s Online Activity Programme – Week beginning 29th March Tickets | Eventbrite

An array of Grand Slam champions and Paralympic medallists head the entry for this week’s inaugural Loughborough Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, which takes place from Tuesday 23 March to Saturday 27 March at the Loughborough University Tennis Centre. 

The first LTA international competition staged in Britain in almost 12 months, since the coronavirus pandemic struck, the ITF 2 event sees Loughborough University Tennis Centre host international wheelchair tennis for the first time since staging the 2017 Wheelchair Tennis Masters, the sport’s year-end singles championship. 

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid contested the men’s singles final on that occasion and the Rio Paralympic gold and silver medallists head the world class entry this week as players from 16 countries vie for the titles in Loughborough. Reigning Paralympic champion and world No.5 Reid, a two-time champion at the LTA’s ITF 2 event traditionally held in Bolton in February, said:  

“After successful trips to Australia and the Netherlands this year it’s really exciting to now have the opportunity to play another international event in Britain and to return to Loughborough. I’ve got some good memories of competing at the Masters in 2017, I’ve been in decent form this season and I’ll be doing all I can to try and ensure that I come away with the title this week.” 

While nine players from the world’s Top 20 line up for the men’s singles, Britain’s 10-time Grand Slam champion Jordanne Whiley and recent Australian Open doubles finalist Lucy Shuker are among seven of the world’s Top 20 players who will bid for the women’s singles title. 

With Dutch world No.3 Aniek van Koot the top seed for the women’s singles, world No.4 Whiley, three-time winner of the ITF 2 title in Bolton, has high expectations in a field that also features American world No. 10 Dana Mathewson and Rio Paralympic gold medallist Jiske Griffioen. Whiley said: 

“I’m excited because I haven’t played an international event since October. I’ve not been able to do as much training as normal, but I’ve been hitting well and feel like I’m in a good place. I’m really glad the LTA have been able to put Loughborough on, as otherwise my next tournament probably wouldn’t be until the end of May. I expect to win, but there are plenty of good players, such as Aniek, Dana and Jiske, so I think it will be a really good level of competition.” 

The entry for this week’s tournament includes several players on the various tiers of the LTA’s Wheelchair World Class Pathway who train in Loughborough, including James Shaw and fellow Brit Antony Cotterill, who join American world No.12 Bryan Barten among the leading contenders for the quad singles title. Looking ahead to the Loughborough Indoor, Shaw said:  

“I’ve been training really hard over the winter, so I’m really looking forward to it. I ended 2020 by winning in Prague, so I really want to keep that momentum going. Normally with a local tournament, I can have family and friends around and I can stay at home. Obviously, this time it’s a bit different with the protocols, but being at the venue where I train it will feel like home and hopefully gives me a bit of an advantage.” 

Just the second event on the International Tennis Federation’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour to be held in Europe in 2021, this week’s tournament also gives some of Britain’s younger players the chance to impress and gain valuable international experience against senior opposition. They include 15-year-old Dahnon Ward and 17-year-old Abbie Breakwell, who are both part of the same Loughborough-based performance training group as Shaw and members of the LTA’s Wheelchair National Age Group Programme. 

Ward, the first winner of the ITF’s Junior Wheelchair Tennis Player of the Year Award in 2020, joins world No.1 ranked junior Ben Bartram and the likes of Hewett and Reid in the men’s singles entry, while Breakwell joins Whiley and Shuker in the field for the women’s singles.  

For news and updates from the Loughborough Indoor follow on Twitter @WChairTennisGB and @the_LTA and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GBWheelchairTennis/. 

To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email disabilitytennis@lta.org.uk. 

Pictures courtesy of the LTA

Scottish Disability Sport wishes to celebrate the work of Trefoil and their ongoing dedicated support to young people with a disability in Scotland. Trefoil’s story began following the outbreak of World War II after some volunteers from the St Abbs Girl Guides took the initiative to ensure a group of children with a physical disability were cared for. This service soon developed into a formalised educational established named the “Trefoil School” and carried an ethos of providing as normal a life as possible during the war years. The guiding principle of the school was that every child should experience a sense of achievement and practical skills were taught to reflect the origins and ongoing support from the Guide movement.

The Trefoil School continued to develop through the decades with their core values still driving their work for children with additional support needs. A dedicated group of volunteers and supporters maintained significant fundraising efforts and the school was soon able to buy a large property and surrounding grounds on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Social care and education reforms in the 1970s meant that local authorities were increasingly responsible for the education of children with additional support needs, so an alternative use of the house and estate was sought and soon the Trefoil Holiday Centre opened in 1976. This ensured children who were disadvantaged at the time had a relatively inexpensive holiday option in an environment where staff had the requisite skills to support their needs.

As legislation and regulation of care services continued to be more stringent usage declined so the trustees decided to cease provision of direct services and seek alternative ways to follow their principles. Leasing the property to Edinburgh Council and the sale of some other land allowed the group to maintain its charitable purpose through providing grants to individuals in need and smaller groups with similar aims. After a few more tenancies, and amidst the considerable ups and downs of a fluctuating market, the estate was finally sold in 2015. Trefoil’s investment portfolio increased and in turn allowed the charity to concentrate on developing their core work around grant awards to both individuals and organisations and their reinvigorated holiday fund.

SDS met with Trefoil in 2018 to discuss how we could support each other’s work. SDS member branches offers a national structure of autonomous bodies whose principles and core objectives aligned neatly with Trefoil’s. After discussion, an agreed standardised format was produced for branches to complete an application process that reflected the main outcomes of Trefoil’s aims as a charity. Branches who were able to run projects and programmes that meet these outcomes and in a state of readiness to deliver them were encouraged to apply for consideration by the Trefoil board. This means that every application is given the opportunity to succeed on its own merits whilst staying within the parameters of the organisation’s aims and objectives. This approach has resulted in 10 SDS branches so far being supported by Trefoil by a total exceeding £50,000 since our first meeting in 2018. The money has gone towards on-the-ground delivery of events, sessions and positive experiences for young people with a disability from the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway in the south all the way through to the Highlands in the north, with many other areas in between. SDS is delighted to be involved in delivering Trefoil’s admirable objectives through the fine work of our branches and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the organisation.

Much of the information above was taken from the short history of the Trefoil organisation. The full version can be found on its website www.trefoil.org.uk where you will find out much more about this fine organisation.

British Triathlon’s talent identification (TID) campaign aims to find talented athletes that have the potential to become medallists at future Paralympic Games.

Saturday 17 April 2021 brings a great opportunity to any athletes with impairments who want to join the paratriathlon performance pathway with British Triathlon’s ‘Virtual Talent ID Day’.

Making its Paralympic debut on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, in 2016, paratriathlon is a sport that’s constantly growing. Talent ID is aimed at finding talented athletes that have the potential to become future medallists at Paralympic Games.

Taking place across three disciplines; swim, bike, and run/push, paratriathlon is an exhilarating blend of three sports in one that sees athletes compete on the international stage in a time trial format. The sport houses athletes with a variety of different strengths, creating thrilling racing as competitors try and gain the advantage over the opposition across each discipline.

British Triathlon’s ‘Virtual Talent ID Day’ on Saturday 17 April 2021 will take place between 10am – 1pm. This is the first time in the organisation’s history that the TID journey will begin online, making the process more flexible and allowing for a greater number of athletes to engage with the sport.

You can find full information on the British Triathlon website here: https://www.britishtriathlon.org/news/virtual-talent-id-day-invites-athletes-to-paratriathlon-performance-pathway_14989