National Boccia Day is an annual event to celebrate the sport for those already involved and to raise awareness across the country. Today marks exactly two months to go until National Boccia Day 2021, which will be held on Monday 27^th September and celebrated in partnership with Disability Sport Wales, Scottish Disability Sport and Disability Sport Northern Ireland, with support from Irwin Mitchell.

Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to launch our newest FREE e-learning activity for all our partners working across physical activity and sport, leisure, education and health.

Would you like to learn more about inclusive practice in physical activity and sport? This entry-level module is designed for everyone but will be particularly useful to those who are new to inclusive teaching and coaching, those who would like to become inclusive teachers or coaches, or those who would like to gain confidence in teaching or coaching inclusively.

The module should take approximately 60 minutes to complete and can be completed in stages rather than all at once if you prefer, and your progress will be saved.

There is no cost for this e-learning opportunity – all you need to do is register on our virtual learning environment, Brightspace, and work through the module at your own pace.

To access this training:

1. Visit Introduction to Inclusive Practice E-Module to register on the Brightspace virtual learning environment. Click on the link, enter your details and click Enrol on the Introduction to Inclusive Practice module (IIP).
2. If you have never used Brightspace before, choose New Learner where you can set up your account and this will take you to the start of your learning. Other governing bodies use this environment for courses including CWPS so you may already have joined. If so, click Already Registered and once you have enrolled the module will appear on your dashboard.

If you have any questions please contact admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com and we will help you through your registration.

Self help video:  Introduction to Inclusive Practice Instructional Video  and FAQ: https://www.scottishdisabilitysport.com/e-learning-faqs/

In keeping with the strategy across the British Curling programme, competition will intensify for places in the wheelchair teams that will uniquely target dual success this season as the squad begins to train with an English-based trio who were selected to form a transition group last year.

With both events taking place in Beijing – in October and March respectively – the World Wheelchair Curling Championships are set to take place in the same season as the Paralympics for the first time ever, which means that twin peaks have to be reached in terms of preparation and performance.

The scale of that challenge makes the timing ideal for the merger of the two groups of players who have had to work separately since Stephen McGarry, Stewart Pimblett and Norma Woods were chosen to form the transition squad after being given the chance to benefit from British Curling’s support.

Pimblett comes into the squad having already played at three World B Championships, representing England and described his selection to join the British Curling squad as “an absolute honour.”

“I have dreamt about this and whilst I used to enjoy wheelchair basketball, I never really fulfilled my potential and this sport has surpassed that and I hope to achieve everything I possibly can with Sheila and the rest of the squad,” he continued.

Paralympic Head Coach Sheila Swan is looking forward to their involvement being beneficial in the longer term, as well as for the immediate season ahead.

“It is an unusual situation to be in, but many things have been unprecedented in the past year or so and what our athletes have demonstrated is their ability to rise to challenges put in front of them,” she said.

“As a result, we are back on ice already and I am delighted that this time around we have been able to include the transition squad members for the first time in the National Curling Academy.”

British Curling’s Executive Performance Director Nigel Holl offered warm congratulations to the newcomers to the squad and said their arrival at the National Curling Academy helps send out the right signals in terms of the way the programme is developing.

“Part of our job is to find ways of widening access to ensure that we maximise our chances of being competitive at the highest level of the sport and while curling has traditionally been very Scottish-oriented within the UK, we are always keen to encourage the growth of our sport,” he said.

“The emergence of Stephen, Stewart and Norma through the Northern Ice Wheelchair Curling Club that has been a great success story in the north east of England, has been a welcome addition to the mix as we continue to expand the squad and prepare longer term for the Paralympics in Milano Cortina in 2026, as well as the coming season’s World Wheelchair Championships and Winter Paralympics.

“The way our wheelchair curlers have handled what has been an extremely challenging period in their careers over the past year has earned them enormous respect throughout the programme and we look forward to them going from strength to strength with this infusion of new talent.”

 Programme athletes for 2021-22: 

 British Curling Programme Squad:

Meggan Dawson-Farrell (Tullibody)

Gregor Ewan (Elgin)

Charlotte McKenna (Bridge of Allan)

David Melrose (Duns)

Hugh Nibloe (Stirling)

Gary Smith (Edinburgh)

British Curling Transition Squad: 

Stephen McGarry (Bedlington)

Stewart Pimblett (Seghill)

Norma Woods (Bedlington)

When Scottish Visually Impaired Footballer Neil Atkinson takes to the court this weekend in the English FA’s Disability Cup for his club Scorpions Futsal, he hopes that his participation will act as inspiration for other visually impaired Scottish footballers to take up the game.

The Livingston native takes part in his third FA Cup Final this weekend, defending the trophy he won with his club in 2019.

His success as a player has spurred him to work with the Scottish FA to create more opportunities for visually impaired footballers in Scotland. He has become an integral member of the recently formed Scottish Visual Impairment Football Network. The Network which aims to develop opportunities for individuals living with a visual impairment to play this adapted game format, was established in 2019. Having delivered two successful events in 2019, the Network is currently working to deliver a further events in 2021.

The Network includes representatives from the following organisations: Scottish FA, RNIB Scotland, Scottish Disability Sport, Rangers Charity Foundation, Stirling Albion Junior Academy and Dundee United Community Trust.

For more information on Visual Impairment Football opportunities, contact Laura.Anderson@Scottishfa.co.uk

Neil Atkinson: “As the only Scottish player in the Partially Sighted Futsal League I hope these events can highlight the opportunity there is for other visually impaired people in Scotland to play football, and ultimately help to grow participation north of the border.”

“I’m excited to be back on the court playing again competitively for the first time in over a year. The Cup is a great event and it’s really special to play at St. George’s Park.

“This is my third FA Cup Final, and this time we will be defending the trophy after our victory in 2019. It’s always a really exciting weekend and hopefully we can play well and repeat the success we achieved two years ago.”

Coverage of the Partially Sighted FA Disability Cup will be available on BT Sport from 2.45pm on Saturday, 17 July.

Article courtesy of the Scottish FA