March is CP Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness for the estimated 17 million people worldwide living with cerebral palsy. SDS are keen to encourage those who have Cerebral Palsy to get involved in physical activity and sport, to lead active lives and enjoy the physical, social and psychological benefits that it brings.

One such person who has led the way in CP sport for many years is footballer, Jonny Paterson. ‘JP’ has collected 102 caps for the Scotland CP international team in a long and successful career. We spoke with him about his journey in football from the early years to his record breaking 100th cap and a message to those living with CP who may want to get involved in the sport.

What were your early experiences in football?

JP was obsessed with football since a very young age and like many kids was kicking a ball about as soon as he could. When he was old enough he joined a mainstream club where his dad was in charge of the team and enjoyed playing and developing his talent. At first he found very few barriers, but as he got older he found some obstacles in his path as the standard improved where he felt that some found it ‘difficult for inclusion and the acceptance of disability’. This included not getting into the school team despite being good enough to play, where he felt the coach was scared to manage him. JP believes this is a ‘matter of education’ for coaches and practitioners, which he believes is something that is changing for the better now with a better understanding of inclusive practice.

JP is keen to promote CP football to all those who would qualify to participate, where he feels there is work to be done to get the message out there about the pathway and opportunities to get involved. He mentions how when he moves back into mainstream settings from the Scotland CP squad, there is still an issue in ‘getting the recognition it deserves’ and attaining enough minutes in mainstream football. He recognises there have been thoroughly positive developments, but reports that there is still work to be done.

Tell us about your experience as an International footballer

After initially being recommended to get involved in the Special Olympics when he was a young player, he was ‘quite adamant and stubborn’ about not getting involved and remaining in mainstream football. One day however he looked on the SFA website where he was shown a clip of CP football which caught his interest and after a quick phone call to then Development Officer, Stuart Sharp, he was invited the following week to a training camp. Seeing his talent straight away, it was only a month later that he was turning out internationally for Scotland in the European Championships in Dublin. Describing it as a ‘bit of a whirlwind’ he hasn’t looked back since, demonstrating the potential to move quickly throughout the CP football pathway.

Since then the programme has gone from strength to strength and proved to be an ‘incredible journey and very grateful to have been involved with it for so long’.

Since his first cap, JP has had an incredible career in the sport, competing at 3 Paralympic Games, captaining his country and travelling the world doing what he loves. In that time he has amassed a record breaking 102 caps, with his 100th cap against Northern Ireland last year marked with a goal in a 5-0 win. JP is keen to point out that Scotland’s most capped International player in the mainstream game is Kenny Dalglish, also with 102 caps, and is looking forward to moving ahead of him soon outright as Scotland’s outright most capped player across the sport.

What opportunities are there to get involved in CP football?

JP is keen to promote the opportunities that are out there and increasing all of the time. ‘The pathway is there, it’s just now about putting people in place to find out’.

With the new pathway announced this year for CP footballers (see details below) there are opportunities from participation to performance level to get involved and play football.

JP is keen to see as many avenues targeted as possible to grow the participant base, including in amateur clubs and mainstream schools – similar to his own experience. Once the base is there, the talent pool will grow as he recognises that with himself and others in the squad reaching the twilight of their careers, there is a need to also develop players capable of taking his place too.

📺| FOOTBALL FOCUS@CPfootball_SCO is packed with elite athletes and inspiring individuals who have overcome huge life challenges to pull on the Scotland shirt.

We visited the squad to hear about their goal of getting back to the World Cup.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 pic.twitter.com/RHWWKwaPdc

— Studio Something (@s0methingsays) January 8, 2022

Message to those who would like to get involved?

JP believes that those who take the opportunity to get involved in CP football will not look back once they take the step to getting involved. He admits that it can be daunting but once you have the confidence in taking a chance then ‘you’ll be made to feel so comfortable straight away’ and no matter your ability level there will be somewhere appropriate you can fit in along the pathway to enjoy playing football.

For those that want to push on and test their talent, JP mentions that there is a real possibility ‘you could represent your country, and who wouldn’t want that playing football?’.

JP has had a brilliant career that has taken him on an ‘adventure of a lifetime’, and whilst getting towards the end of his career he acknowledges that ‘this football team changed my whole world. I wouldn’t take my disability away because it led to so many opportunities.’

If you too would like to experience the life-changing effects of playing the game, then now is the time to get involved.

2022 sees the launch of the CP player pathway in Scotland for players of all ages and ability where you can get involved in the the following:

  Participation Group

  Development Squad

  National Team

If you have CP/Stroke/Acquired Brain Injury we would love to hear from you. Please email: admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com

Day 9 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games witnessed the final action from what has been a successful Games for ParalympicsGB.
Para Alpine Skiing
Neil and Andrew Simpson from Banchory finished in today’s Vision Impaired Men’s Slalom in 9th place to end an incredible Paralympic Winter Games. The brothers became the first British men to win a gold medal on snow with victory in the Super G and quickly followed that up with bronze in the Super Combined. To conclude a wonderful Gamed for the pair, it was announced that they would have the honour of being the ParalympicsGB flagbearers at the Games Closing Ceremony.

BREAKING: The boys from Banchory are announced as Great Britain's flagbearers for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games closing ceremony today. 🥇🥉

Congratulations, Neil and Andrew Simpson 🇬🇧#WinterParalympics

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 13, 2022

Neil, who is the youngest member of ParalympicsGB squad at 19, said: “Confidence wise this is a huge boost for next season. Skiing wise we have showed what we can do.”
“Coming out to the Games was something pretty special anyway and then we wanted to try and enjoy it.”
“What I have learned is we have nothing to be afraid of at this level of competition. You have the hype and additional pressure but if you can put that to one side you can treat it as just another race.
Para Nordic Skiing
Scotland’s Scott Meenagh and Callum Deboys helped ParalympicsGB sign off from Beijing 2022 in style as they joined Steve Arnold and Steve Thomas to finish in 12th place in a time of 35:27.3 in the inaugural Cross Country Open Relay.
Speaking after the race, Scott said, “Having a relay team on the start line today and a relay team that didn’t include all the athletes we have on the ground is testament to the progression we’ve made.”
“We’ve come on aeons in such a short period of time, every other nation in the world has noticed it as well and it’s something we’re really proud of.”

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games come to a conclusion, ParalymicsGB can look back on a Games that produced outstanding performances and a final medal haul of one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Scottish athletes not only made up 56% of the ParalymicsGB team at the Games but also won 50% of the medals with a gold and two bronze.

Day 8 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing saw Scottish athletes representing ParalympicsGB back on the snow.

Para Alpine Skiing
Downhill bronze medal pair Millie Knight and Glasgow’s Brett Wild were back in action in the Vision Impaired Slalom, finishing in 8th place in a time of 1:41.47.
The Slalom also marked the end of Brett’s career as a guide. After a skiing partnership with Millie that began in 2016, the Scot plans to return to his career in the Navy and begin Officer training.
“It’s been such a huge part of my life for the last seven years, and such an amazing, enjoyable experience. It’s nothing short of unbelievable what we have achieved in such a short time, it’s going to be challenging moving on.”

“I’ve lived the dream.” ⛷⛷

End of an era as @BrettWild announces his retirement from Paralympic sport, returning to @RoyalNavy service.

Thank you for everything, Brett. 🙌#Paralympics pic.twitter.com/TkWufeZNsJ

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 12, 2022

Livingston’s Shona Brownlee meanwhile rounded off her debut Paralympic Games with a 9th place finish in the women’s Slalom Sitting event. Shona only began skiing internationally in 2019 and believes the experience she has gained in Beijing will stand her in great stead for the future.
She recovered strongly after falling in her first run, regaining her composure to finish the course and ensure a second outing in the afternoon.
“When I knew I was falling, the only thought in my head was I’m not giving up,” she explained.
“I didn’t come here to give up at the fourth gate, I’m here for the experience and the only way to do that was to get the second run.”
“It’s just been an incredible experience – pretty terrifying at times, so to come out here and get three finishes under my belt – it feels pretty good.”

Para Nordic Skiing
Callum Deboys, Scott Meenagh and Hope Gordon were all back in action in the cross-country middle-distance races.
Following the high of a sixth-place finish in Friday’s biathlon, Scott Meenagh couldn’t quite reproduce the form that took him to his best Paralympic result finishing in 16th place. Callum Deboys finished the race in 21st place.
Competing for the first time over the 7.5km distance, Hope Gordon admitted that despite the soft snow conditions, she was proud of her 16th place 38:01.4 finish after having spent just nine weeks on snow.
“That was hard, I think mash tatties is the word to describe the conditions today, it just felt like ploughing through mash tatties from start to finish,” said Hope.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever done a 7.5km so nothing like being thrown in at the deep end against the best girls in the world at the highest level so I think I can take a bit of pride in just getting round that course.”

The Para Skiing events took centre stage on day 7 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Para Nordic Skiing

Scott Meenagh achieved the best result of his Paralympic career finishing in 6^th place in the long-distance biathlon in Zhiangjiakou. Scott pushed hard over the 12.5km course to finish in 40:32.5 with just one penalty in the four rounds of shooting.

Scott, who is from Cumbernauld, said: “I am happy with that – it felt nice and smooth and I shot really smoothly.”

“I am a bit disappointed not to have gone clear in shooting but to be one shot away potentially from a medal is really good.”

“My Games goal was to finish in the top six in biathlon if you finish in the top six then anything can happen.”

“The credit goes to the team who get me on snow: the waxing team, picking the right skis and making life as easy for me as possible.”

“Looking ahead to the next Games I feel a medal is within my reach and I am not going to stop until I get it.”

GREAT SCOTT 🙌

It’s a career best 6th place in the Biathlon Individual Sitting for @SMeenagh!

Get in there 👊#WinterParalympics #ParaNordic pic.twitter.com/oSlH6Fu6XY

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 11, 2022

Prestwick’s Callum Deboys finished in 18^th place with a time of 44:53.8 and five shooting penalties.

Para Alpine Skiing

ParalympicsGB’s women were back out on the slopes of Yanqing for the Giant Slalom on day 7 of the Games, with Brett Wild guiding Millie Knight in the Visually Impaired event. Millie and Brett, who won Downhill bronze on day one of the Games finished in 9^th place.

Livingston’s Paralympic debutant Shona Brownlee also finished 9th in the women’s Giant Slalom sitting event and enjoyed the chance to gain valuable experience against the best in the world.”

“It’s all still a bit of a blur,” she said. “I’m pleased just to have completed it, there was a little bit of nerves after I didn’t finish the Slalom on this hill the other day, so my first run was probably a little bit tentative. So I’m glad that I’ve got down and got another Paralympic race under my belt.”

“Each time I finish a run and finish a race it’s just building that confidence which makes it easier for the next time.”

“I can take so much away from this, the whole experience has been so much to learn – both in terms of the skiing, the level of competition and also the whole atmosphere. There’s definitely a lot I can learn from this and take into the future.”

Para Snowboard

Stirling’s Andy MacLeod was back in action, making his banked slalom debut at the Zhiangjiakou Genting Snow Park. Andy posted a best time of 1:16.55 to finish the competition in 20^th place.

The slopes will be busy again tomorrow for Day 8 of the Games with Scot’s Neil and Andrew Simpson, Callum Deboys, Scott Meenagh and Hope Gordon all in action.

Day 6 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games saw a Scottish gold medal winner back on the slopes and the wheelchair curlers conclude their round robin fixtures. 

Para Alpine Skiing 

Banchory brothers, Neil and Andrew Simpson were competing in the visually impaired Giant Slalom and finished just out of the medals in fifth place after their two runs. 

The duo, who won Super-G gold and Super Combined bronze earlier in the week, clocked 1:59.45 in the warm conditions. 

“It was tricky,” admitted Neil. “It was a shorter distance than we are used to in Giant Slalom, certainly than what we’ve been training in the past season. The first run wasn’t ideal, we both were holding on to the ski too long and that costs you time each gate and builds up pretty quickly. The second run was better, there were some positives and something to work on.” 

In the GS vision impaired class it was 5th place for Neil and Andrew Simpson.

Great effort again, boys ⛷⛷#ParaAlpine pic.twitter.com/cFCJ9OVI1E

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 10, 2022

Wheelchair Curling 

ParalympicsGB’s Wheelchair Curling team began Day 6 of competition knowing that a semi-final place was out of reach and faced a tough test against reigning World Champions China at the Ice Cube. 

China are favourites for the gold medal but the ParalympicsGB team of Skip Hugh Nibloe, Gregor Ewan, Meggan Dawson-Farrell and Gary Smith were more than a match for their opponents in the opening ends, leading 3-2 at the halfway stage.  

However, China took the match to the ParalympicsGB quartet after the break and eventually secured their seventh consecutive victory of the round robin stage by 6-3. 

ParalymicsGB’s Wheelchair Curlers’ played their final match at Beijing 2022 against a Latvia side that still had an outside chance of reaching the semi-finals. ParalympicsGB took control early in the match scoring three in the second end to lead 4-0. A fantastic take out with the hammer saw ParalympicsGB move into a commanding 7-1 lead at the halfway stage 

Led by Skip Hugh Nibloe, they protected their lead in the last four ends to secure an emphatic 8-4 victory to finish with four wins and six losses in the round robin. 

After the match Hugh Nibloe said: “We made shots from the start and put Latvia under pressure straight away and we perhaps haven’t done that in earlier matches. Gregor made the shots to put them under pressure and we got a couple of early steals.” 

 

Tomorrow’s action from Beijing will see Shona Brownlee and Brett Wild competing in the Giant Slalom and Callum Deboys and Scott Meenagh take on the 12.5Km Biathlon. 

Boccia UK is set to strengthen its board with the appointment of two new independent directors.

Boccia UK is the national governing body of boccia, the world’s fastest growing Paralympic sport. It is responsible for identifying and nurturing the talents of the UK’s best boccia players, including three-times Paralympic gold medallist David Smith OBE.

Boccia UK Chair David Richmond explains:

 “The recruitment process has already begun, searching specifically for candidates with experience in finance and accounting as well as an individual who understands from an athlete perspective what it takes to deliver a successful world class programme.”

 “Both positions are voluntary and will play a vital role in the future of Boccia UK.  We are an ambitious governing body, eager to build on our achievements at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and the BISFed 2018 World Boccia Championships which we hosted in Liverpool. The successful candidates will join a highly experienced board and will help steer Boccia UK to continued future success.”

Full information can found on the Boccia UK website here: http://boccia.uk.com/news/2022/3/4/boccia-uk-to-recruit-new-independent-directors

It was day 5 for the Scottish athletes competing for ParalympicsGB at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games and it was a day when history would be made for one Scottish athlete.

Para Nordic Skiing

History was made in a tough morning for Scotland’s cross-country skiers as Callum Deboys and Hope Gordon narrowly missed out on qualification for the sprint semi-finals.

It was 17^th place for Hope, who took her place in the history books by becoming ParalympicsGB’s first ever female Para Nordic skier.

Commenting on her achievement, Hope said: “I’m just happy to have got round it in one piece, I would definitely have liked a little bit more but equally I’m quite realistic with my expectations and this morning I told myself ‘I’m not going to be too hard on myself’ and I’m going to try and stick to that because just to be here is so much more than I thought could be achieved within the time I’ve been in the sport,”

“I think it has been a really quick whirlwind but I think as well, all the training I’ve done in however many years before that is the reason why I’m here and it just so happens that I’ve been able to use that for this sport.

“I’ve got the 7.5km on Saturday, never done one of them before, so not really got a huge amount of expectations, once again just try and get round it, it’s 7,300 metres longer than I’m used to racing.”

A piece of history overnight in the cross-country skiing…@HopeGordon_ becomes our first ever female Para Nordic skier, while former sailor and ice hockey player @StephenThomas99 made his Beijing debut in his THIRD Paralympic sport. 👏#WinterParalympics#ParalympicsGB 🇬🇧

— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 9, 2022

Callum placed 22^nd in qualification but unfortunately it was only the top 12 who progressed through to the semi-final stages.

After his race Callum said: “For me and where I am that’s as good a result as I can get just now, it’s a super tough field, take nothing away from the rest of the athletes out there today it is a tough field in cross country, but for me and where I’m at I’m over the moon with that result,”

“It’s a lot in this environment and it’s quite overwhelming so I’m just trying to soak everything up and enjoy myself and get as much experience as I can with a view to the next Games.”

 

Wheelchair Curling

There was drama on the ice in Scotland’s first match of the day when David Melrose was stretchered from the Ice Cube following a freak accident when he fell from his chair while reaching for a delivery stick in the defeat against Canada. The accident saw Gary Smith take to the ice following his Paralympic debut the night before with the match delicately poised at 2-2 at the halfway stage.

Skip Hugh Nibloe said: “It did effect us we are a close-knit bunch and it’s never easy to see anyone you care about taken away on a stretcher. The most important thing is that he is ok

Both teams had similar records going into the crucial round robin, having both lost three matches, although Canada had one more victory.

Hugh Nibloe was back in the team as Skip as ParalympicsGB began the match scoring one in the first end and a steal in the second to lead 2-0. It was a cagey affair with Canada then scoring one in the next end.

Canada took a 6-3 lead going into the final end with the match eventually conceded by Skip Hugh Nibloe. Defeat leave ParalympicsGB’s Wheelchair Curlers needing to win their remaining matches to keep qualification for the semi-finals in their own hands.

After the match Hugh said: “Its easy now we have got to go out and win our last three games – no ifs, no buts we want to put on a performance for David and give him something to smile about.”

In their second match of day 5 of the Games, Paralympics GB faced Korea in a must win encounter. With David Melrose ruled out due to injury Gary Smith joined skip Hugh Nibloe, Gregor Ewan and Meggan Dawson-Farrell for the crucial tie.

Korea scored three with the hammer in the opening end and ParalympicsGB scored one in the next but Korea then replied with two to take a 5-1 lead.

The British team hit back with a two in the seventh and in the final end the tension really built before Sunghun Jung produced a wonderful shot to win the match 8-6 and end ParalympicsGB’s hopes of reaching the last four.

Skip Hugh Nibloe said: “It’s disappointing, it’s not what we came here for to finish up so early. We are quite a young team, with three players at their first Paralympics, other teams have played together for years and years. Other teams have punished us and we have not been as clinical in punishing them.”

Tomorrow will see Neil and Andrew Simpson back in action in the Giant Slalom and the wheelchair curlers back on the ice to face China and Latvia.