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UPCOMING EVENTS News Sat 27th Sept. @LDS_Sport

LDS Regional w: www.lothiandisabilitysport.co.uk e: [email protected] Qualifier (School Calendar) ISSUE1, JULY/AUGUST 2014 Mercat Gait Swim- ming Pool, P’pans LDS celebrate the Achievements of Tues 30th Sept. Cross Country Athletes, Teams and Coaches at AGM Series (School Calendar) The LDS AGM for 2013 /2014 was held at Caledonia House, South Gyle on Monday Herriot Watt Uni, 23rd of June. This preceeded the Annual Edinburgh Awards Ceremony as LDS continue to recog- Wed 1st October nise the huge impact that athletes, volun-

BadmintonScot- teers, coaches and teams have in sport land, Participation across the Lothian area. The awards cere- Event (School mony gives LDS the opportunity to celebrate Calendar) these achievements and show we are proud to have such talented, dedicated and enthu- Meadowmill Sports Centre, Tranent siastic individuals within the region. The Sprinter Maria Lyle received her Young Sports Per- awards went to the following winners: son Award from SDS Regional Manager Gary Fraser Friday 3rd Oct Young Sports Person SFA East Regional Maria Lyle: Maria won gold in 100m and 200m at the IPC Grand Prix in Dubai earlier this year League Fixture in her T35/36 class. The 200m race also saw Maria break the T35 world record and the 14 (School Calendar) year old sprinter is ranked number 1 in the world for the 100m and 200m distances in this class. The young sprinter has also recently been selected for the IPC Athletics European East Mains Train- ing Centre, East Championships in Swansea in August. Lothian Senior Sports Person Scott Quin: Scott recently qualified for the IPC European Championships in Eindhoven in the Inside This SB14 100m Breaststroke and is only one of two Scots to make the team. The swimmer from Issue Loanhead has progressed through Lothian Racers onto current club Warrender Baths, also narrowly missed out on qualification to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. LDS AGM Page 2 Team Award Club Focus: Lothian Special Olympics (LSO): A Lothian Leopards remarkable 49 athletes and 21 Page 2 coaches attended Bath in July 2013 Lothian for the Special Olympics GB National Calendar of Summer Games and secured an im- Events pressive 32 medals. This was the Page 3 culmination of two years hard work in terms of fundraising and training, LDS - background highlighting the dedication evident Page 4 Some members of the triumphant LSO team with throughout the organisation. Details their LDS Team Award for Bath 2013 of more winners can be found on page 2. e: [email protected] P A G E 2 LDS AGM continued:

Volunteer Award Elaine McKenna (LSO): Elaine was one of the coaches who attended the Summer Games in Bath while also contributing her coaching expertise to football and multi sports on a weekly basis. Elaine has been involved with disability sport for around 21 years and has recently been selected as head football coach for the World Games 2015 in Los Angeles.

Endeavour Award Shaun Gray (Football): Shaun is a member of the under 19 squad for players with learning disability and was part of the squad who successfully defended the Home Nation's Cup in Ireland earlier this year. Through playing football, Shaun has become more engaged with school and has gained both academic and coaching quali-

Jim Anderson OBE Bursary fications as a result. Winner: Beth was selected by Jim Anderson from a Jim Anderson OBE Bursary shortlist of Lothian athletes Beth Johnston (Swimming): Beth was the deserving winner of the cash award presented in recognition of Jim Anderson's outstanding achievements in the sport and link with LDS. Beth has shown dedication and motivation in her training, regularly attending the SDS re- “ The team are gional squad training, regional & national gala's and has become a member of the Scottish really honoured Disability Swim Squad.

to have won the

Lothian Disability

Sport Team

Award. The games Club Focus: Lothian Leopards were the Lothian Leopards Disability a clear pathway for any bud- Athletics Club (LLDAC) was ding athletes. culmination of two established 3 years ago in years hard work” partnership with Lothian Dis- The club continue to develop ability Sport and Scottish Ath- under the guidance of coaches Yvonne Anderson, letics, aiming to offer young Jean Dobson, Jamie Wilson Chair, LSO people with a physical, sen- and Suzie Wood and worked sory or learning disability the very hard recently to assist partnership with Lothian Dis- opportunity to take part in with the East Lothian Track ability Sport to apply for sup- Lothian Leopards the sport in a safe and and Field Open - entering a port to fund the purchase of at a glance: friendly environment. The number of young people with 'running bikes' and have re- club was introduced due to a range of disabilities into the cently been shortlisted in the Where: Meadowmill lack of opportunity for young event. Edinburgh Eagles, the Bank of Scotland Community Sports Centre, Tranent people with a disability in the other Run, Jump and Throw Fund 2014. East Lothian region and the session in the region, were When: Thursday, club have been supported by also represented at the inclu- 6pm - 7pm the East Lothian Athletics sive event at Meadowmill in Lothian Leopards continue to Development Group (ELADG). June, building on the inter- grow and are always on the Who: Young People Support from ELADG has club event which the clubs lookout for athletes and volun- aged been invaluable in the devel- worked together to facilitate teers, so if you are interested opment of the club and last year. 8 - 18 years with a please contact Jean Dobson on young athletes showing po- physical, learning or 07882376338 or Neal Herbert sensory impairment tential can be linked into Furthermore, Lothian Leop- on 0131 475 2364. mainstream clubs, providing ards have been working in Contact: Jean Dobson 07882376338 ISSUE1, JULY/AUGUST P A G E 3 Lothian Calendar of Events

Lothian Disability Sport liver these events. tish Disability Sport and Lothian continues to strive to provide Special Olympics to facilitate athletes with the opportunity The 2013/2014 School Calen- the Lothian Open Boccia Cham- School Participation to participate and play sport dar saw well over 700 young pionships. The competition saw by Numbers at a competitive level - with people access the programme athletes with both physical and the Regional calendar of throughout the academic year learning disabilities compete The school calendar events offering this platform and engaged over 30 schools within designated classifications continues to provide for athletes of all ages. from across Edinburgh and the and attracted over 40 players, sporting opportuni- Lothians, showing how well providing a competitive local ties - this can be School Calendar of Events established the calendar is experience in the sport. seen by the numbers The Lothian School Calendar of throughout the region. In ad- of young people and events continues to provide dition to these opportunities, The 2014/2015 Senior Calendar schools accessing opportunities for school aged Lothian has had representa- of events will see Regional the programme of young people from Lothian to tion at six Scottish Disability events in Lawn and Carpet events in 2013/2014: participate in a range of sports Sport (SDS) National Junior at grassroots level. The calen- Events, providing the platform Track & Field dar works in close partnership for young people with a dis- Athletics, Meadow- with Active Schools Co- ability to compete against mill Sports Centre: ordinators and Sports Devel- their peers from across the Young People: 62 opment Officers across all four country. Schools: 9 local authorities to plan, co- ordinate and deliver events in The School Calendar for Football badminton, football, swim- 2014/205 will see the intro- Participation Event, ming, cross country, athletics, duction of Table Tennis into Herriot Watt Uni: the event timetable, with Young People:88 Raymond Brumby on way to vic- West Lothian looking to host Schools: 8 tory in recent Lawn Bowls Compe- the event and provide links tition with the local clubs, who are Paralympic already operating inclusively. Experience Event, Bowls, Swimming, Track & Field Forrester High The Senior Calendar of Events Athletics and Boccia, with op- School: In addition to the sporting op- portunities to qualify to repre- Young People: 62 portunities provided for young sent the branch at SDS National people, Lothian also work with events in all of these sports. a number of partners to plan, If you would like the opportu- Pilrig Park’s Steven Stone flies at co-ordinate and deliver Senior nity to participate in the School Meadowmill for the Regional Young people from Knox Track & Field Comp in May events. This enables individu- Calendar or Senior Calendar of Academy pose with West als who have outgrown the events, contact School Calendar of Events or Lothian College students boccia and golf and this part- [email protected] or seasoned athletes who have during the Sportshall Ath- nership work is imperative to 0131 475 2364. accessed the calendar for letics Event continue the development of many years the chance to con- the programme. In addition to tinue participating in sport at a the local authorities, the calen- competitive level. dar also works in partnership with an array of organisations In May, earlier this year, Lo- and National Governing Bodies thian Disability Sport worked (NGB) to help successfully de- in close partnership with Scot-

For more information on the School & Senior Calendar of Events, please contact Neal Herbert on 0131 475 2364/07709393514 or [email protected] Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014 Glasgow 2014 boasted the biggest ever number of Para-Sports medal events in Commonwealth Games history. 17 sports were included in the Games with 5 sports having Para disciplines in- cluded in the competition - Lawn Bowls, Weightlifting, Athletics, Swimming and Cycling. There will be 22 medal events with over 225 athletes competing in them - Team Scotland had 22 Para- Athletes competing across 5 sports, with Lothian’s Michael Yule (pictured) agonisingly missing out on a medal and finishing fourth in the men’s Powerlifting.

An athlete who did medal was Visually Impaired sprinter, Libby Clegg. Libby was born in Chesire and now trains full time at Loughborough but lives in Ed- inburgh when not training or competing. She triumphed in the T12 100m and became the first Scottish athlete to win gold in athletics since Yvonne Murray in 1994. Libby attended the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, alongside her brothers James and Stephen - both of whom are talented swimmers with the former winning silver at the in two years ago.

Libby Clegg celebrates her Commonwealth win with guide runner Mikail Huggins

ABOUT US

We aim to promote sport and physical recreation for people with a disability by

• providing appropriate sporting opportunities in partnership with a variety organisations. Hi, I’m Neal Herbert, the Lothian Disability Sport Co- • providing and promoting opportunities for com- ordinator. I have been in post for around 9 months and petitive sport, and encouraging and supporting hopefully I have managed to meet a large percentage of participation coaches, athletes and volunteers involved with disability • encouraging individual members to develop any sport in the Lothian region. particular sporting abilities which they may have, Prior to working with LDS, I graduated with BSc (Hons) and to aid them in furthering their sporting poten- in Sports and Exercise Science before working within the tial to a level to which they aspire. PE Department at the Royal Blind School, Edinburgh. • publishing and distributing regular up-to-date I look forward to developing relationships further and information on club/organisation activities and building on the considerable work that has already been facilities. undertaken in the Lothian area. • functioning as a branch of Scottish Disability If anyone would like to discuss sporting opportunities Sport across the Lothian, please get in touch on -

e: [email protected] p: 0131 475 2364 www.lothiandisabilitysport.co.uk m: 07709393514

If you would like any more information on disability sport in the Lothian area, please contact Neal Herbert on 0131 475 2364 or [email protected].