Scottish Disability Sport - The First Fifty Years Richard Brickley MBE Foreword I was delighted to be asked by Chief Executive Gavin Macleod to record the first fifty years of Scottish Disability Sport, to mark the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Association. Initially the project was intended to be small but the more I researched, the more it brought back memories of great athletes, superb volunteers and great times. I became determined to try and do justice to as many as those great people as possible. I am certain I shall have forgotten key people in the eyes of others and if so I apologise profusely. For almost four decades SDS has been for me a way of life. The volunteers I have had the pleasure of working with for almost three decades are those I remember with great fondness, particularly during the early years. I applaud the many athletes who contributed to the rich history and success of SDS over fifty years. Outstanding volunteers like Bob Mitchell, Mary Urquhart, David Thomson, Jean Stone, Chris Cohen and Colin Rains helped to develop and sustain my passion for disability sport. I have been privileged to work with exceptional professionals like Ken Hutchison, Derek Casey, Liz Dendy, Paul Bush, Bob Price, Louise Martin, Sheila Dobie, Fiona Reid, Eddie McConnell, Gavin MacLeod, Mary Alison, Heather Lowden, Lawrie Randak, Tracey McCillen, Archie Cameron and many others whose commitment to inclusive sport has been obvious and long lasting. I thank Jean Stone, Jacqueline Lynn, Heather Lowden, Maureen Brickley and Paul Noble who acted as “readers” during the writing of the history and Norma Buchanan for administrative support at important stages. This great organisation has gone through significant changes in its efforts to keep pace with the “fast flowing river” that is international disability sport. I have identified different stages in the SDS history and then tried to describe the major issues, people and projects that best exemplify each period. Success should be measured by more than the medals won at Paralympic Games and therefore I have tried to present additional important indicators for readers to consider. Richard Brickley MBE Scottish Disability Sport 1975 – 2013 1 CONTENTS Pre 1962 1962 - 1975 The Early Years 1975 - 1984 From Health and Rehabilitation to Sport 1984 -1990 Success Breeds Success 1991 - 1996 Barcelona to Atlanta 1997 - 2000 Changing with the Times 2001 - 2004 Sydney to Athens 2005 - 2008 Athens to Beijing 2009 - 2012 Towards London 2012 2012 The Greatest Games Ever? 2012 The SDS Hall of Fame Final thoughts 2 Pre 1962 Television documentaries and dramas screened before and during the 2012 London Paralympic Games left us in no doubt about the role played by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in the development of national and international disability sport. In the 50's Dr Guttmann used sport as a rehabilitation tool in the personal programmes of spinal cord injured patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury. The hospital then hosted a modest Sports Day in 1948 to coincide with the Opening of the Olympic Games in London. A team of patients from Stoke Mandeville and the Star and Garter Home in Richmond participated in the first of what became an annual event. In the 50's, teams from Edenhall Hospital in Musselburgh, the Thistle Foundation in Edinburgh and the Miners Rehabilitation Centre in Uddingston regularly took part. From 1958, as the number of participants steadily increased, it was decided to hold two Events; the National Stoke Mandeville Games followed a month later by the International Stoke Mandeville Games. The Annual National Stoke Mandeville Games were held in June from 1958 until 2002, and thereafter athletes and players had access to sport specific National Championships. The International Stoke Mandeville Games were held during the last week in July until 1995, with the exception of Paralympic years. In 1959 it was announced at the International Stoke Mandeville Games that the 1960 event would be held in Rome, the host city for the 1960 Olympic Games. While in Rome the Scottish members of the GB Team learned that Australia was considering hosting Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. In just over a decade disability sport had grown from a modest sports day to International Games, with Dr Ludwig Guttmann as the driving force. Over 50 years ago a group of ex-service patients from Edenhall Hospital formed the Scottish Paraplegic Association (later to become Spinal Injuries Scotland) to enable Scotland to accept an invitation from Dr George Bedbrook from Australia to compete in the First Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth, Western Australia in 1962. The first meeting was held at Edenhall Hospital and the first Chairman was tetraplegic Douglas Jordan. The first Hon Sec was Tommy Wann ex Scots Guards who had served in North Africa. Members met every Wednesday, as they also did at the Miners Rehabilitation 3 Centre, Uddingston near Glasgow. From these two groups the Scottish team was formed. In 1961 the First Scottish Paraplegic Games were organised in Edinburgh. The SPA Sports Committee continued to organise annual Games until 1981 when it was decided to join forces with the Scottish Sports Association for the Disabled (SSAD). From 1963 the recognised spinal unit in Scotland was based at Edenhall Hospital, Musselburgh, on the East coast and the majority of patients were ex- servicemen. There was also provision for patients at Killearn Hospital outside Glasgow in the West. Initially acute admissions were hospitalised in Ward 20, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary under the Consultant of Neurosurgery, Professor Norman Dott. They were then transferred to Edenhall Hospital where Mr Walter Kerr, FRCS was in charge of the rehabilitation programme. By 1964 Branches of the SPA in the East, based at Edenhall Hospital, and the West, based at the Miners Rehabilitation Centre in Uddingston, had been formed. 1962 – 1975 The Early Years Following her attendance at the National Stoke Mandeville Games in the summer of 1962, SDS Vice President Jean Stone wrote to the Secretary of State to ask for “recognition of the Welfare and Sporting Activities of the disabled” in Scotland. Jean was writing in her capacity as Secretary of the Scottish Paraplegic Association (SPA) and with support from the founding father of disability sport, Sir Ludwig Guttmann. Jean managed to arrange a meeting with representatives from the Scottish Education Department and Scottish Home and Health Department in the autumn of 1962 as a first stage to establishing a sports organisation in Scotland that was representative of all impairment groups. The favoured approach at the time was to establish a Scottish Branch of the British Sports Association for the Disabled (BSAD) and this was the outcome of the inaugural meeting attended by 18 representatives from 15 organisations concerned with the welfare of disabled people, at the Simon Square Centre in Edinburgh on Monday 24th June 1963. Robin Brown from the Thistle Foundation took on secretarial duties and with encouragement from Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the current SDS Hon President, Consultant Neurosurgeon Phillip Harris was appointed as first Chairman. The 4 objects of the Association included “the encouragement of sporting activities among the disabled and the provision of suitable facilities so that every disabled person shall be able to take part in sporting activities within a reasonable distance of his own home.” The BSAD Scottish Branch started out with Regional Committees in Glasgow and Edinburgh but by 1964 there were links with Fife, Dundee and Aberdeen. The BSAD Scottish Branch listed its priority sports as basketball, archery, dartchery, table tennis, billiards, javelin, club, discus, shot, weightlifting, swimming, bowls, football and wheelchair slalom. The First Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held in Perth, Western Australia in 1962 and the Second Commonwealth Paraplegic Games, in Kingston, Jamaica in 1966. On examining the records of the time it is impossible not to be impressed by the massive effort that went in to fundraising for training and travel and the number of volunteers that were required to support Scottish teams travelling overseas. In 1963 the National Stoke Mandeville Games were held at Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh and also in the 60's a Scotland v England wheelchair basketball competition was staged in front of the bandstand in Princes Street Gardens during the Edinburgh International Festival, attracting spectators from home and overseas. Strong successful Scottish teams competed annually in the National Stoke Mandeville Games and Scotland was always represented in significant numbers in the GB Team for the International Stoke Mandeville Games. By 1966 the Scottish Paraplegic Association was sending 20 members to the Stoke Mandeville Games by air with appropriate numbers of support staff. At the AGM of the Scottish Sports Association for the Disabled (SSAD) in 1965 it was reported that Tony Chapman, senior coach from Scottish Athletics with links to the Scottish Council of Physical Recreation, intended to organise a weekend at Inverclyde where “coaches for the able – bodied would be given some information and instruction regarding coaching the disabled”. At the same meeting, Dr Browning, the Vice Chairman, informed members that the Scottish School of Physical Education (SSPE) at Jordanhill College was planning to host the first ever national sports day for disabled people. I was privileged to enrol as an undergraduate at the SSPE in the same month as that event, but sadly just missed out from being involved. Progressive thinking and most 5 importantly key actions by those influencing the development of disability sport during those early years. In the archives of the Association the post event report reads as follows: “The first BSAD Scottish Sports Day was held at Jordanhill College of Education on 4th September 1965. Entries had been received from seventy-seven competitors from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Auckinleck, Largs, Fife and Lanarkshire.