Aug 12 2008
Cerebral Palsy football squad and Scottish Disability Sport celebrate sportscotland funding
Members of Scotland’s national Cerebral Palsy (CP) football squad, soon to head to the European Championships in Ireland, were at Hampden today to celebrate sportscotland funding of £215,000 to Scottish Disability Sport (SDS).
Joining the players to wish them well were Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair, sportscotland and Gavin MacLeod, CEO, Scottish Disability Sport. The CP Scotland team will compete in the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA) European Championships in Dublin from 19-29 July. The squad’s debut at this championship has seen them drawn in a group against top seeds Ukraine, hosts Ireland and Spain.
The international team, which plays a modified 7-a-side game, was formed earlier this year in a partnership between SDS and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and played their first home match in March against Northern Ireland, at sportscotland’s National Centre Inverclyde in Largs.
Glasgow’s Stuart Sharp, coach of the CP team, was appointed last year by the SFA as National Development Officer for Disability Football, a post established in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, McDonalds and SPORTSMATCH to develop and co-ordinate opportunities for those with a disability to access football through initiatives delivered at a national, regional and local level.
Stuart Sharp said: “Thanks to the seed funding received from key agencies, the SFA has managed to create the new post of National Development Officer for Disability Football. A major focus for this post is to ensure that there is a development pathway in place to allow those with disabilities the opportunity to play football from grassroots to international level.”
The SDS award, of which £145,000 is from the sportscotland Lottery Fund, will go towards coaching (£30,000), volunteering (£10,000), player improvement (£10,000), organisational development of the governing body (£45,000), and medal success (£120,000).
Scottish Disability Sport’s achievements over the past four years, led by their plan ‘Changing with the Times 2’, have been prolific. Achievements include continued success at Paralympic, world and international level (most recently with Frank Duffy’s wheelchair curling rink’s silver medal win at the Winter Paralympics in Torino);
grassroots growth in local and sport specific development programmes; financial stability with new partnerships and enhanced staffing, including the appointment of a finance manager and performance development officer; and performance development plans being introduced and implemented in SDS’s six strand-1 sports: athletics, swimming, boccia, bowling, curling and football, which the CP squad is benefiting from.
Looking ahead, a strategic plan for 2006-12 has been produced. The plan, ‘Towards London and Beyond’, will lead the development of SDS up to the 2012 Paralympic Games. SDS has recognised the significance of the London Games for disability sport in Great Britain and the formulation of this six-year plan will also bring the development planning cycle in line with the Paralympic movement. The plan will focus the majority of its work on local branches through to national level and ensuring a sustainable structure is established that will provide a legacy for the future of disability sport throughout Scotland.
Gavin MacLeod, CEO, Scottish Disability Sport, said: “sportscotland’s investment in Scottish Disability Sport has made a significant difference to our ability to provide a quality sporting pathway for athletes with a disability in Scotland. Our new strategic plan will direct our work up to London 2012 and we now have funding to back up this plan.”
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair, sportscotland, said: “It is vital that we recognise and encourage athletes of all abilities in Scotland. As such, I am delighted to announce an investment of £215,000 to Scottish Disability Sport. This money will help the organisation to achieve its aims, allow elite athletes with a disability the opportunity to compete and achieve medal success, and help to raise the profile of disability sport in Scotland.
“I would also like to wish the Cerebral Palsy squad the best as they get set to compete for Scotland at the European Championships.”
- A key factor in optimising the development of players is the establishment of the National Centre for Disability Football. The centre, based at The University of Stirling, will allow selected disability footballers to access physiotherapy, sports science support and specialised coaching.
- In CP football, a classification system exists for players that recognises the variation in functional ability of players with cerebral palsy. This football format is the only one recognised by the International Paralympic Committee and allows players to compete at International Level in CP-ISRA World Championships and European Championships.
- The SFA will be looking to form other disability national teams in addition to the Cerebral Palsy squad in the future. Other areas of development involve the setting up of a groundbreaking league involving deaf players and teams with learning disabilities.
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