Commonwealth gold medallists to compete at Aberdeen
Monday 26 August 2002
Two of Scotland's Commonwealth Games heroes will be competing in the countries premier event for lawn bowlers with a disability in Aberdeen this weekend.
Gold medallists David Heddle and Ivan Prior will join around 130 other bowlers with a disability for the Royal Mail Ready Willing and Able sponsored National Championships for bowlers with a disability, organised by Scottish Disability Sport.
The championships will be held at Westburn Park, Aberdeen on Saturday 31 August 2002 with the first matches getting underway at 10.30am.
The event will attract bowlers from 12 of Scottish Disability Sport's local branches, with representation on the day from Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, Fife, Forth Valley, Glasgow, Highland, Lothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Dumfries & Galloway. There is also a young bowler from Morayshire taking part for the first time.
The championships will be run on a knockout basis with separate competitions for male and female players. Bowlers will also play in separate sections relating to their individual disability. These sections will include wheelchair bowlers, blind bowlers, bowlers with a physical disability and those with a learning disability.
This will be the fifth consecutive year that the championships have been supported by Royal Mail through the highly successful Royal Mail Ready Willing and Able for Sport Programme, a partnership initiative between Royal Mail, Scottish Disability Sport and sportscotland which has been running for eight years. Over the next 12 months over £36,000 through the programme to accelerate the development of sports opportunities for people with disabilities in Scotland.
Alex Gibb, Royal Mail's Service Delivery Director, said: "We are absolutely delighted to support the Scottish Disability Sport Lawn Bowls Championships once again and we are sure that the standard of play will be every bit as high as in previous years. The Royal Mail Ready Willing & Able for Sport Programme has been a key development programme for disability sport in Scotland and Royal Mail are proud to be working in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport and sportscotland.
"As a business, we are committed to equal opportunities for all our employees and we work hard to ensure that all our customers, including those with a disability, get the same high standard of service."
David Heddle (Fraserburgh) and Ivan Prior (Glasgow) were part of the gold medal winning team at the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester, along with their teammate John Robertson (Tranent). The team won gold in the men's triples competition for elite athletes with a physical disability, beating Wales in a thrilling final match. David and Ivan are both reigning Scottish Champions in their respective sections and both will be going all out at Westburn Park to retain their titles.
Chairman of Scottish Disability Sport, Richard Brickley, commented: "Lawn bowls is one of the largest participation sports in Scotland and to see the Scottish team return from Manchester with gold medals was fantastic. It has taken us many years of steady development to get the sport to today's standard and these medals are just reward for all the hard work. The Commonwealth Games are the pinnacle for bowlers with a disability and the team must be congratulated on their success and there is no doubt that this will give a huge boost to the sport in Scotland."
sportscotland's Youth Development Manager - Disability Sport, Gavin Macleod said: "The Royal Mail Ready Willing and Able programme is a key initiative making a real impact on the sporting lives of people with a disability in Scotland. The funding allows us to create opportunities at a local level and to develop talent up to the highest level. The Lawn Bowls Championships is one of the highlights of our events calendar and after our Commonwealth success, I am sure that we see an even higher standard of competition at Westburn Park this year."
Background Information on Ready Willing & Able for Sport
The Royal Mail Ready Willing & Able for Sport programme has been running since 1994, targeted at the development of grassroots level participants and providing sporting opportunities for people with disabilities throughout Scotland. It is a partnership initiative between sportscotland, Scottish Disability Sport and Royal Mail.
In its eight years of existence, it has seen around £300,000 invested in sport for people with a disability in Scotland.
The 2002/2003 programme will see investment in the following areas:
- Local development programmes in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dumfries & Galloway, Forth Valley, Highland, Lothian, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and the Western Isles.
- Support for specific sports including; basketball, curling, mountain recreation and wheelchair rugby.
- A programme of events including the national championships for athletics, archery, lawn bowls and football.
- The co-ordination of a national conference on disability sport.