GB Team ready for success at the World Athletics Championships

The UK Sports Association (UKSA) is pleased to announce the selection of fourteen athletes to compete at the 2013 INAS World Athletics Championships in Prague 9th to 16th June.

Representing Great Britain will be Paralympian Stephen Morris (Cardiff), among other talented athletes including Kimberly Aspland (Beccles, Suffolk), Martina Barber (Stevenage, Hertfordshire), Holly Durbidge (Lowestoft, Suffolk), Robert Ferrol (Carmyle, Glasgow), Marcel Hodge (Syston, Leicestershire), Declan Manning (Bungay, Suffolk), Owen Miller (Dunfermline, Fife), Stephanie Moore (Blaydon on Tyne, Newcastle), Daniel Pass (Birkenhead, Wirral), Claire Ryan (Bradford, W Yorks), Aidan Turnbull (Washington, Tyne & Wear), and Paige Watkin-Drury (Doncaster, S Yorks) and Andrew Kaar* (Solihull, W Mids)

The INAS World Athletics Championships serve as a building block for aspiring Paralympians as they contemplate the Rio 2016 programme. For some these Championships are critical in their quest for selection to the British Athletics Team at the 2013 IPC World Athletics Championships in Lyon in July and for others as they begin their journey to the 2015 INAS Global Games.

Stephen Morris says “I am hoping in the future that the Paralympics will have more T20 events to show what we can achieve”.

Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive, UK Sports Association states, “This event is something we always look forward to. There are many events for our athletes to display their elite performances. Coming off of the success of London 2012, we hope to see even more of our competitors up on the podium. This Team has a lot of talent and I wish them the best of luck.”

This is the first major Championships that athletes with learning disability have targeted since the London 2012 Paralympic Games. London 2012 was the first Paralympic Games since the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 in which athletes with learning disability were permitted to compete.

UKSA manages the eligibility and classification process for UK athletes with learning disability. The Great Britain Team is managed by UKSA in collaboration with its four Home Country members, Scottish Disability Sport, Disability Sports Northern Ireland, Welsh Sports Association for People with Learning Disability and Mencap Sport in England.

Support Shirish in the Brighton Marathon!

Shirish Gandhi is a man on a mission. As the Publishing Manager at Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), he has dedicated his time to running the Brighton Marathon. His goal is to raise at least £500 pounds to support us here at UK Sports Association and our work with athletes with learning disability.

Although he has run marathons in the past, Shirish says that training for them never gets easier. A few years back, Shirish got involved with UKSA after athletes with learning disability were once again allowed to compete in the Paralympics. Ever since, he has been dedicated to helping raise awareness surrounding athletes with learning disability.

Shirish says “I think raising money for UKSA is a great thing. They’re a small organisation doing a really big job – developing athletes to become successful in a very competitive field. But more importantly than that, they are saying people with learning disability can compete in sport and succeed! You can read Shirish's blog here.

Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive UKSA says “without the support of people like Shirish and our relationship with staff at SCIE, our work simply couldn’t continue. I am always interested in hearing from people who want to get involved. Our small team are always on hand to give lots of support and encouragement and we all wish Shirish every success when he runs on the 14th”.

Help Shirish reach his goal of raising £500 for the Brighton Marathon. The Marathon will be held on 14 April 2013 – there isn’t much time left so donate here!

London 2012 memories: personal reflections on last year’s
groundbreaking Paralympic Games

Six months on from the London 2012 Paralympics, we thought we’d take one last nostalgic trip back to summer 2012 before heading into the upcoming season.

Pragna’s 2012 memories: working with Paralympic athletes

Pragna with Team Nepal

“I had withdrawal symptoms for months afterwards” Pragna recalls as she talks about her time as Team Assistant to the South African Paralympic Team as well as Team Assistant to the Nepalese Olympic Team.

After completing an application form, Pragna was one of around 70,000 Games Makers to be taken through the two-year training process before London 2012 began.

Once a fully trained volunteer, Pragna could then think about one of her first tasks ahead – to drive to Heathrow airport and collect an athlete who later became one of the stars of the Games!

“At first you run around wondering whether some of the athletes need help with day-to-day tasks, such as getting out of the car, but you soon realise that they are very resourceful and capable people.”

Pragna went on to describe how she saw athletes with disabilities find ways to stay independent, not only as individuals, but also as a group: “I remember standing still as two rows of people ‘marched’ together, single-file, from the dining hall. As they came closer I saw each person had their right hand on the shoulder of the person in front; I realised they were blind competitors guiding one another, all working as one team.”

It was this spirit that Pragna believes created the same united ‘buzz’ around the Olympic Village, which she describes as a colourful and exciting community area, where people would openly and positively discuss their disabilities and experiences.

The proud Games Maker also described how each of the athletes demonstrated such a gracious and thankful attitude for their time on the world’s biggest Paralympic stage, as well as the recognition they received during such a highly organised and successful Paralympic Games.

London 2012 has set a high standard for all future Paralympic events and organisations like UK Sports Association (UKSA) are hoping even more aspiring athletes with learning disability will now come forward and make selection becoming part of the team on the road to Rio 2016.

Declan’s 2012 memories: lighting the pathway for athletes with disabilities as a 2012 torch bearer

Declan’s journey to becoming a torch bearer began in August 2011 - a year before the Games began - when he received a phone call asking him to attend a Paralympic launch event in central London.

“At the launch day BBC Breakfast were interviewing Ellie Simmonds live on TV in front of me” Declan explains as he talks about arriving at the busy media event with journalists and camera crews in London’s Trafalgar Square.

In order to be selected, Declan had to be interviewed about how his training fit in with his lifestyle as an athlete with a learning disability. His story would then be put forward to a Lloyds TSB selection panel who were looking for inspirational athletes.

After being interviewed, Declan had the privilege of meeting Paralympic heroes Ellie Simmonds, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan and be part of a group photo shoot. “I left for home that day feeling 10 feet tall” Declan remembers.

In June 2012, the same month that he threw two new P.B.s in Discuss and Shot at the INAS European Championships in Sweden, Declan was speechless when he finally received the exciting news that he had been selected as a torch bearer.

In the lead up to the torch relay, Declan enjoyed some publicity in a local newspaper, journal and radio station and even received a donation from a local organisation so that he could buy the torch that he ran with.

After months of preparation, the day arrived...

On August 29th 2012, feeling nervous and excited, Declan and his family woke up in a central London hotel and set off for City Hall, where he would meet the other athletes who were part of his group and would each take their turn in carrying a torch.

“We were taken for a photo shoot as we waited for the torch and I was really nervous, but couldn’t wait to get going. The Team Leader took us out (onto our group starting point) and I could hear the music from the support buses along the road and see the blue flashing light from the police convoy.

“The roar from the crowds was deafening and looking up to the road to Tower Bridge I could see the flame coming down towards us. We all gathered in a group round the torch bearer with the flame to take the ‘kiss’ (the transfer of the flame from one group to another)and then our group had the flame!

“As we walked along with the first torch bearer I couldn’t take in the amount of people cheering and shouting. I could see my dad in the middle of the road filming me and my brother pushing my mum in her wheelchair, keeping up with the relay team.

“In the blink of an eye we were handing over the flame and the Team Leader shut off the fuel in my torch. My group all gathered on the support bus for another 20 minutes until we were taken back to City Hall.”

But the experience wasn’t over yet...

“As we walked back to the car an American tourist asked if he could see the torch – I got it out of the bag and was immediately swamped with tourists. In the end it took nearly an hour to get back to the nearby car park as I had so many photos taken with people with the torch.

“I got back to the car and felt totally exhausted, but the adrenaline was flowing because I was on such a high!”

Declan Manning has represented Great Britain at INAS events on the UK Sports Association Team in Shot and Discus. Pragna Shah has been a volunteer with the UK Sports Association for over three years, co-ordinating the day to day admin of its busy office in London as well as supporting its Chief Executive on a one to one basis.