New funding for budding Scottish Paralympians
The Scottish Disability Sport has announced para-sportspeople that will be included in their annual Athlete Academy.
The selected athletes were selected on sporting ability and potential to excel towards national and international leagues.
23 disabled sportspeople from a variety of sports will receive funding grants to help with training costs as well as professional coaching.
Adam Donachie (22) from Hamilton is a seated javelin thrower and athletics star who is delighted to have been included in SDS’s Academy.
He said: “A big thing for me that being in the academy will help with is psychological help.
“Being an athlete can be a very lonely place, I’m pretty much always training and always in that competitive mindset.
“Sports psychology definitely helps so I’m happy the academy will help me out with that.”
Mr Donachie was born with a rare condition that caused his legs to stop growing from the knees down.
However, he doesn’t let that hold him back from participating in sport.
He has already had success in football and swimming before taking up seated javelin throw only two years ago.
He said: “Representing Scotland or the UK internationally has been my dream since I was about four years old and I watched the Athens Paralympics.
“It would be amazing if I could get to that level at some point but it’s still early days.”
SDS’s academy has selected athletes from across Scotland with six coming from the Glasgow area.
Jennifer Barsby, SDS manager added that the programme has previously supported para-athletes onto an international stage and hopes this success will be replicated for this year’s participants.
Speaking to the Glasgow Standard, she said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve received support from SportsAid Scotland to go ahead with the academy.
“It is great to be able to support para-athletes at an important stage in their sporting journey with funding and a programme of education that will provide the tools to aid their progression through the pathway.”
