Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fears for Aberdeen wheelchair basketball club after decision to close Beach Leisure Centre

Grampian Flyers Wheelchair Basketball Team members Richard Craig and Tony Stott. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson.
Grampian Flyers Wheelchair Basketball Team members Richard Craig and Tony Stott. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson.

A sports club for wheelchair users in Aberdeen is fearing for its future after the decision to close the Beach Leisure Centre.

Grampian Flyers Wheelchair Basketball, which was founded in 2013, has 30 members and runs both a senior and junior team.

The club trains on a Monday night at the Beach Leisure Centre. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson.

After Sport Aberdeen’s funding was slashed during Aberdeen City Council’s budget on March 1, it was announced that the Beach Leisure Centre would close.

Richard Craig – a member of the club since it began – said that he and his teammates found out about the closure on Facebook and in the news and has been told that the club has only five weeks to find a new home.

He said: “We’ve been running around different sports centres and academies, and different facilities like that trying to find somewhere, but obviously they’re chock-a-block with their own clubs.”

‘We’re not just like a football team or a badminton team’

Both of the Grampian Flyers teams, including the juniors which is for those aged between eight and 15, train on a Monday night at different times, with the club using the facilities between 5.30pm and 9.30pm.

Mr Craig said trying to find a venue with one whole night free with only five weeks to move, describes it as a “dilemma”.

He said: “We’re not just like a football team or a badminton team where you’ve got a shuttlecock, you’ve got nets and your racket.

“We’ve got 30 basketball wheelchairs, we’ve got a container to hold them, we’ve got a cupboard that holds the junior chairs and we need a bit more than just what a football team or a badminton team might need.”

PEuan Thoir and Austin McKenzie. from the Granite City Flyers wheelchair basketball team during a practise session at Aberdeen Beach Leisure Centre. Image: Darrell Benns/ DC Thomson.

As well as having room to hold equipment and basketball wheelchairs, which members cannot take home because of their size and due to some not being able to drive, Grampian Flyers’ new facilities must also have parking spaces.

Mr Craig, who broke his back and was paralysed from the mid-chest down in a motocross accident, joined the club for a taster session and found a sport that he could play in a wheelchair and at a competitive level.

‘Suddenly it kind of feels normal to be in a wheelchair’

He thinks the club is especially important for the confidence of younger people, saying: “When they come to the basketball club there’s a whole team of people in the same situation as themselves and suddenly it kind of feels normal to be in a wheelchair.

“I think a lot of the kids that have come to the club, they’ve been the only person at the school in a wheelchair, so they’re very much singular, but when they come here they can all have a laugh and they’re playing with a teammate on the same level as themselves.”

The Beach Leisure Centre in Aberdeen will close. Image: Kenny Elrick / DC Thomson.

Responding, a spokeswoman for Sport Aberdeen said: “We are actively working with all of the organisations who have been impacted by the news that we will cease to operate the Beach Leisure Centre from April 16.

“This is a complex process as we do our best to meet the needs of each organisation as best we can.

“We hope to be in a position to update the clubs and organisations of possible alternative arrangements in the next few days.”

Conversation