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The Scottish Institute of Sport, in partnership with British Curling and the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC), announced today (16 August) the appointment of Tom Pendreigh as Scottish wheelchair head curling coach and GB paralympic coach. The position was created as a fundamental part of the Integrated Performance Plan for wheelchair curling in Scotland and Great Britain and is a first for international curling.
The main purpose of the post will be to direct and lead the delivery of the world class plans for wheelchair curling as agreed by the Scottish Institute of Sport, British Curling Limited, the RCCC and UKSport.
Pendreigh, who was born in Hawick and now lives in Inverness, is well known for his work with the Paralympic squad. He has an impressive track record, coaching the squad which won a silver medal at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Turin and also through his coaching role with Team Murdoch, which captured gold at the world championships in the same year.
Performance director of the British Paralympic Association, Penny Briscoe, commented, “The BPA welcomes this announcement more than two and a half years out from the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games and with Paralympic qualifiers ahead in 2008 and 2009; Scotland and GB have a fantastic opportunity to prepare with full support programmes in place. Tom has already proven that he has the credentials to deliver medals at the highest level of competition. This appointment will hopefully allow him to build on previous success and take the sport through to a success campaign in 2010.”
Tom will work closely with Scottish Institute of Sport head curling coach and British Curling performance director, Derek Brown, who is currently working to ensure maximum success for Team GB in the build up to the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver.
Brown commented on the new appointment “This is the first time a full time wheelchair curling coach has been appointed at the international performance level and we are delighted to have Tom on board. He has an excellent coaching record and will bring a great deal of experience to the programme.”
After a highly successful 2006/7 season during which curling was the only winter sport to achieve all UK Sport targets, British Curling is looking forward to the next three years with confidence.
Chairman of British Curling, Chris Hildrey, added “British Curling is excited to have a coach with the world class experience that Tom has, supporting our athletes and wheelchair curling programme. Paralympic medal success in Vancouver 2010 will depend on the highest quality coaching and we have no doubts that Tom provides some of the highest calibre of wheelchair curling coaching available not just in this country, but in the world.”
