Warriors are ready to put their best foot forward at footgolf event
Iconic Ultimate Warriors are ready to shoot their way around their first ever footgolf competition.
The Paisley charity, that aims to help kids and young adults with autism get and stay active, are hosting an East vs West tournament at Cumbernauld Footgolf Course this Saturday.
That will see 50 players, including members from the Warriors group, take to the course to try and kick their way around the course in as few hits as possible.
Chairperson Alison Thomson hopes the event will help provide another mental and physical health boost to their group after a long and difficult lockdown period.
She told Express Sport: “Lockdown has hit us hard, but particularly the kids that we work with.
“They’ve been missing out classes massively so we’ve been doing as much online as we can.
“Thankfully when the restrictions eased a bit we were able to get them out on some outdoor trips, things like strawberry picking and visits to country estates.
“One of our boys kept talking about footgolf, so I contacted the Scottish Footgolf Association to see if they’d like to do something with us and they got back within half an hour to say they’d be delighted to get involved.
“We took a group to Strathaven to play it but this is a much bigger event that will see players coming over from the east coast as well to get involved.
“The kids all really liked it when we first played it, both the boys and the girls so we’re hoping it’ll be another great experience for everyone.”
Iconic Ultimate Warriors was founded by James Miller, a personal trainer who was inspired by his son Martin.
Having become an official charity six months ago, the group were hoping to have a launch night in Paisley in March but that was eventually sunk by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chairperson Thomson hopes that this weekend’s inaugural competition will become an annual fixture in the sporting calender as the charity looks to go from strength to strength.
She added: “The group was set up to show that sport is inclusive to all.
“We’re only six months an official charity so to set up a Scotland-wide competition is a big deal for us.
“Scottish Footgolf told us they haven’t had an event sell out so quickly before and they’ve also said that they hope to add this to their annual schedule of events.
“Our hope is that next year we could do heats throughout Scotland and then have a best of Scotland event at the end.
“The main thing for us is that we keep promoting the idea that sport is for everyone.”