A COACH from Dalgety Bay has been feted for her work in para sport at a prestigious national awards ceremony.

Claire Morrison, who has worked with athletes in the sport of boccia for 20 years, was named as Strathclyde University Coach of the Year at the annual Scottish Women in Sport Awards.

Held for the 11th time, at Glasgow's Radisson Blu Hotel, on Friday, the event recognised and celebrated the success of female competitors, as well as coaches, volunteers, clubs in the community, pioneers and many other roles, from recreational to elite sport.

Claire, who has worked with Fife international boccia players, Kieran Steer and Tyler McLelland, was in the running for the accolade alongside Claire Cruikshank (rugby) and Holly Reid (rowing).

She currently coaches five World Class Performance athletes, including Paralympic gold medallist, Stephen McGuire, and Kayleigh Haggo, who competed at her first Games in Paris this year despite first playing the sport two years ago, which helped her scoop the prize.

Boccia is a Paralympic sport designed for athletes with high support needs and has no Olympic equivalent. It is a target sport played indoors with soft leather balls. It is a sport of intriguing tactics, incredible skill and nail-biting tension.

On their Facebook page, Disability Sport Fife said that Claire's award was "well deserved", commenting: "Such a well deserved honour for Claire Morrison from Dalgety Bay following two decades of commitment to boccia at local, national and international level.

"Fife's international boccia players Kieran Steer and Tyler McLelland have benefitted enormously from her expertise and wise words."

Boccia UK also posted that it was "lovely to see our Claire being recognised" by Scottish Women in Sport, a charity that was was launched in 2013 with a view to raising awareness and increasing the profile of all opportunities for women and girls to participate in any area in sport and at any level.