AN ALLOA youngster and his team were runners up in a national cup for powerchair football two weeks ago.

Local schoolboy Jack Twist, 16, came second with his team Clyde Alba in the Scottish Powerchair Football Association (SPFA) Scottish Cup on Sunday, May 28, at The Peak in Stirling.

The sixth year Alloa Academy pupil was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative life-limiting condition that affects all the muscles in the body and has no known cure at the moment, at the age of four.

While the condition means he fatigues easily, he works hard during training and matches and loves the sport because he can get fully involved in a competitive environment.

Jack said: “I like taking part as a member of a team. I can only really move my hands now, but that doesn't stop me.

“As long as I can drive my wheelchair I can play. I like to learn the rules and tactics and help my team players.”

Clyde Alba is only a team of seven with rules for the game allowing four players on the pitch at a time. There are no set positions and members rotate between the goal and the field so everyone can develop all their skills.

Jack, who proudly wears the number six strip, added: "Clyde Alba have performed well over the last four years.

“We have had good coaches and we have a good mixture of players - some defensive, some attacking - and we are all supportive of each other both on and off the pitch."

The sport, which allows people affected by a physical disability to play the “beautiful game”, is still relatively new in Scotland, but next season will see the SPFA league sponsored by charity Muscular Dystrophy UK as well as the formation of a Scottish national squad.

Earlier in the season, Jack and the team were also runners up in the SPFA League, narrowly missing out on the top spot just one point behind winners Tayside Dynamo.

Mum Julia told the Advertiser: “We are very proud of Jack. His Duchenne is quite advanced and he fatigues easily, but he gives his training and play 100 per cent effort.

“As a family with two able-bodied brothers it is great that he has a chance to get out and have his own interests and set of achievements.”

Charities like MDUK and the Eileen McCallum Trust are extremely important for the family; through research they can apply new therapies, techniques, equipment and medication that can increase life expectancy and quality for people like Jack.

It is understood that just a decade ago someone diagnosed with Jack's condition would have been given 19 as the average life expectancy, this has since increased to the mid 20s with some living into their 30s.

Jack used to attend a range of local clubs with Forth Valley Disability Sport (FVDS) and joined the Cumbernauld-based Clyde Alba squad when it started as an offshoot from Glasgow in 2013.

FVDS and the SPFA are hoping to expand locally and anyone interested in being part of a new club based at The Peak in Stirling are asked to contact graham.harvey@fvds.org.uk by next Monday, June 19.