Dumfries and Galloway will be well represented in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships.
Stranraer’s Hugh Nibloe will represent Scotland in both the team and mixed doubles events at Auchenharvie Leisure Centre in Stevenston.
And Dumfries’ Rosemary Lenton – who won para-lawn bowls gold for Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – is coaching the England team.
The competition will take place at the Ayrshire venue from March 1 to 16.
This will be the second time Nibloe – a two time Paralympian – has competed in the championships on home ice, having won a silver in Stirling six years ago.
He said: “We shouldn’t need any extra motivation, but competing at a Worlds in Scotland will give us all an edge.
“Being selected for team and mixed doubles was something I wasn’t expecting but I am delighted and really looking forward to competing on both fronts, especially getting the honours in front of a home crowd.
“I am the only one from the 2019 team to be selected again so I have a second chance to play in front of home support and friends and family and it is a huge honour.
“But it will be my first time at a World Mixed Doubles which is a challenge I am looking forward to and we want to make the home crowds proud and deliver medals the way we did in 2019.
“Competing at the Worlds in 2019 was amazing, getting silver and the whole atmosphere, having Scottish crowds cheering us on and my parents there watching me made it extra special and close to that Paralympics experience.
“It is the best Worlds I have played in and I expect this will be the same and I know Scottish Curling will be working hard to make it a world class event.”
Scotland will face England in both the mixed team and mixed doubles competitions.
The team trains in Preston during the summer before switching to Dumfries during the season.
Coach Rosemary Lenton from Dumfries said: “It is great to have it in a home venue and not have a huge flight ahead of us.
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“It does make it special because we train primarily in Scotland and we train alongside the Scotland squad – with them in fact. It is very much like being on home territory.
“I would say, whether you have seen curling before or not, definitely come along. If you are in wheelchair or disabled in anyway, come along because you will see a sport which may just appeal to you.
“We have a player who has only been in a chair a very short space of time and he is competing at the world championships – that could be you.”