Challenger UK events vital to healthy and vibrant pathway
/The UK’s boccia pathway athletes have this week been rubbing shoulders with the British Paralympic team including gold medallist David Smith OBE and world no. two Claire Taggart.
Organised by Boccia UK and supported by the Get Kids Going charity, players from across the Home Nations have been competing in the second UK Challenger event. The UK Challengers are designed to help prepare and propel future boccia talent.
Thinking of the people and our Boccia friends in Ukraine.
Performance Director Helen Nicholls explains:
“The UK Challenger events are vital for a healthy and vibrant pathway. It is incredibly important that athletes, early in their careers, can see and be immersed in an environment that shows them where the benchmark is.
“The best way to achieve something is if you can 'see' it - if you can believe someone else can do it, so can you. Lining up on court alongside a World and Paralympic Champion in a sports hall in the UK is a real opportunity to test out where you are at. All the training hours - done in a sports hall, or alone at home - and repeating skills hours after hours all come alive when athletes have the chance to deliver those on court”, she added.”
Competing in three categories – BC1/2, BC3 and BC4 – the world class performance athletes proved their strength and topped the tables. Yet David Smith received a shock upset when he faced Reshad Saraj 6-5.
Coming off court, Saraj said:
“I’ve never played like that before; I felt in my zone. I’m very happy and relieved. After losing the first end 5-0, I thought that there was nothing to lose and I just went for it.”
Reshad Saraj wins coaching award from Claire Morrison (and an Easter Egg!)
Nicholls added:
“Boccia is a tactical and technical sport and anybody can win any game. We saw this with Reshad taking his chances and punishing David Smith for some loose shots. He played brilliantly and held his nerve. The steps to being successful internationally are taken in events like this, where athletes grasp opportunities to get a point off a World Class player. The lessons learnt in winning and in defeat are the steps that will close the gaps and help each and every athlete on their journey.
“Ultimately, whether that journey is to a Championships medal, a national title or simply being a better Boccia player when they leave the event than when they arrived, it's all about progress forwards.”
The winners of each classification were:
· BC1/2 - Claire Taggart (1st), Will Hipwell (2nd) Top pathway: Reshad Saraj
· BC3 – Jamie McCowan (1st), Will Arnott (2nd) Top pathway: Matthew Berry
· BC4 - Louis Saunders, Top Pathway: Fiona Muirhead (2nd)
Special awards were also handed out:
- Coaches’ award by Glynn Tromans – Claire Taggart
· Coaches’ award by Claire Morrison – Reshad Saraj
· Performance Director’s award by Helen Nicholls – Fiona Muirhead
· The Largs Plate for the overall winner – Louis Saunders
The Challenger event has been supported by funding from Get Kids Going, a national charity which gives disabled children and young people, up to the age of 26 years, the opportunity of participating in sport.
