British boccia legends David Smith OBE and Stephen McGuire MBE lead a nine-strong team to the European Championships in Zagreb which starts 10 July.

It is twenty years since the duo first made their international debuts at the 2005 edition of the European Championships, held in Povoa.

david smith en route to winning gold at the 2021 european championships

In fact, Smith has secured a medal at every Europeans since that debut while McGuire has appeared on every Europeans podium since 2009. In Zagreb, the aim will be to bag a qualifying spot for the 2026 World Championships in the Team and Pairs events by finishing in the top three.

McGuire will be joined by teenage sensation Sophie Newnham in the BC4 Pairs. Still just 17 years old, he is full of praise for the up and coming star from Surbiton:

Stephen mcguire won bronze at the 2023 para european championships and a silver in the pairs with fiona muirhead

“Sophie’s awesome – she is an extremely accurate and precise player. She has the ability to secure angles like no one else I’ve ever seen before in the British squad. She is a very intelligent player; tactically very astute. Her delivery in wonderful to watch and she’s still just 17 years old.”

Great Britain failed to qualify in the BC4 Pairs for the Paris Paralympics so McGuire says they’re playing catch up in this cycle:

sophie newnham to compete at her first europeans

“The new Games cycle gives us the opportunity to build towards the World Championships and then hopefully the LA Paralympics in 2028.”

Meanwhile, David Smith will have his eye on reclaiming his European crown. In 2023, the Europeans – for the first time – became part of a multi-sport event which switched up traditional boccia competition formats in favour of staging medal matches on outdoor, audience-friendly courts.

It was here that Daniel Perez – who recently announced his retirement – delighted his home crowds in Rotterdam by finally ending Smith’s dominance at the Europeans. After three consecutive gold medals, Britain’s best boccia player was finally denied the top spot and forced to settle for silver:

“I’m there to win obviously. And I’m going in as top seed but I’ve been making some pretty major changes to my game since Paris, and been mixing things up a bit. I have a new set of balls, a new boccia chair and I’m slightly adjusting my playing style. It all feels good at the moment but I haven’t yet tested these things out in competition so Zagreb will be interesting.”

He will of course switch to the Team event after the individuals and he will join forces with Kayleigh Brown and Reshad Saraj.

Brown, meanwhile, announced in April that she is expecting a baby. After the Europeans, she is set to take a break from the boccia court to focus on family.

robyn mcbride set to compete at her second europeans

The Great Britain squad also features BC3 players Robyn McBride and Sally Kidson. Unfortunately, the squad will not be fielding a BC3 Pair in Zagreb as it has been mutually agreed by Boccia UK and Patrick Wilson that it is not in his best health interests to fly overseas currently. But Boccia UK is working closely with the Edinburgh player and looks forward to seeing him back on court soon.

And in the BC4s, Louis Saunders and Fiona Muirhead will also be aiming to impress.

The team will be:

David Smith BC1

Kayleigh Haggo BC2

Reshad Saraj BC2

Sally Kidson BC3

Robyn McBride BC3

Stephen McGuire BC4

Sophie Newnham BC4

Fiona Muirhead BC4

Louis Saunders BC4

BC1/2 Team - David Smith, Reshad Saraj, Kayleigh Brown