The Welsh Boccia Championships took place over the weekend (January 27th) at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The event was run in partnership by Disability Sport Wales (FDSW) and Boccia Wales.

15 players attended the competition, and a full days play was battled out in a mix-class style competition. This meant that players from different classes and impairments played each other, pushing the players in their game-play, making them think differently in their strategies.

3 groups of 5 players played each other in a game of 4 ends, and at the end of the afternoon the top player from each group plus the best runner-up progressed to the Semi-Finals. Progressing through were FDSW Academy players, Jacob Thomas from Pembrokeshire, Tomas Martin from Cardiff, Therese Hunt, from Essex (studying in college) and Karl Parrish from Chepstow.

In an electric atmosphere in the hall, the Semi-Finals was a tense affair, with both games going to the last end. Therese was victorious over Karl, and Jacob beat his close rival Tomas. With the order of play over-running by a couple of hours, the spectators stayed behind to cheer the players on. Both the Final and the 3rd/4th place games again was a close affair, but victorious was Therese Hunt (in the BC3 class) beating Jacob Thomas (BC4 class) by 4 points to 2.

The same score was seen in the 3rd/4th place game with Karl Parrish (BC3) coming out on top of Tomas Martin (BC4).

Overall level of competition was high, with some outstanding performances in the Group Stages. To reflect this the Chair of Boccia Wales, Julie Whittingham, presented the Fair Play Award, sponsored by Travel City Direct, to Dylan Evans from Rhyl.(pictured above). This youngster competing in his first major competition, showed a resilience in his play, a determination to improve, and a good natured approach to the sport and his competitors.

The Competition was over-seen by the newly appointed Academy Head Coach, Peter Pearse, ex-paralympian and Chair of the International Boccia Committee and Head GB Referee Richard Evans, who ensured the competition ran smoothly, but also up-skilled our coaches and volunteers in the Sport of Boccia.

For further information on Boccia, please contact Boccia Wales Chairperson, Julie Whittingham on 07958376055, or for Academy information contact Gerwyn Owen, Academy Manager on 07918716344 or email gerwyn.owen@fdsw.org.uk