With the ongoing restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, this has led to much sporting activity grinding to a halt from grassroots to the elite level. Whilst these measures are undoubtedly necessary, there has been an inevitable impact on all facets of the sporting landscape.
To gain an understanding of this impact on performance sport, we spoke with Boccia athlete Jamie McCowan about the effects of the pandemic on his journey, and how he has adapted where he can to continue playing the sport he loves, including time spent competing against his brother, also a performance Boccia athlete, in a local church hall.
Background on Jamie
Jamie is 26 years old and has been playing Boccia since he was 11, but it was a chance meeting with Claire Morrison, a current SDS Board Member, that set him on his path to success. Spotting his potential at the Ayrshire Special Games, Claire spoke with Jamie but it took a while for him to act upon this unaware of his talent and the opportunities that Boccia could afford him – “the idea of playing high performance sport is something I never thought about”, he said.
Upon a second meeting with Claire he was convinced that a career in Boccia was possible and was soon making strides in his career. He was soon consumed by it and a trip abroad to Canada where he competed against some of the best athletes in the world was enough to convince him that he could represent his country and the paralympics and win tournaments.
Since then he has competed across the globe in a variety of competitions, winning (Jamie to fill this in)
He is also fortunate to have a brother who is also a Boccia athlete who he trains with and competes against, with his parents acting as ramp assistants. In what he describes almost as a “family business”, Boccia has become the “biggest part of my life”, he said.
What was his initial reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Much like most people, Jamie’s initial reaction to the spread of the virus was uncertainty, recalling a journey on the way home from a training camp in Loughborough where he realised there were likely to be effects on Boccia after an event he was due to attend was cancelled that evening.
Mentioning that he was initially worried as to the danger the virus posed, particularly as someone who was in a vulnerable category and his priority was staying safe. He soon knew that Boccia was likely to be seriously affected and that the camp would be his last for a while, with tournaments in Canada and Croatia cancelled it soon became clear that the Paralympic Games in Tokyo would be under serious threat, with it being suspended for a year soon after.
How did he adapt to train during lockdown?
Despite the unfortunate curtailment of competition, Jamie recognises his fortune in that his family is so embedded in the sport of Boccia. Under the lockdown rules, his living room took centre stage as a space to compete against his brother albeit at a slightly shorter distance than usual.
Once lockdown restrictions were temporarily relaxed Jamie and his brother would go to the local Church hall where they were able to play on a full size 10m court, leading to highly competitive boccia battles, which Jamie says exceeded 60 matches in total.
In this compact space, there was an element of competitive tension which helped both brothers keep their eye in and maintain sharpness, something he understands others have not been as fortunate to have. Jamie likened this to ‘cage’ football, where players compete in a fast-paced and confined environment which he says saw intensity levels rise to something even a normal boccia competition may not have.
Has the pandemic affected Jamie’s athlete journey?
Jamie acknowledged that everyone was different and those at different stages of their athlete journey would have been affected in different ways, however for himself he said he treated it like a pause. When lockdown came into force in March 2020, Jamie felt prepared tactically and technically for his next competition in Canada as well as the year ahead which included the Paralympic Games in Tokyo saying, “I love competing so when you take away the competitions it is a blow”. He however remained upbeat and the period of lockdown presented an opportunity to fine tune a few elements including the psychological aspect of the game.
Importantly he knew the priority was maintaining his physical condition and whilst he felt in a good place for 2020, it was about staying that way until he was able to compete again. Being able to compete against his brother certainly allowed himself to keep sharp with a realistic setting to work on his craft.
Jamie also recognised that Boccia is a team sport played in pairs, and that it was crucial for the squad to feel confident and ready to reach the right level when competition begins again. With regular zoom meetings to keep everyone connected they spent a lot of time reflecting on what they do and any further improvements they could make to add to their overall game. With everyone being different and at different stages of their development he was aware that a break would be beneficial for some and detrimental to others but as a group they have remained positive in their outlook with the mindset of using the extra time available to prepare for the games in an even more thorough manner.
What does he think the long term effects of the pandemic will be on boccia?
Answering this question Jamie preferred to remain positive as to how boccia, and wider sport, can be a positive driver in the post-pandemic recovery. He mentioned how it had put things into perspective and how previously taking part in sport was something that was taken for granted. With the pause in sport, he believes people, not least himself, will appreciate it more in future.
In a final positive message, Jamie believes that once sport begins to return we will see an excitement that we’ve likely never seen before, and the power of sport will help us recover a sense of normality once again. Sport, he said, is a place where people come together, uniting those from all backgrounds and it will help us recover from this extremely challenging time.