The National Scottish Boccia Closed Championships took place at The Peak in Stirling on Saturday 15th of July, with 25 athletes competing for the title of Scottish Champion.
A development squad was also present on the day, with 12 athletes joining to make it the biggest draw to date.
The development draw provided potential classifiable athletes the opportunity to compete and learn more about higher level competition; watching some of Scotland’s finest boccia players in action- proving to be a great experience for the development squad with plenty of learnings to takeaway.
Within the development draw there were two categories: a mixed BC1,2 & 4 category with 5 athletes and a BC3 development draw with 3 athletes and their ramp operators. For some of the athletes, it was their first time competing at a National competition, whilst for others, it was their first ever boccia competition.
“It has been a fantastic event with many close games,” said Jonathan Kennedy, SDS’s Boccia Development Officer.
“What is really great to see is the amount of players in the development draw coming to this event. I spoke to one who said that this is their first ever event and quite a few of the other players have spoken to the Scottish squad athletes.
“It’s great to see the Scottish squad players taking the time to talk and share their knowledge with the development players all in the same place,” said Jonathan.
There were some fantastic games played throughout the entire day. Podium placers per each category are listed here:
BC2:
Gold – Alex Medley
Silver – Kayleigh Haggo
Bronze – Lewis McConnell
BC3:
Gold – Patric Wilson & Meredith Greenwood
Silver – Ross MacNeil & Stewart MacNeil
BC4:
Gold – Stephen McGuire
Silver – Tyler McLelland
Bronze – Fiona Muirhead
Development Draw:
Gold – James O’Brien
Silver – Murrin Widley
Bronze – Layla McCloskey
BC3 Development Draw:
Gold – Zac Cameron & Kevin Davidson
Silver – Ellie MacLaren & Lisa MacLaren
Bronze – Caoimhe Potter & Katie MacMillan
Many thanks to all the officials who helped the event run smoothly and for providing support to the development athletes; ensuring that they understood the rules and call room procedures. Thank you also to Barclays volunteers who helped support the officials. A final thank you goes to Motability and their sponsorship of this event.