The inaugural Special Olympics Eastern Region Badminton Tournament was held recently in Ipswich and has been hailed as a great success by players and coaches alike. The tournament, which was organised by Special Olympics Suffolk with the support of ActivLives and the Suffolk County Council ‘Most Active County’ initiative, involved 26 players from as far afield as Bournemouth and Sutton Coldfield as well as our own local Suffolk players.

“Special Olympics, which is sport for athletes with an intellectual disability, is relatively new to Suffolk with the local branch having only been established as recently as 2014. Special Olympics Suffolk currently focusses upon badminton, athletics and gymnastics.

“This tournament provided a great opportunity for our badminton players in Suffolk to compete with and against Special Olympians from other clubs across the country, said Mike McCarthy from ActivLives and Special Olympics Suffolk.

“We have had such positive feedback from the players, coaches and volunteers at the event. The volunteers that supported this event have been absolutely brilliant, huge thanks must go to them as events like these simply wouldn’t take place if it wasn’t for the volunteers who organise and deliver them”, added Mike.

The tournament, which was a doubles competition, served as one of the last opportunities for selected players to confirm their qualification for the Special Olympics GB National Summer Games, which are being held in Sheffield this August. “Two of our Suffolk players, Kathy Brill and Cameron Sherman, confirmed their places in the Eastern Region team for Sheffield with their performances at this tournament, which is great news”, said Terry McEntee, Chairman of Special Olympics Suffolk.

This Saturday at Suffolk One from 10am – 4pm Special Olympics Suffolk are holding a Badminton tournament where athletes across the UK compete in Badminton.

The day is filled with excitement and you get the opportunity to see what our Badminton players can do.  Come Support our athletes and get a chance to not only support SOS and our athletes but to support disability sports within Suffolk.

See you then.

We would like to Thank the Rotary club Ipswich for supporting SOS. Every donation helps and keeps our clubs running and allows for our athletes to take part in competitions around the UK.

All these great donations enables us to put a smile on all our athletes faces, as we give them the opportunity to take part in sports they love and widen participation of disability sports in Suffolk.