Inclusive Boccia Tournament hosted in Suffolk – July 2024

Posted on July 30, 2024 by specialolympicssuffolk

Special Olympics Suffolk delivery partner, ActivLives,held the second Inclusive Boccia Tournament recently in Stowmarket, Suffolk. The event attracted 42 competitors, who played a total of 70 ends of boccia, over 26 matches, scoring 123 points. There were over 75 people attending the event, during the course of the day.

Boccia (pronounced ‘botcha’), is a target game, played with balls, where all of the participants are required to sit down whilst they play. “It is one of those sports that is relatively easy to play, but devilishly tricky to play well”, said Mike McCarthy, from ActivLives. The sport is particularly suitable for players with a disability, and will be part of the Paralympic programme being held in Paris next month.

The tournament in Stowmarket consisted of three divisions, where players competed in teams of three, in a round-robin format. The day concluded with a ‘spider decider’ mass team event, with all 42 players involved.

“The atmosphere has been absolutely brilliant, with plenty of very close matches throughout the day. It has also been great to welcome visiting players from Special Olympics Peterborough and Kent”.

Many thanks to all of the athletes, to our brilliant team of volunteers, to our supporting partners Special Olympics Suffolk, Special Olympics GB, the Suffolk Community Foundation and to our hosts for the day at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre.

If you would like to find out more about how to get involved with boccia in the Stowmarket, Ipswich or Felixstowe areas, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk

Gymnastics training camp and competition a huge success!

Posted on July 22, 2024 by specialolympicssuffolk

Waveney Gymnastics Club (WGC) hosted a magnificent three day gymnastics training camp and competition 19-21st July in Lowestoft. Head Coaches of WGC, Ellen and Alex spent many hours preparing for the event and their hard work paid off as the event was very well supported by over 50 gymnasts representing 13 gymnastics clubs from all over the UK.

Ellen and Alex are both National and International coaches and judges, and are no strangers to hosting big events and competitions, but they paid tribute to the judges who travelled long distances to officiate at the event, the coaches who travelled with their teams, the raft of volunteers, supporters and staff at WGC who gave up their time to make the day such a success.

Special Olympics Great Britain proudly supported the event, as did SO Suffolk.

Huge congratulations to all at Waveney Gymnastics Club for hosting such a successful competition, SO Suffolk thank you for your hard work and are proud of your endeavours.

Spoiler Alert!

Posted on July 16, 2024 by specialolympicssuffolk

The last post asked you to ‘save the date’ – the 8th September. Now I can give you more information…

Special Olympics Suffolk are hosting a Fundraiser Scavenger Hunt Challenge in Ipswich on Sunday 8th September meeting outside the main entrance of the Ipswich Train Station at 10.45am. You are invited to join us and you can bring family, friends, supporters with you.

This is a social event and one that we ask you to help us raise money by getting sponsored to take part in the Scavenger Hunt. Your coaches will have copies of the information and sponsorship forms to give out, but you will also receive an email with a digital copy.

On arrival, you will be given instructions to follow and 10 clues to find. The route will be approx 3k, so participants can walk, run, hop, skip, jump, wheel or scoot their way round. The final destination will be Christchurch Park where we will meet in front of the Mansion House to reveal the correct answers to the clues (there is a prize for the person with the most correct answers and also one for the person who raises the most sponsorship money) after which will will gather together for a picnic lunch and a game of rounders/cricket in Christchurch Park (weather permitting) before departing at 2/2.30pm.

Want to join in?

All you need to do is:

Let me know if you are coming (email me on allisonboggis@hotmail.com or leave a voicenote or message on 07979120787
Ask family and friends to sponsor you
bring a packed lunch and drinks
wear suitable clothing and footwear

See you there!