Special Olympics Suffolk were well represented at the Special Olympics East Midlands Badminton Tournament, held recently at the University of Derby. The level of competition, from around England and Wales, was very high.
Liam and Cameron flew the Suffolk flag, competing in the singles and doubles at the two-day event. An excellent silver medal by Cameron in the singles on the Saturday, was followed up by a terrific team performance by Liam and Cameron, in winning the gold medal in the men’s doubles on the Sunday.
Thanks to Mike for coaching our two Suffolk Superstars and very well done lads!
Special Olympics Suffolk delivery partner, ActivLives, recently held a Boccia Festival at Gainsborough Sports Centre in Ipswich, to help to celebrate National Boccia Day 2023. There were 42 participants from across the region, including visiting athletes from Special Olympics Peterborough, enjoying a fantastic day of Boccia action.
Boccia is a target sport played whilst sitting down. It is particularly suitable for players with a disability, although anyone can play.
Paralympian, Evie Edwards, a member of the GB Paralympic Boccia team in Tokyo and who now coaches the sport, supported the tournament as a referee and in presenting medals at the end of the day’s competition.
Mike McCarthy, ActivSport Development Officer at ActivLives, said “What a day! We had some brilliant boccia being played and the buzz in the hall was electric, especially during the medal play-off matches. We would like to thank Boccia England for their support for this event.”
ActivLives are particularly grateful to all of the great volunteers who helped to make this event happen. If you are interested in trying Boccia in Ipswich, Stowmarket or Felixstowe, please email mike@activlives.org or call the ActivLives office on 01473 345350.
A group of Special Olympics Suffolk athletes enjoyed a great day recently, on a visit to the BBC Radio Suffolk studios in Ipswich. The visit was arranged as part of the Athlete Leadership Programme that some of our athletes are working towards. The group were hosted for the afternoon by BBC Sports Editor and Presenter, Graeme McLoughlin.
The athletes enjoyed a tour of the studios, recording an interview with Graeme about their Special Olympics exploits, and had first-hand experience of seeing Graeme prepare and introduce that afternoon’s ‘Matchday’ programme, as it went live on-air.
“I had the best day at the radio station, finding out how everything worked and I liked being interviewed and talking into the microphone“, said Alfie, one of the group members.
Another visit to the studios is being planned for a second group of our athletes, many of whom were involved (as athletes or volunteers), with the Special Olympics World Games, held in Berlin, earlier this year.
Special Olympics Suffolk and Special Olympics Great Britain gymnast Grace showed her talent for equestrian sport as she competed recently in an event in Sheffield at Parklands stables hosted by Special Olympics Dearne Valley.
Despite being the only representative from Suffolk and a newcomer to Special Olympics equestrian competitions, Grace and her pony, Carl performed well together gaining 3 Gold medals in Dressage, Working Trial and Knowledge. Grace also scooped up a Special Award for Best Junior Newcomer.
Members of Team Special Olympics Great Britain were invited by the Prime Minister to a celebratory Garden Party at 10 Downing Street in recognition of the fantastic achievement of athletes and the support of its devoted volunteers at the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics World Games.
Team Special Olympics GB athletes won a haul of 137 medals and 47 ribbons at Berlin 2023. More than half of the athletes who competed were joined by volunteers, support staff, corporate partners families and supporters for a garden party celebration.
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “The strength and ability of these athletes is inspiring, and I am proud that No.10 hosted Team GB as we celebrate their incredible success at the recent Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.
“Sport is one of the best ways to bring people together – breaking down barriers to opportunity, building relationships and growing confidence – and the work of the Special Olympics Committee and Special Olympics GB is making a huge difference.”
With more than 7,000 international athletes with intellectual disabilities having competed over the nine days of competition, the Special Olympics World Games is the biggest inclusive sporting event of 2023. Team Special Olympics GB athletes participated in 17 of the 26 sporting competitions that were staged across the city during June.
Laura Baxter MBE, Strategic Director of Growth & Legacy at Special Olympics GB, said: “Being invited to 10 Downing Street is a fantastic gesture by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and demonstrates just how highly valued our athletes’ achievements are across the country.
“Each athlete has overcome adversity to represent their nation on the world stage and they have made memories that will last a lifetime. As well as helping these Team Special Olympics GB athletes build on this experience, we want to use the power of sport to support many more children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
“There are currently 94 sporting clubs accredited to Special Olympics GB across England, Scotland and Wales and, with the support of our volunteers, we want to grow this number further and provide many more opportunities for people to participate.”
Special Olympics GB is the UK’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition for children and adults of all abilities with intellectual disabilities. More than 6,600 athletes are currently registered and are participating its accredited programmes, which are delivered by a devoted team of around 3,800 volunteers.
Special Olympics Suffolk’s partner organisation, ActivLives, held their inaugural Inclusive Boccia Tournament recently at the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, in Stowmarket. The event was a tremendous success with 47 competitors, playing a total of 129 ends of boccia, over 44 matches. There were over 90 people attending the event, during the course of the day.
“Boccia (pronounced ‘botcha’), is a truly inclusive sport”, said Mike McCarthy, from ActivLives. “It is a target game, played with balls, where all of the participants are required to sit down when they play. It is one of those sports that is relatively easy to play, but very difficult to play well. The sport is particularly suitable for players with a disability and has been on the Paralympic programme since 1984”.
The tournament in Stowmarket consisted of four divisions, where players competed either in pairs or teams of three, in a round-robin format. Three of the four divisions were specifically for athletes with an intellectual (learning) disability. The day concluded with a ‘spider decider’ mass team event, with all 47 players involved.
“The response to today’s event has been absolutely brilliant. It is great to see so many people getting involved with the sport of boccia in this part of our county”, said Mike.
Many thanks to the brilliant team of volunteers and also to our other supporting partners Special Olympics GB, Boccia England, Everyone Active and Active Suffolk.
If you would like to find out more about getting involved with boccia in the Stowmarket, Ipswich or Felixstowe areas, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk
The Mayflower Games were held in Plymouth in June, at the excellent Plymouth Life Centre. This was a multi-sport event organised by the Mayflower Specials Club. SO Suffolk was represented by Cameron Sherman in the badminton events. A great performance saw Cameron win a bronze medal, in a very competitive men’s singles competition, and silver in the men’s doubles event.
Special Olympics Suffolk hosted their Special Olympics Regional Athletics Competition on a sun soaked day at the Abbeycroft Leisure Centre track in Bury St Edmunds, an excellent venue which, combined with the continued summer sunny weather led to some top performances from the seven teams taking part. In addition to Special Olympics Suffolk, teams such as St Albans, Peterborough and Norfolk came from across the region and from further afield athletes travelled from London, Yorkshire and the West Midlands
Suffolk athletes came away with 9 Golds, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze with many others securing top 8 positions across a range of running, jumping and throwing events giving their large support plenty to be excited about. In total over 100 athletes took part in what was the biggest Special Olympics Athletics Competition in Suffolk to date. Spurred on by the success of the Special Olympics Suffolk gymnasts taking part in the Special Olympics International World Games in Berlin last week, the Special Olympics Suffolk athletes are looking forward to the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer Games in a couple of years
Following on from last year’s success in the Suffolk Community Games in running alongside the Suffolk Quadkids competition, the event was again an excellent example of inclusion involving disabled and non-disabled athletes. All this was only made possible through the contribution of a team of officials who volunteered their time and skills. The Suffolk team is co-ordinated by Orwell Panthers Athletics club which trains at Northgate Sports Centre in Ipswich on Wednesday evenings throughout the year.
Special Olympics Suffolk member Ed Boggis and his Personal Assistant, Lizzie Reid and Mike McCarthy, coach from ActivLives badminton club travelled to Berlin recently to join 20,000 volunteers from around the world to help at the Special Olympics World Games.
Coaches, judges, officials and volunteers play a vital part of the overall event management and Ed, Lizzie and Mike had important jobs to do to ensure the smooth running of the games. They had a great time meeting other volunteers and competitors from 170 countries, experiencing a whole range of sports and also enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere of the Olympic village.
Special Olympics Suffolk 