To round off the summer cricket sessions hosted by Suffolk Cricket and generously sponsored by the Lord Taverners Super 1’s scheme, a Cricket Day was held at the Bury St Edmunds Cricket Club on 29th August. Six Special Olympics Suffolk athletes Jordan, Liam, Donna, Hamish and Ed (plus new recruit, Rueben) joined Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to take part in a mornings coaching where they improved their throwing, catching and batting skills and put all this in to practice after a pizza lunch.
Athletes enjoyed a great day of cricket and they represented Special Olympics Suffolk with pride – many thanks to the coaches, supporters and sponsors. Winter cricket is being planned, more information to follow so watch this space!
Suffolk Cricket is offering FREE cricket sessions to SOS athletes this summer and there are only a few weeks left to take up the offer as the sessions end on 19th August. Please do come along, its great fun and you will learn new skills and meet new people. All you have to do is scan in the QR code, fill in a few details and turn up!
Also, please keep Thursday 29 August free as we have been invited to a Cricket Event at the Bury St Edmunds Cricket Club, 10:30 – 14:00 for skill practice, table cricket and games. Lunch will be provided.
Special Olympics Suffolk delivery partner, ActivLives,held the secondInclusive 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
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.
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
This is a ‘shout out’ to all SOS athletes, supporters, coaches, parents and volunteers…
Special Olympics Suffolk are organising a sponsored walk and social activity on Sunday 8th September and we need you to join in and help us raise money for SOS to allow us to continue to support so many of you to participate in sport in Suffolk and to take part in competitions locally, nationally and internationally.
We will meet at the Ipswich train station on the morning of 8th September (time to be confirmed) and join in with a scavenger-style hunt around a carefully navigated route around Ipswich (4k in total), answering quiz questions along the way. We will finish in Christchurch Park where we will have a picnic together (bring your own lunch) and a game of rounders (weather permitting). There will be prizes for the most correct answers to the scavenger hunt, and we will guarantee a good day out with lots of fun (and exercise) on the day!
More details will follow, but in the meantime, please save the date!
Suffolk Cricket invited Special Olympics Suffolk athletes to a ‘come and try’ cricket session in Ipswich. Sponsored by The Lord Taverners, Inclusive Cricket runs free sessions every Monday at the Ipswich Cricket club from 5.15pm-6.15pm throughout the summer, and this week we were invited to join in.
James and Eddie from Suffolk Cricket made our athletes (and their supporters) very welcome, introducing them to a fun session of cricket, learning new skills in batting, bowling and fielding. They were also introduced to the concept of table cricket.
If you fancy joining us, please do come along and join in – the sessions are free and run every Monday (except for Bank Holidays). Please ignore the age limit and the dates for Ipswich on the poster!
Suffolk badminton players flew the county flag successfully at a Para-Disability Badminton tournament held recently in Gillingham, Kent. The event was hosted by Kent Badminton, in partnership with Badminton England and was attended by the President of Badminton England, Derek Batchelor and the CEO, Sue Storey.
In addition to our local athletes, the event attracted competitors from Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, Lancashire and Devon.
Seven athletes from Special Olympics Suffolk/ActivLives competed with great distinction, in divisions for athletes with an intellectual (learning) disability, across the singles and doubles events.
“We have seen some brilliant performances from our players today, which have resulted in medals of all colours being won”, said Mike McCarthy, Badminton Coach from ActivLives and Special Olympics Suffolk. “As well as being competitive though, the positive, exuberant and fun attitude of our athletes is a privilege to witness, they are a credit to Suffolk!”.
If you would like to find out more about getting involved with badminton for players with a learning disability, particularly in the Ipswich area, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or email mike@activlives.org.uk
Suffolk Cricket are offering free sessions to try out a new sport, have some fun, meet new people and learn some new skills!
They are offering a ‘come and try’ session on Monday 3rd June from 5.15-6.15pm in Ipswich and James Sturgeon and his team would love to see you there. James highlighted that the upper age limitations on the poster do not apply and any disabled person aged 12 + is very welcome. Please book by scanning the QR code on the above poster. I shall look forward to seeing you there!
Special Olympics Suffolk delivery partner,ActivLives, held another Inclusive Badminton Tournament recently at Gainsborough Sports Centre in Ipswich. The event, delivered by ActivLives, in partnership with Special Olympics Suffolk, and with the support of Special Olympics GB, was a tremendous success with 26 competitors from inclusive groups in Ipswich, Wimbledon and Southampton, taking part.
The programme consisted of four divisions, where players competed in doubles and singles groups in a round-robin format. The day concluded with a team relay event, with all of the players involved. There were some very close matches and divisions with one of the gold medals being decided by just a single point!
“Each time that we host one of these tournaments, the standard of play just keeps on rising”, said Mike McCarthy, ActivSport Development Officer. “These inclusive events, which are targeted at athletes with an intellectual/learning disability, are very important for us. They are a great way to help showcase the sportsmanship, commitment and talent of all the athletes who take part.
Many thanks to our brilliant team of volunteers and also to our supporting partners Special Olympics Suffolk, Special Olympics GB, Suffolk Community Foundation and Ipswich Borough Council”.
If you would like to find out more about getting involved with badminton for players with a learning disability, please call ActivLives on 01473 345350 or emailmike@activlives.org.uk
Special Olympics Suffolk 