The first ever South West Wales Regional Boccia competition was held last Saturday, at Haverfordwest Leisure Centre.
The competition was organised by Sport Pembrokeshire, the sporting arm of Pembrokeshire County Council, in collaboration with Disability Sport Wales. The event was sponsored by Chevron.
Competitors travelled from as far as Cardiff to compete in four groups:
BC 1 – Cerebral Palsy (CP) – powered wheelchair user with all four limbs affected
BC 2 – CP – manual/powered chair users with all four limbs affected, good arm strength with some limitations
BC 3 – Ramp Players, wheelchair users who can not throw a ball consistently over the ‘V’ on the boccia court
BC 4 – Wheelchair users, all four limbs affected from a non CP origin, muscular dystrophy, high tetraplegia or other.
All winners and runners-up were presented with trophies by the chair of Boccia Wales, Julie Whittingham.
The referees for the day were Lisa Pudner, Nicola Rogers, Angela Miles, Caroline Thomas and Deborah Martin. The results were:
BC 1 – Winner James Pugh
Runner up Sian Jones
BC 2 – Winner Gemma Rees
Runner up Martin Davies
BC 3 – Winner James Bailey
Runner up Jacob Thomas
BC 4 – Winner Thomas Martin
Runner up Jamie Gordon
The governing body for boccia, Boccia Wales, were also present to spot talented boccia players.
Angela Miles, Disability Development Officer for Sport Pembrokeshire, the County Council’s sports development arm, said she was pleased that Pembrokeshire players James Pugh, Sian Jones, Gemma Rees, Rachel Bailey and Jacob Thomas were all invited to compete at the Welsh National Boccia Championships in Cardiff on Sunday 11th April.
