Supported by Shropshire Boccia Tournament 2016 Match Report by Susie Hancock Shropshire RCC Wise & Well Team This was the fourth Shropshire Boccia Tournament and the biggest yet. Across all Heats, five Colleges, over 80 students, 18 Boccia clubs and over 90 competitors were involved in the 2016 competition, not to mention all the team managers, supporters, college staff and guests! A couple of prominent clubs from previous years, including the Llanymynech Good Companions and the Longleat Severnside Housing Scheme in Minsterley, were unable to attend this year but new entrants, such as the North Shrewsbury Friendly Neighbours teams, performed extremely well. Thank you to everyone who supported the Tournament this year. Keep practising for next year’s competition! Oswestry Heat The Shropshire Boccia Tournament 2016 got underway on 27th September with the Oswestry Area Heat. Seven teams competed for medals and the chance to go through to the County Final. The Oswestry competition was held at Oswestry Leisure Centre, with Sports students form North Shropshire College running the competition with enthusiasm. A wide range of clubs were represented. The Firey Jacks from the Bradbury Day Centre in Whitchurch met the Red Robins and the Bluebirds, from Baschurch Senior Citizens’ Club, the Ruyton Rollers and two teams (the Oswestry Sloggers and the Betty & Jamie VIPs, with their guide dogs) from the Oswestry Sight Loss Opportunity Group. The match was played in two groups, with a team of students making up the eighth team. The intensive training put in by the Ruyton XI Towns team paid off and they won their group with a wide margin. The VIPs missed out by one point, letting the Baschurch Blue-Birds, Red Robins and the Firey Jacks B team enter the play-offs. The medals went to Ruyton Rollers (Gold); BlueBirds (Silver) and Firey Jacks B (Bronze). Bronze Medal match between Firey Jacks B and Baschurch Red Robins Bridgnorth Heat The second Area Heat was held in Bridgnorth on 4th October. This Heat was hosted by Bridgnorth Endowed School, with Health & Social Care students refereeing and acting as the match officials. In this Heat, health issues hit some of the teams who had entered but more BES students gamely stepped in to make up the numbers. (Well, it’s BES Headmaster, Phil Loveday congratulates better than double Maths!) It was the smallest Heat with Silver Medallist, Bill Nixon (Greenfields Court ) only four teams but the spirit was strong. Each team played three matches, with Alveley B team finishing well ahead of the other teams. Headteacher of BES, Mr Phil Loveday, congratulated and presented medals to the winning teams and welcomed the competitors to come back next year for the next annual Boccia competition. The medals were presented to: Alveley Arden Way B = Gold Greenfields Court = Silver Alveley Arden Way A = Bronze Alveley B went through to the County Final. Bridgnorth Heat competitors and students Shrewsbury Heat A—Shrewsbury Sixth Form College The third Area Heat of Shropshire RCC’s Shropshire Boccia Tournament took place on Thursday, 6th October at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College. There had been so many teams in the Shrewsbury Heat last year that two Shrewsbury Heats were required in 2016. This is the first time that SSFC have joined in the Tournament and they were very welcoming and helpful to all the visiting teams. The college staff bent over backwards to make sure everyone enjoyed the competition, even providing a free lunch! The matches were refereed by PE A-level students at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College. As with the other colleges, they attended a brief training session earlier in the week, to learn how to play Boccia and how to run an inclusive competition for people with a variety of disabilities. On the day, they refereed the matches, kept the scores and assisted the competitors. There were six teams in the Heat, the Daffodils and the Tulips from North Shrewsbury Friendly Neighbours, the Lapwings and the Skylarks from Lindale Court Supported Living Scheme and the Sloggers from the Shrewsbury Sight Loss Opportunity Group, including most popular team mascot, Poppy, the guide dog. The sixth team, the Linnets, was an ad hoc team comprising Derrick (from Lindale Court), Teresa (North Shrewsbury Friendly Neighbours) and Max (a SSFC student), due to illness of the original Lindale team members. The competition was played in a single group so that each team played five matches. This led to an exciting competition because the scores were close and the results were not clear until the last ball was thrown! There was a draw for Bronze Medal between NSFN Tulips and the Lindale Skylarks. Based on the number of wins, the Tulips missed just missed out. Head of SSFC, Paul Morgan welcomed all the competitors to SSFC and presented the medals: Gold = NSFN Daffodils Silver = Linnets Bronze = Lindale Skylarks Pictured from left: Linnets (Silver) NSFN Daffodils (Gold), Lindale Skylarks (Bronze), Mr Paul Morgan, College Head, with the students on the back row. The Daffodils and the Linnets went through to the County Final. Ludlow Area Heat Eight teams battled it out, in the Ludlow Area Heat on 18th October. Teams gathered in Ludlow College from sheltered housing schemes in Bishops Castle, Craven Arms, Clun, Clee Hill, Cleobury Mortimer and Ludlow. The Ludlow College BTech Sports students officiated on the day and ensured that the matches ran smoothly. The competition was played in two groups and there was a tight battle between Whitefriars Gardeners and Clee Hill Rebels to establish the winners of one of the groups. Four teams went through to the play-offs and then Ludlow Deputy Mayor, Cllr Colin Sheward, presented the medals: Gold to Whitefriars Fillies Silver to Clee Hill Rebels and Bronze to Whitefriars Gardeners. The Bishops Castle team finished in fourth place. The Fillies and Rebels went through to the County Cup Final in Shrewsbury. Nail-biting tussle between Whitefriars Gardeners and Clee Hill Rebels Pictured from left: Clee Hill Rebels (Silver), Whitefriars Fillies (Gold), Whitefriars Gardeners (Bronze) and Ludlow Deputy Mayor, Cllr Colin Sheward, with the Ludlow College students on the podium behind them. Shrewsbury Heat B—Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology The fourth Area Heat of the annual Shropshire Boccia Tournament took place in Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology on 13th October. The First Year Sports students refereed the matches, having learnt how to play Boccia in one session the previous week. In this Heat, three of the teams (Dave’s Dumplings, Close Encounters and The Bombers) came from Chapel Close sheltered housing scheme, Bomere Heath. There were also teams from Abbots Wood Day Centre (Abbot Can and Wood You?) and the Fabulous Pictured: Donald Gibson, Carol Rescorla, Shrewsbury Mayor Musketeers from the Musketeers & Maidens. Cllr Ioan Jones, Sandra Woolam and Eddie Davies. It was a busy morning as each team played five Unexpected Reunion of Grange Centre friends matches. The total number of points scored in each The Boccia Heat allowed an impromptu reunion for five match gave the winners. Close Encounters were attendees. Shrewsbury Mayor, Cllr Ioan Jones was the pipped into fourth place and last year’s winners of the guest of honour to present the medals to the winning Shrewsbury Heat, the Fabulous Musketeers, won Gold teams. He was delighted to meet up with old friends medals again this year. In Silver medal position were from The Grange Day Centre which closed five years the Wood You? team from Abbots Wood and in ago. Cllr Jones used to drive the Dial-a-Ride bus and Bronze were Dave’s Dumplings from Bomere Heath. took attendees to the Grange; Donald Gibson, Carol Shrewsbury Mayor, Cllr Ioan Jones presented Rescorla and Eddie Davies attended the Grange and Certificates to the students and medals to the winning Sandra Woolam used to work there. Sandra now works players. The Fabulous Musketeers and Wood You? go at Abbots Wood Day Centre and was supporting their through to the County Cup Final. teams at the competition. Eddie, Donald and Carol (the Fabulous Musketeers team) are now members of the Musketeers & Maidens, a social group for adults with physical disabilities which was set up by Shropshire RCC about five years ago, when The Grange closed. Shropshire Boccia County Final The Final of the Shropshire Boccia annual tournament was played on the morning of 20th October in Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology. The winning teams from the five Area Heats came together to battle it out for the County Cup. This meant an early start for the teams from Alveley, Clee Hill and Ludlow! Nine teams had qualified from the Heats and so a tenth team, The Allcomers, was formed as an ad hoc team of supporters and spectators, which was not eligible to progress from the Group stage. The Final was refereed by First and second Year Sports students, who soon discovered how seriously the competitors took the match! The ten teams competed in Julie Fowler throws a red in a tight two groups, playing 4 matches each. match of the Allcomers v Wood You? The Group scores were: Group X Wood You? = 16 Alveley B = 19 Ruyton Rollers = 21 *Allcomers = 23 Whitefriars Fillies = 25 Group Y Baschurch BlueBirds = 12, Linnets =19 Clee Hill Rebels = 22 Fabulous Musketeers = 23 NSFN Daffodils = 25. The winners and runners up of each group then competed for the medals. Scores were tight by the end of the group matches. In the runners up match, Ruyton Rollers were beaten into fourth place by the Fabulous Musketeers, who won Bronze Medals. This is the third year in which the Musketeers team have won Medals in the Final. In the match for Gold, the final score was four all so a one-end tie-break was required to decide the winners.