SMILE Through Sport host biggest event to date, with over 120 disabled athletes competing in Boccia
The biggest Boccia Open was held in Newcastle on February 9th 2020. The 6th SMILE Boccia Open was held with over 120 disabled participants. Players travelled from all over the country to compete, even as far away as Surrey. The SMILE Boccia Open consisted of over 20 separate competitions which included players with both physical and learning disabilities. The competitors ranged from top level England players through to beginners who were taking part in their first ever boccia competition.
Boccia is a disability sport that tests precision and accuracy. At a Paralympic level the sport is designed for athletes with severe physical disabilities. However, boccia is played and enjoyed by people of all abilities.
This year the SMILE Boccia Open was sponsored by Irwin Mitchell, something SMILE founder and Paralympian, Stephen Miller MBE was extremely grateful for. Stephen said
“We are extremely grateful that Irwin Mitchell agreed to sponsor this event. We had over 120 participants this year, our biggest event to date. Disabled people often have very limited opportunity to take part in sport and the success of our open just goes to show the demand out there. This is our 6th open and each one just gets better and better. The event makes me really proud of all the work we do at Smile.”
This year’s Boccia open was also supported by Northumbria University. Hosted at Sport Central, the event was able to grow to include more players. Smile Through Sport has really strong links with the university, with Stephen and Rachel both studying at here in the past. Managing Director of Smile, Rachel Miller says
“I loved my time at Northumbria University studying Sport Management. Being able to bring our flagship event back here is truly humbling. It shows how far we have come over the last 6 years and it is amazing to have the support of the university.”