Festival feel as boccia proves to be a hit for Power2Inspire

The sport of boccia was celebrated in force by Power2Inspire at the University of Cambridge Sports Centre last Saturday.

The Festival of Inclusive Boccia had initially been intended to run in Janary to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the Cambridge Adult Disability Multi-Sport Club (CADMuS), but Covid had meant an enforced delay.

The first festival of its kind hosted by the charity proved a hit though, as more than 50 participants took part in the event.

There were many players experiencing the sport for the first time, and they were split into teams of between three and five.

CADMuS had celebrated their fifth anniversary in 2020 with their first fixture against another sports club, which was Peterborough Boccia Club, who returned to Cambridge with three teams.

Matt Taylor and the Peterborough players helped to encourage, teach and engage with the wide range of participants, and it was their experience that was telling as two of their teams made it through to the final, with the purple team winning a close contest 6-3.

Alex Laybourne, the deputy CEO of Power2Inspire, said: “The key was, and is, inclusion.

“Our mission is to embed inclusive sport, bringing all to play together, regardless of age, gender, faith, sexual orientation or ability, in the community.

“Watching groups of people with a range of abilities playing a non-mainstream sport showcased this mission in action. We had wheelchair users, people with learning disabilities, Down’s syndrome, prosthetics users, and older and younger non-disabled players. They all left with smiles on their faces, and we hope they left with the bug for boccia.

“Such was the fun – after all Power2Inspire’s No 1 rule is ‘to have fun’ – we have already committed to host the festival again in 2023.

“Finally, we wish to extend a huge thank you to all the participants and volunteers who made the whole thing possible.”