Club progress to national finals

Boccia

Herne Bay Boccia will compete on the national stage after finishing first and second in the Kent Boccia League following dominant displays in the finale at the Fairfield Leisure Centre, Dartford.

The Herons topped the table by winning all of their four games in the second leg in Dartford – to make it eight from eight in total – while Herne Bay’s other side, the Seagulls, were runners-up, despite stiff competition from Gillingham side Prince Arthur Knights.

Herne Bay Herons will now compete against more than a dozen of the cream of British clubs in the National Boccia Finals in Sheffield on July 1.

Boccia sprang to prominence at London 2012 with crowds packing London’s Excel to watch the captivating Paralympic version of bowls and Herne Bay Boccia were launched the following March, with a base in St Mary’s Retreat Hall on Clarence Road,

This is just the latest in a string of successes in the club’s four-year history and co-founder Sheila Appleton said: “Since my husband Derek and I started Herne Bay Boccia, we are so pleased with how the club have progressed.

“With the commitment shown by all of our players, coming week after week to play and practise, they are now getting the reward they so deserve.

“It is no mean thing for some to overcome their disabilities and they will now be representing their county nationally. We are so proud of them all.”

Herne Bay teams compete in the final round of the Kent League at Dartford