Silver star Archie takes a medal in national contest
BOCCIA player, Archie Eaton won the silver medal in the finals of the English national competition, the BE Cup, in Sheffield.
Archie, 18, from Longhope, is a sixth form student at John Kyrle High School in Ross-on-wye and regularly plays the Paralympic sport with the Cotswold Crusaders club in Cheltenham.
Eaton competed successfully in the BC5 classification over the three qualifying rounds, winning bronze at the Hatfield event in February, to earn his place at the finals.
He progressed to the semi-finals at the top of his pool and went on to take the silver in a tough final against the reigning champion.
He said: “I thought I had the potential to do well but it is a great feeling when the matches keep going your way. I would love to go one better next time and will be training hard for next season”.
Head coach Adam Brown praised Archie’s natural ability, unquestionable commitment and hard work which has seen him rise to the top of the English game and says that everyone at the club is very proud of Archie and his achievements.
Brown joined the club whilst working for a degree in Sports Development and Coaching at the University of Gloucestershire and
has been instrumental in developing structured coaching sessions for the club over the last three years, pushing Eaton and the other players to greater achievements.
Earlier this year Cotswold Crusaders supported Active Gloucestershire in hosting the School Games Boccia County Finals, an event giving students with additional needs from both mainstream and special schools in the county the chance to represent their school and participate in a sporting competition.
The club participated in the recent Big Health Check Day organised by the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucester, managing a Special Olympics boccia competition which was opened by the Lord-lieutenant of Gloucestershire, alongside a taster event for anyone to try out boccia for the first time.
The club will now go on to forge further links with Special Olympics Gloucestershire with the aim of increasing opportunities for people with learning disabilities to take up boccia both competitively and for fun.