St Bedes Specialist Sports College played host to the Secondary Schools Boccia League where 13 teams competed for places at the National Schools Boccia Finals in June 2012. Three secondary schools and four special schools took part with Crosshill, Newfield, Our Lady & St Johns, St Bedes, St Thomas’ and Witton Park all representing Blackburn with Darwen.

This year also saw the inclusion of Highfurlong Special School from Blackpool who had entered the North West division of the National Schools League.

Teams were divided into three leagues and played each other in a round robin format. Competition was fierce throughout with the winners of League One narrowly being decided in the final game on a tie-break, and League Three having three teams all on the same points and hence split on points difference. Winning teams were Witton Wolves, St Bedes Two and Newfield Three who will now join the four winning primary teams for the title of National Schools Boccia Champions in the Midlands in June. There was also good news for Boccia Young Officials (BYO) who earned Boccia England awards. They were BYO Gold Award: Amy Dixon (Don’t ‘Dis’ Ability Boccia Club), Tom Duckworth and Harry Starkie (St Bedes), BYO Silver Award: Lewis Kilpatrick and Nathan Hartshorne (St Bedes) and Bronze Award: Sam Farnworth (Blackburn College).

Mrs Bretherton, team manager for Crosshill School said: “It is fantastic to watch our pupils interacting and getting on well with pupils from other schools. “The confidence of our pupils shone through.”

n For more details on boccia for those who would like to play on a regular basis, contact Debbie Davies on 078080 56690 for information on the local club, ‘Don’t ‘Dis’ Ability.’