Local boccia player, Archie Eaton, is celebrating winning the silver medal in the finals of the English national boccia competition, the BE Cup, in Sheffield on 19th May.

Archie, 18, from Longhope, is a sixth form student at John Kyrle High School in Ross-on-Wye and regularly plays the Paralympic sport of boccia with the Cotswold Crusaders Boccia Club, based in Cheltenham. Archie competed successfully in the BC5 classification over the three qualifying rounds of the 2018/19 Boccia England (BE) Cup, including wining bronze at the Hatfield event back in February, to earn his place at the finals event held over 18th and 19th May in Sheffield. This was a challenging and tense two-day event but Archie progressed to the semi-finals as the top of his pool and went on to take the silver in a tough final against the reigning champion.

Archie was thrilled with his achievement, saying: “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 said: “Archie’s natural ability, unquestionable commitment and hard work which has seen him rise to the top of the English Game." He says that everyone at the club is very proud of Archie and his achievements.

The Cotswold Crusaders Boccia 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.See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here