Lee Maddison has been selected for a prestigious sporting programme which will see him follow Paralympic greats Ellie Simmonds, Hollie Arnold, and Ade Adepitan.
The 37-year-old from County Durham has been the highest English ranking boccia player with cerebral palsy for years, catapulting to sporting renown at the age of just 15 when he won his first national title.
Only a year later the teenager made the cut for team England and has since travelled the world to places including Belgium, France and Prague, but the journey has not always been so plain sailing.
“I’ve been a regular fixture on the national team for the last ten years now, but I’ve also been deselected and re-selected for the England squad twice,” said the SportsAid-funded athlete.
“The ultimate goal is still to represent Great Britain at the Paralympics but it’s very difficult. Boccia was initially created for people with cerebral palsy but it’s been opened up to people with other disabilities which means there’s more competition. It’s difficult but I’ve got the fight in me. The hunger.
“I’ve never been someone who just sits in my wheelchair. I’m very conscious that doing that could mean I mould into my chair and end up not being able to get up. I’ve always been committed to doing as much physio as possible to make sure I’m physically active. Including chasing my daughters around.”
Maddison has a condition called spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy which means he competes in the BC3 category, using a ramp and head pointer to position his ball with a sports assistant on hand to help.
Although there are four categories, BC1, 2, 3 and 4, athletes who can throw a ball but do not have cerebral palsy are included in the same category as Maddison.
“I’d like to see more people enter the sport in my category so there’s more of an even split and people have a more even chance to succeed. There’s an annual competition in England called the Boccia England Cup - the pinnacle competition - and I always play the same people.
“We need more people coming through in my category to change it up. Especially young people. We need to get the word out there so more people know about boccia.”
In an effort to raise awareness of the sport, Maddison set up his own North East Hub, with backing from Boccia England, to get more players involved and help them enter the England pathway.
“Boccia England used to have regional academies but because of funding cuts these no longer exist. I want to get an England coach or Boccia UK coach to every session to give the players the best chance but funding is always an issue.
“I’ve been invited to a competition in the Czech Republic but it’s £600 pounds per person, including myself, a carer and a sports assistant. That’s £1800 before travel and food expenses.
“As an England player when you get to Team GB you get your equipment paid for and a wage, but at England level you don’t even get a t-shirt. You have to pay for your kit and all the travel. One single boccia ball costs £100 and you need 13 in your set.”
Maddison received £1000 from SportsAid this year which will help contribute to these outgoings but his wife also plays a big part.
“I drove us 7 and a half hours to get to Swansea for the National Pairs competition recently,” she said. “Lee doesn’t have a personal assistant at the moment so I took the family and cared for him myself.
“It’s good fun and it’s not so bad now because the kids aren’t at compulsory school age but come next September we can’t just take the older one out of school to go to boccia competitions.”
As far as family is concerned boccia is very much a team Maddison affair, not least because that’s the logo printed on the front of Maddison’s two daughter’s t-shirts - in pink sparkles no less.
The family will travel to Paris in September to watch GB’s boccia team compete for medals - a full circle moment since Maddison acted as a torchbearer at the London 2012 Olympics.
The hope remains that one day Maddison’s daughters can sport their pink sparkly t-shirts while watching their dad compete for Team GB on the biggest stage of all.
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visitentaingroup.comto find out more.
