On Monday 13 October, Alton College invited special guests, students and staff to attend the opening of the College’s new boccia courts.
Cllr Emily Young and Alton’s Mayor Annette Eyre were invited to play an intense round of boccia at Alton College.
These courts were installed in Alton College’s sports hall over the summer thanks to funding arranged by the Alton College Foundation (ACF), a charity that has supported students and staff at the College for over 20 years. These improvements were generously funded by way of a Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy grant provided by Alton Town Council and a community grant from Councillor Emily Young provided by East Hampshire District Council.
Representing local government at the opening was Alton Mayor Annette Eyre and East Hampshire District Councillor Emily Young. Both the ACF and Alton College wish to extend their warmest thanks to Cllr Eyre and Cllr Young for their support in securing funding for these courts and their commitment to enriching the lives of young people in the area.
They were joined by the Managing Director of the Alton College Foundation, Trevor Heley, and Ashley Grute, Assistant Principal for Alton’s Curriculum, for a tour of the new boccia area of the sports hall by Dean Gillatt, a Sports Lecturer at the College.
Speaking about the importance of these recent investments, Dean said:
“It’s great to see this investment in boccia at Alton! It’s such an inclusive and competitive sport, and getting these new facilities really helps students on the Sports courses with their referee training.”
The guests were then invited by Dean to test out the new courts in a very intense game of boccia with students from Treloar’s College who are enrolled on courses at Alton, one of whom represents England! These students can now use the new facilities at Alton to continue practicing the sport.
Boccia is a fully inclusive sport, meaning that Alton College will now be able to offer this to the wider community.
Ashley Grute spoke proudly of this link between the two Colleges:
“It is hugely valuable for students to be able to take part in this inclusive sport and continue the tradition of success of Alton College and Treloar’s students in the game. So many students will benefit from being able to play boccia onsite, and it is a wonderful way to bring Alton and Treloar’s students together in one sport.”
With the introduction of these courts, Alton College has become one of the only educational institutions with boccia lines in their sports facilities. Alton Town Mayor Cllr Annette Eyre was particularly excited about how the boccia courts enables the College to give back to the community, saying:
“It is always a pleasure to share experiences with people with such passion in learning, teaching and playing boccia. It is truly a sport which is totally inclusive for all in the community. Funding from the Alton Town Council Neighbour CIL and from Cllr Emily Young’s Community grant has made this possible, enabling Alton College to continue providing boccia to all of the community.”
HSDC is proud to announce that the introduction of boccia courts in the sports hall is the first phase of a much larger planned improvement to Alton College’s sports hall to improve both user accessibility and overall experience. Speaking about these improvements, East Hampshire District Cllr Emily Young, who was instrumental in securing the funding, said:
“It was fantastic to visit Alton College and see the exciting improvements being made to the Sports Hall to make it more accessible.
These upgrades will not only enable elite training in sports such as boccia, but also expand the Sports Hall’s capacity as a community facility; giving more local clubs and groups the opportunity to meet, train and play.
A huge thank you to the Alton College staff for such a warm welcome. It was brilliant to try my hand at boccia and experience the sport first-hand, with expert coaching from Dean and some truly talented students – including one already representing England. It’s clear how much joy and inclusion the sport brings.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on boccia – and on the students I met today – as we look ahead to the next Paralympics.”
Alton’s new courts are a testament to the hard work of the ACF and local authorities, and HSDC looks forward to inspiring and training the next generation of boccia players and coaches.