David Smith calls for more investment into British boccia after mixed team defeat

By Milly McEvoy at South Paris Arena

David Smith demanded more investment into British boccia after he suffered defeat in the mixed team quarter-finals at Paris 2024.

Having already missed out on a medal in the singles to long-time rival Muhamad Syafa, and the Eastleigh native was unable to get revenge as he, Kayleigh Haggo and Claire Taggart lost to Indonesia in a tie-break.

ParalympicsGB had twice fought back in the match and led heading into the final end but were unable to stop Indonesia taking the victory.

Smith, speaking straight after the emotional loss, admitted he did not know where his future lay in the sport.

“Its never going to get easier, its only going to get harder and harder,” Smith said, who is part of Aldi’s Nearest and Dearest programme in partnership with ParalympicsGB, helping to maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance. “What we really need is investment in boccia on a UK level.

“What we need is more leagues, more clubs, more people playing it at a local level; to challenge us, to push us, to play us at home.

“We have to travel all around the world just to get some decent team games.

“We live all over the UK, we don’t get the chance to train together that much and I think if we had some fun enjoyable matches at home that we could actually get our teeth into, play with other players, play with able-bodied people, all that stuff, it would make it a lot easier coming here to try and figure it out.

“People don’t realise that they are two very different disciplines, a bit like in tennis when you’ve got the pairs and the singles. You almost need to be an expert in both.

“Unfortunately we are a jack of all trades at the moment and masters of none so I think at home there needs to be serious investment in boccia for us to be able to get the team back where it belongs.

“Will it happen in my time? I’m not sure, I don’t know how long I’ve got left to be honest.”

Boccia is a sport comparable to boules and is one of only two sports in the Paralympics to not have an Olympic equivalent.

It is often played by athletes with some of the highest levels of impairments, including those who used motorised wheelcahirs.

Despite it giving access to sport to people who are often excluded, like Haggo was from regular PE lessons, Smith believes more needs to be done to improve the quality of competition within the UK.

He added: “We love playing with each other in a team. I think that’s the difficulty.

“We don’t get many opportunities to play competitive matches at home, its only when we come away.

“And unfortunately at this level, its so cut throat and brutal when its under pressure. You don’t get a chance to try stuff and mess around.

“It’s tough, we gave it our all and it wasn’t enough. It sucks.”

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024.