On Saturday 29^th June, British Blind Sport and UK Showdown hosted the first ever BBS UK Showdown Championships and coaching development day at King's High School in Warwick.

We were delighted to welcome 16 participants from Coventry Comets, Sheffield Strikers, Croysutt Warriors, Sight Support Worthing, and East of England Showdown Club to compete in the Championships. All competitive games were individual players.

The first BBS UK Showdown Championships results are:

1^st place: Jack Peters (Croysutt Warriors)

2^nd place: Jonny Marshall (Croysutt Warriors)

3^rd place: Sam Gibbons (Sight Support Worthing)

Tommy Britton from UK Showdown supported coaches with a development session to expand their coaching knowledge. "The day was hugely positive for so many reasons. From a coaching perspective, one of my highlights was the enthusiasm, engagement and progression of everyone on the day, whether they were players, coaches or referees. I didn't hear or receive one negative conversation. A massive success!"

Vicky Cook, Participation Officer at BBS, who was one of the key organisers of the event said: "We couldn't have asked for a better first BBS UK Showdown Championships. The engagement from everyone involved was inspiring and it has reinforced the confidence we had when we started this development project. The improvement in players performance throughout the day was staggering and this is down to passionate coaching and patient instruction from the UK Showdown team. I want to thank The Primary Club and King's High School for supporting the event and congratulate all the participants that took part.
I am extremely excited to oversee the continued progress of showdown and truly believe that this is a sport that can open up so many opportunities and change the lives of people living with sight loss."

One of the many highlights on the day was to see how far participants have come since their showdown journey began. One such participant is Sam Gibbons. Sam, who took home the bronze medal, first played showdown at a BBS 'Have a Go' Day in October 2023. He enjoyed playing the game so much that day that when applications opened in early 2024 for our new National Showdown League clubs, he put in an application for Sight Support Worthing. After being successful, Sight Support Worthing, alongside all the newly established clubs, received a showdown table and a starter kit with all the equipment needed to get started with showdown. Within three months of receiving the showdown table, Sam and Sight Support Worthing are the proud home of the bronze medal.

The next BBS UK Showdown Championships will take place in November 2024 with event details to be confirmed in due course.

Are you interested in joining one of the showdown clubs across the country? Visit our Activity Finder for further details on each club: www.britishblindsport.org.uk/activity-finder

For more information on showdown, please visit: www.britishblindsport.org.uk/az/showdown