Tokyo Paralympics: Mum’s the world for Boccia gun Jamieson Leeson

She comes from the same town as Winx jockey Hugh Bowman and has met them both. Now schoolgirl Jamieson Leeson is hoping to put Dunedoo on the map for another reason.

Boccia player Jamieson Leeson is out to make a mark at the Paralympics. Pic: Supplied

Jamieson Leeson will be a world expert in Paralympic sport by the time she begins her quest for gold in Tokyo.

The schoolgirl from Dunedoo in central west NSW, has to wait until the Games are almost over before she gets the chance to compete.

Leeson, who has just completed her Year 12 trials, is up on the third last day of competition in the pairs boccia event where she and teammate have high hopes of medal success.

Boccia player Jamieson Leeson will be in Tokyo with her mother. Pic: Supplied

“It’s the longest wait. I think I’m going to be very jealous watching other sports compete,” said the 18-year-old who attends Dunedoo Central High school and only took up the sport three years ago.

Strangely, while her event is called pairs, three athletes compete with Leeson, who has spinal muscular atrophy and is in wheelchair.

Her teammates in Tokyo will be Heathcote’s Daniel Michel, who competed in Rio five years ago, and Forestville’s Spencer Cotie, who like Leeson is making his debut.

Boccia player Jamieson Leeson with her mother Amanda who will be in Tokyo with her. Pic: Supplied

Due to lockdowns the pair have been training via Zoom sessions the past few months.

Boccia athletes compete in wheelchairs, with those with the more significant impairments throwing, kicking or using a ramp device to propel the balls as close as possible to a white Jack.

Leeson’s mother Amanda is her assistant as she uses the ramp device to play her balls.

It is a game of skills, strategy and tactics which is what appeals to Leeson.

“It’s an interesting sport, really fascinating,’’ the teenager said. “It’s very much about the mental component.

Hugh Bowman is also from Dunedoo where he and Winx are painted on a giant wheat silo.

“There is a lot more strategy and thinking which is great because my favourite subject is maths so that’s made it the more interesting for me.

“There is a lot of problem-solving in the game and you have to use strategy to figure out where you want your balls to go. It is a little bit like chess.”

Friends in Dunedoo have joked that if Leeson wins a medal, she might also deserve a portrait on a giant wheat silo just as Bowman and Winx are immortalised in her home town.

“They joke about it a lot,’’ she said.

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics: Mum’s the world for Boccia gun Jamieson Leeson