The 29th British Transplant Games 
17th - 20th August 2006
Bath

I must stress that this Games report is purely personal, for which I make no apology.  
After all it is my personal website.   I welcome any feedback, good or bad, in my 'Guest Book'.

This site is  recommended on the BBC's search page by entering
 Transplant Games or
British Transplant Games.  

The Freeman Adult Team was the second largest in size and only bettered by the local Bristol squad which is an amazing statistic as we had six regulars who for one reason or another could not make it this time.

We had 19 competitors, 2 of whom, Jamie Woodhouse and Malcolm Pollitt were making their first appearance in the adult team, and 7 supporters.   All of the competitors having had either a heart or a lung transplant at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle.  The age range of the team was from 18 - 74.    We also had a children's team competing at the games.

We may not come out on top in the medal table but all of our squad, like me are
 "Just happy to be here!"   For  those of you who count such things our medal tally was:

4 Gold  / 9 Silver / 6 Bronze

The competition started before the official opening of The Games and whether this was a success or not can only be answered by those that had to stay an extra night or leave home at the crack of dawn to arrive in time to play volleyball.   Thank goodness the golf was played on Friday as normal or The Boggies would have had to leave home on the Tuesday.

The opening ceremony suffered because not all of the teams were present.   Despite this the ceremony itself was excellent.   I particularly enjoyed the Vocal Works Gospel Choir and The Chairman, surely The Mayor, of Bath & North East Somerset Council, councillor Lorraine Morgan-Brinkhurst made a very nice welcoming speech.     She was to be seen everywhere over the course of the next few days and seemed genuinely to enjoy herself at all of the different events.  

We marched into 'The Rec', the home of the mighty Bath (rugby union team) and the crowd who had filled one of the grandstands were generous in their welcome for all of the teams.   Claire Downer read the Games oath on behalf of all competitors and following the handover of the torch from Paul Fearon to Stuart Kaye (Freeman team) to Jack Goodland, the Games were declared open.

That the Games can be described as the 'best ever' at the opening ceremony is a bit spooky and these superlatives should be kept until the closing ceremony / gala dinner.

The majority of the Freeman Team stayed off campus this year and our city centre hotel was ideal.    The comforts it provided were cheaper than those offered by the uni.   I think this is what Americans call a 'no brainer'.   A five minute walk brought us to the Roman baths, the restaurants and pubs of this beautiful city and it is something we will probably do again.   It was also handy for the cycling, canoeing, bowls, darts and the gala dinner which all took place in the city.

Day 2 - Friday -  Golf:

The weather was abysmal,  a downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning.   The claxon to abandon would surely have gone if it were not for the fact that it was our only chance to complete the competition.   A five hour round causing us to take shelter from the storm on three occasions played havoc with the scoring.   From the (men's) field of 42 golfers there were 4 'no shows' and only 7 of us could shoot a score in the 80's.

Stuart Ross with an excellent 81 took the gold and Sean Orpen Trophy, beating Michael Green and Ian Lewis-Jones with their 82's into second and third respectively.   My mate Norbert McGarr therefore took gold in the stableford competition 83 gross / 37 points ahead of John Barnes (91 / 35) and Richard Bennett (93 / 33) and my 87 gross yielded 32 points but was one shot too many.   The others to shoot sub 90 rounds were Frank Clark (86) and Ian Hillier (88).    Hamish Barrie won the gold in the second division with 37 points from Andrew Weir and Simon Harris.

Lansdown Golf Club did a magnificent job in difficult circumstances.   The organisation of the event was faultless, the course was good and the groundstaff were out in force with squeegees during the storm keeping the course playable, just.   The professional Terry Mercer, the captain Alan Veitch and his wife are to be congratulated on checking the handicaps and scorecards before and after play and producing a comprehensive scoreboard promptly.    The presentation ceremony was as it should be.    When the golf is left to golfers, it works.   We all enjoyed our lunch in the clubhouse at the end of the round too.

Fishing:

John Harrison from the Freeman team won the fishing gold medal last year and he has kindly donated a trophy to be competed for each year.  The name of the shield is 'Have a Heart for Angling' and he is seen here presenting it to this year's winner Dave Eldridge from the Portsmouth Team.

Day 3 - Saturday:

I have no event on the Saturday so support my team mates in their chosen sports and enjoy meeting and chatting with friends from all over the country and catching up on all of the gossip.      I spent a couple of hours by the river watching the canoeing before going indoors to watch tennis and swimming.   I also watched some of the country's young elite sprinters go through their drills on the indoor track.   Fascinating.   The facilities at Bath University, it has to be said, are quite magnificent.

AGM:

Very poorly attended, but there were events still in progress at the start time of 5.30pm and people were coming back from the Commonwealth museum and others had to eat and change before their evening's entertainment and boat trip.  

The man who started the Transplant Games, Mr Maurice Slapak CBE and is founding president of the WTGF was at the meeting and he asked some pertinent questions especially about the management of the accounts and made excellent suggestions of which I shall not bore anyone, but good for him that's what I say.

If you want to know more of the minutiae of the AGM, ask for a copy of the minutes from HQ.   Or, why not make an effort to attend next year, provided of course it is not changed to a Sunday morning when the majority of the competitors will be at the athletics stadium, which was suggested.

Day 4 - Sunday - Athletics

The athletics facility at Bath is fantastic and as Mrs Boggy and I had bought  a couple of foldy up chairs on the journey down we had a cosy track side view with cup holder.

My events are normally 100m / long jump and 4 x 100m relay but I had decided to enter the 200m this time too.    Having trained all through the winter expecting to run and jump against the exceptional Barrie Laverick, who is the current World champion at all of these events, imagine my surprise to learn that he has hung up his spikes and is now the assistant GB Team Manager to Lynne Holt as well as athletics coach.

Did this make me the favourite?   I was extremely nervous at the start of my 100m and when I crossed the line in first place was delighted.  This is third time I have been British 100m champion and definitely the most satisfying.  

Never having ran a competitive 200m before I was again very nervous at the start, but because a couple of super veterans were also in my race, one of them the incredible Mick Foster, I decided to keep him in my sight until I had ran the bend before sprinting for the line.   My time of 31 seconds was not particularly brilliant but I won my race and having cantered around the bend feel that I can go sub 30 seconds in the World Games next year.  

I came second to John Barnes in the (not very) long jump and the Freeman relay team mysteriously did not make the final.  I could have complained as to how a team with the anchor man dressed as a Roman Gladiator could possibly have beaten Kaylee, me, Stuart Kaye and Martin Hutchinson for a place in the final but as Kaylee had disappeared, decided against.

Two gold, one silver medal and fourth place in the golf is my best ever performance at the British Games and I think it safe to assume I shall be selected for the  GB Team who travel to Bangkok, Thailand next year for the 16th World Games.

The Gala dinner

An excellent meal was spoiled by long, boring unintelligible speeches with the glorious exception of our chairman Christine Evans.    People who are uncomfortable with a microphone in their hands always make the longest speeches and dullards assume the role of Billy Connolly.   If this was a talent show Simon Cowell would have had a field day.

An after dinner speaker can make or break an evening.    We rightly pay for musicians to entertain us at the end of the evening, this year's band were very good.    It is about time we had a professional compere / speaker.

 To sum up the 2006 British Games:

I was just happy to be there!

All being well I hope to see you at the 30th British Transplant Games
in Edinburgh from August 26th - 29th July 2007. 

The first Games were the brainchild of Maurice Slapak, who at the time was a consultant transplant surgeon.   They were staged in Portsmouth in 1978 and attracted 100 competitors.   This years event is expected to attract over 500 competitors and as many (at least) supporters.

15 cities have hosted the British Transplant Games since their inception; Portsmouth, Newcastle, Leicester, Leeds, Norwich, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Exeter, Liverpool, Sheffield,   Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.

All competitors must be a current member of the Transplant Sports Association of Great Britain (TSAGB).   If in doubt contact your Team Manager or Joyce Gill:  joyce-and-ian@supanet.com

6 Year membership costs £25
3 Year membership costs £15

Each competitor may enter 5 individual events, with a maximum of 3 from any one discipline with the exception of the relays.   A signed and completed medical certificate must be provided.   Unfortunately, anyone receiving dialysis treatment is not allowed to enter.

Future Transplant Games

The 30th British Transplant Games are in  Edinburgh,   26th - 29th July 2007

The 16th World Transplant Games will be staged in Bangkok , Thailand
August 25th - September 3rd 2007

The 12th European Heart & Lung Transplant Games will be held in Vichy, France.
2008 Dates to be confirmed, provisionally June 21st - 26th.

2005 British Games / 2004 British Games