York man to compete in Special Olympics

Mark Mason has been selected to compete for the Yorkshire and Humberside Boccia team at next year's Special Olympics.

The 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games may be over for another four years, but there’s another Olympics event we’re getting ready to support. Mark Mason has been selected to compete for the Yorkshire & Humberside boccia team at next year’s Special Olympics for the second time.

Administrative Assistant Mark, who has a form of autism, was first introduced to the unusual sport of Boccia through his social worker. His love of the game and obvious talent lead to him joining the York special needs team, before he was chosen to be part of the Yorkshire & Humberside Special Olympics squad three years ago.

Since its formation in 1978 as part of the global Special Olympics Movement, Special Olympics Great Britain has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people through sport. There are currently 150 Special Olympics clubs in Great Britain, which are run by over 3,000 volunteers and involve more than 8,000 athletes who benefit from its sports programme.

So far, Mark’s team has done well in the competitions leading up to next year’s Special Olympics, which is taking place in Sheffield. As well as winning bronze medals in the team events, Mark has also won bronze in a singles event. Mark, who has worked with Minster Law for more than nine years, trains every Thursday evening and his hard work and dedication has paid off as he now prepares to compete against some of the country’s best boccia teams.

Mark’s Minster Law line manager, Josie Hill said:

“We’re all really proud of Mark’s achievements both at work and externally. Now he’s been chosen yet again to represent Yorkshire & Humberside we’ll all be rooting for him. Mark can’t wait to compete and says it would be amazing if he could win another medal. If he does win, he plans to do a victory parade around the office! Mark really is an inspiration to us all and is proof that if you want something badly enough you can achieve it.”