Little Victories at the Disability Games

By Katie Winn

On the 27th of April 2025, four of our Little Victories players and Coach Katie joined together to make one LV super team to compete in the annual Humber Maritime Rotary Clubs Disability Games 2025!

Each team member took part in three events and stormed through the day. The event included sports such as swimming, darts, table tennis and curling – but how well would we do? That was the question on Team LV’s mind!

The day started bright and early at 8:30am and, to celebrate what looked to be an exciting day, we of course cracked open the Cadbury Mini Rolls. Well, it’s only right, isn’t it?

A full day of sport and exercise fuelled by sugar! After a welcome speech, a quick adjustment of kits, and possibly a silent prayer at the thought of giving Katie a gun (!), we all headed off to our first events.

Jess started the day with swimming, facing participants from all over aiming for first place. She did incredibly well, swimming against older competitors despite only having learned to swim six months ago!

All the coaches and the rest of the LV club were so proud to see her hold her own in the pool. Jess then went on to take part in archery, where she met Paralympic athlete Victoria Rumary, who spent time chatting with participants and offering tips on form and technique. Jess finished her day in the wheelchair dash race, where she won the Endeavour Award. Her coaches, friends and family were bursting with pride at her performance at her first Games!

Henry and Herbie kicked off their day with darts, holding a bit of a brotherly competition to outdo each other’s scores! They then went their separate ways – Herbie to table tennis and Henry to archery. Herbie gave his opponent a tough match, narrowly missing out with a final score of 9–11. Henry did brilliantly in his archery session, impressing everyone with his accuracy and control. The boys reunited for the shooting event and showed great concentration, getting their shots as close to the centre as possible!

William took part in kurling, archery, boccia, and both wheelchair races. He really impressed us with his skills in each event and ended the day by winning the Endeavour Award for both the slalom and dash wheelchair races!

This is the first time Little Victories has entered the Games, and to have a competitor win not just one but two trophies is a huge achievement! When I asked William about the day, he said:

“It was a brilliant day! It was great to be part of Team LVFC and to represent our club. I got to meet people of all ages and abilities and everyone was so nice. I even got to meet Paralympic Bronze Medallist Victoria Rumary when I did the archery and got to hold her medal!”

Will’s words really captured what the day was about – friendly competition, fun and games, and pushing to beat your personal best!

As for me – Katie – I started with the table tennis knockouts, competing against women from all over, each looking for a win. I made it to the semi-finals, finishing with two close games (11–10 and 10–11).

My second event was archery and, I’ll be honest, it didn’t go quite to plan – I finished with a score of 10. But, like the others, I spoke with Victoria about her journey as a Paralympian, so it wasn’t a complete disaster!

I wrapped up my day with shooting, which thankfully went much better than the archery, finishing with a respectable score of 75. I didn’t win anything on the day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was brilliant to take part as both a participant and an organiser.

I think this gave me a unique perspective – the only organiser eligible to compete and the only participant who fully understood how much work had gone into making the event happen!

Between events, we spent time enjoying the HEY Smile Foundation’s activity sets, including axe throwing, rounders and parachutes. These were a great addition to the day and helped break up the intensity of the competitive events.

They also meant parents, caregivers and coaches could join in with participants.

Things were relaxed – until we reached the hockey field! That’s when the competitive spirit really came alive. It got super intense... and yes, there’s video evidence to prove it!

Overall, Team LV did the club proud with their incredible performances.

Considering it was our first time at the Games, we showed passion, dedication and perseverance in every single event. I have no doubt we’ll be back next year!

Before I wrap up, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved. From the summer of last year, the Disability Games team worked tirelessly to create an inclusive, welcoming sports event for people of all ages, disabilities and genders to compete in.

Thank you for making both Sophie and me feel so welcome in our first year! A special thanks to Sophie Bartup for setting up such a fantastic event, and to David Winn for capturing such a special day for Team LVFC.

See you in 2026 – where we’ll be aiming to bring home even more silverware!