Kayleigh Brown is getting herself ready to compete at the highest level following a stint on the sidelines, and is motivated as ever to showcase her abilities on the international stage.
With Kayleigh’s first competition coming in May on the World Boccia Challenger circuit in Finland, she will be playing with extra motivation, as it will be the first time the boccia star will take to the court, with her son watching on.
Since Kayleigh last competed in the sport at six months pregnant, it has been a busy period, not only has she given birth to her son, but she returned to the boccia court three months ahead of schedule “I’ve been doing sport since I was 12-years-old, I think that is the longest time I have had as a break, I took two months off before I gave birth, and three months after.” Kayleigh said.
Throughout this process Kayleigh received support from the sportscotland institute of sport, where a multi disciplined team of physiotherapists, performance nutritionists, performance lifestyle practitioners, and doctors were there to help Kayleigh through her pregnancy, and then post-partum on her return to the sport.
Growing up with cerebral palsy, Kayleigh didn’t have the best experience of sport in school. However, after attending one of Scottish Disability Sport’s Parasport Festivals, she fell in love with sport.
Starting her competitive career on the athletics track, Kayleigh showcased her talent when setting world records in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m races. Kayleigh then made the decision to make a swap to the boccia court, after frame running was removed from the Paralympic schedule, joining boccia 2 years before the 2024 Paris Paralympics, providing Kayleigh with a new alternative route to achieving her lifelong dream of representing ParalympicsGB. Something that Kayleigh went on to achieve in the BC2 boccia competition in Paris.
“I had trained my whole life to become a Paralympian, and Paris was just an amazing experience. I didn’t put much pressure on myself, I went out there wanting to enjoy myself, and that is what I did” Kayleigh said.
Kayleigh has been working closely with sportscotland physiotherapist Alyssa Timoney. Alyssa and Kayleigh worked together to navigate each aspect of the boccia player's life “When her bump started getting bigger, we had to not only think about her sport, we had to think about her day-to-day life, things like her transferring in and out of bed with her bump, how she moved throughout her house, and what that looked like for her.” Said Alyssa.
With boccia being an incredibly tactical sport, it requires athletes to move their bodies and angle themselves in varying positions to deliver the boccia ball. This added a further area for Alyssa and Kayleigh to work together, making sure Kayleigh was physiologically able to compete at the highest level of the sport “Even when you are pregnant with your bump, it completely changes your centre of gravity, and what your balance looks like in the chair, so what your delivery looks like in boccia.” Alyssa said.
Kayleigh reflected on the support that she received from the sportscotland institute of sport, saying:
“Alyssa did some pregnancy-based physio with me, and I think that really helped me compete at the highest level when I was six months pregnant, and I think that was one of my biggest achievements.”
Kayleigh’s journey through pregnancy, boccia and athletics has made her a role model for any up and coming female athletes “it’s absolutely incredible, she is such a great role model to all the females across the whole sport institute to show what is possible, even at six months pregnant, it took a lot of effort, it wasn’t just showing up and playing, she had done a lot of rehab, she worked on her positioning, she built up her core stability.” Alyssa said.
Being a role model is something Kayleigh is extremely passionate about, she commented: “I would like to be a role model to Klay and to any mothers, or to any athletes who are thinking of going down that path.”
At 36 weeks pregnant, Kayleigh had a c-section, which has been another consideration for Kayleigh throughout her efforts to return to the sport “boccia is a bit harder than what it used to be, I’m finding it a bit more physically challenging, my core strength is definitely not what it used to be.” Said Kayleigh.
This is an area where the sportscotland institute of sport was able to help Kayleigh, with Alyssa delivering specific physio therapy sessions to support Kayleigh’s return to the sport post-partum: “When she was coming back from her C section, there was a graded return, so we worked on a lot of core work and pelvic floor work, and just lower and upper body strength training and rehab, to get her back into the position where she can deliver the ball.”
