Since we started in 2006 it became clear to us that a lot of people wanted to try bocking and a lot of those wanted to take it up as a sport. The two problems we faced were the cost of stilts – either for people to buy or for us to buy and let the public go on them – and of course the other problem was safety.
So we appraoched Cardiff County Council and the Sports Council of Wales in the hope that they could offer us support financially and with our clubs development. Unfortunately bocking is considered a ‘high risk’ activity and no funding or development support would be allowed.
Since then we have carried on and grown in our own right and without help, always ensuring health and safety is adhered to at all times. Quite how bocking can be considered a high risk is very far fetched. Since our club formed our injuries in their entirety consist of a broken collar bone and a hyper-extended knee. Both of these injuries would have been avoided had proper gymnastic or trampolining coaching been accessible.
Two injuries in five years for a “high risk” activity is pretty good. In fact it is better than the majority of football clubs in Cardiff.
Why we need funding
Quite simply:
- To purchase more stilts for workshops and public sessions
- To purchase more wristguards, knee pads and helmets
- To purchase floormats that we can transport to each venue
Floormats?
Every sports hall we visit have one concern before allowing us to hire their facilities. Will we damage the floor? In all our experience we have never came across a floor that was damaged by jumping stilts. However if we had our own mats it would completely eliminate any concerns.
But that’s not all…
The type of mats we are seeking are cheerleading mats that you can see on the right. We’ve carefully looked at many different types of mats. We even stopped using one sports hall in Cardiff because the state of the mats was so poor it put our safety at risk. These cheerleading mats are 1.5″ thick and not only protect the floor but they protect us as well providing a nice soft surface to learn new jumps and tricks on.
The mats come in single lengths of 21 feet or more and roll up like a big carpet making them easy for transport and storage.
The problem of course is the cost of these mats. They cost £450 each. We need at least three of them.
For a club with no support from the council or sports authorities this makes a pretty impossible task.
This is why the rare occasion when there are funding opportunities (which we are eligible for) are so very very important.
Long term goals
We’ve looked at various ways to grow our sport and bring it to people who would normally miss the opportunity. We’ve looked at hiring a warehouse and providing an indoor urban sports centre to be shared with Freerunners and skaters and possibly with dance groups also.
We’ve also come up with a unique idea of having a full size coach converted as a mobile bocking bus where we could take lots of stilts, lots of pads and lots of crash mats to youth groups and organisations all over the UK.
At the moment neither of these ideas are financially viable due to the costs of insurance involved but it is something we’re very keen to pursue in the future.
