Ever heard of Boccia? Well, meet Paralympian Jamieson ‘Jam’ Leeson. She just brought home a silver medal for it from the 2024 Paris Paralympics and was the first woman in history to do so.
“Being a Paralympian, it shows that people with disabilities can play sports, and I’m very passionate about highlighting that because of my severe physical disability,” Jam said.
“I went from being ranked eighth to coming back with a silver medal, which was really cool. It was something I knew I had the potential to do, but I didn’t know if I could do it at the Games, being my first Games playing at the individual event.”
Boccia, in Jam’s words, is essentially lawn bowls but indoors. It is played by athletes with physical impairments affecting all four limbs where they can throw, kick or use a ramp device to propel a ball as close as possible to a white ball called a ‘Jack’.
Players with ramps, such as Jam, are assisted by a ramp operator who is unable to face the court or talk to the athlete and is also awarded a medal if the game is won.
Jam has spent lots of time around the Northern Beaches, attending the Bear Cottage Manly and Manly Adolescent and Young Adult Hospice (AYAH). However, she originally hails from the village of Dunedoo in central western New South Wales. It was here, in 2018, where she began playing Boccia.
“I didn’t really know what sports were available. I knew of Boccia, but I didn’t really know how I could participate, because growing up in the country, there’s nothing out there,” Jam shared.
“I went to a sports day in Orange and got involved in the sport. Ever since then, I’ve been driving to Sydney; back then it was learning about the sport and getting involved, and now it’s to train with my team.”
Within a year of debuting in the sport, the Paralympian was scouted from one of her school knockout competitions and sent overseas in her first international Boccia competition where she won gold in Paris.
The podium became a regular stage for the rising star, winning gold in the mixed BC3 pairs and silver in the Women’s BC3 at the 2022 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Paris wasn’t her Paralympic debut either. The young gun represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
And she didn’t slow down from there, making it to the quarter-finals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with her partner, Daniel Michel, in the Mixed Pairs BC3 and winning silver with her ramp operator, Jasmine Haydon, in the Women’s Individual BC3 – the first Australian woman to do so.
“I guess, there’s a level of unequalness between the Paralympics and the Olympics, even though we are always called Olympians and things like that. It’s a big passion of mine to be able to play a very small role in making a change for people with disabilities in Australia.”
For now, Jam is back home, celebrating her win with friends and family at AYAH, which was complimented with a personalised Butter Boy cookie and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cake.
The facility provides services for young people with life-limiting illnesses and coordinates experiences through partnerships, such as the one they have with the Manly Sea Eagles, allowing patients to visit the players and run on the field before games.
An obvious perk for Jam, who arrived at the facility with a Sea Eagles customised number plate attached to her car.
“I was asked to be one of the first patients to stay here (AYAH), which was super exciting and an honour,” Jam said.
“I come here for respite every so often, they always make me feel so welcome. It’s just such a great place to have, it’s the first facility in New South Wales.”
From believing sport wasn’t a possibility for her, to having a giant mural painted of herself on the side of a building in her hometown, Jam has come a long way from the day she decided to attend a sports day in Orange.
But the journey is far from over. Residing in Olympic Park, the high achiever not only has her sights already set on the 2028 LA Paralympics but she is also in her third year studying economics, majoring in econometrics.
When asked if there was any overlap between the two, she responded that one needs to have the “right brain for both,” and with the next Boccia World Championships two years away, and the Paralympics four, that strategic mind has some other points to score in the meantime.
“I’m really passionate about getting the sport out, giving access to more people in Australia,” she said.
“I’m really hoping to start up a Boccia club and get more people involved in the sport over the next year.”