Jamieson Leeson is a Para Boccia athlete who was awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship within the 2021 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Jamieson was born in Mudgee, NSW, in 2003 and lives in the small country town of Dunedoo in the Central West. She began playing Boccia in 2018 after being scouted through a school knockout competition, and competes in the BC3 classification after being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 18 months of age.
After displaying talent immediately, Jamieson was invited to train in Sydney with national coaches, and became a member of the Boccia Australia high-performance team for the Individual and Pairs events. She then won a medal at her first ever international Boccia competition, taking gold in Pairs at the World Open in Hong Kong in 2019.
More podium finishes came Jamieson’s way in 2019. She pushed the world number 4 to a tie break at the Boccia Australia National Titles and won the silver medal, and won gold in the Individual event at the Asia-Oceania Regional Championships in Seoul, where she beat a Paralympic gold medalist.
In the space of two years, Jamieson has risen from novice to international gold medallist, and marked her meteoric rise with selection in the Australian team to compete at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in the Individual and Pairs events.
Jamieson is currently ranked number 3 in Australia at senior level, and inside the top 100 internationally. She is preparing diligently for the Tokyo Paralympic Games and hopes to use her profile in the sport to inspire others who have hopes and dreams similar to hers.
“I am incredibly grateful for this Scholarship as it will enable me to continue to be the best I can at my sport of boccia. This Scholarship allows me to focus on my goals as it takes off the financial stresses of having to pay for accommodation for training as well as equipment. It is an honour to win this Scholarship as there are so many talented young athletes in Australia and SAHOF chose me to be awarded one of their incredible Scholarship.” – Jamieson Leeson on being selected as a 2021 Tier 3 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2019: Seoul Asia-Oceania Regional Championships – Gold in individuals (v Paralympic gold medalist)
- 2019: Boccia Australia National Titles – taking the world number 4 to a tie-break
- 2019: World Open, Hong Kong – Bronze in the pairs (first ever international competition)
- 2021: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 3
Bio picture credit: Joep Buijs photography
