This week we are going to talk about the paralympic sport Boccia. We were fortunate to have Keven Smith-Worthylake come back to SMILE this year and give our participants and volunteers a session Friday night and Saturday Morning. Keven is a former SMILE participant, Volunteer leader and alumni of Acadia University. Keven now competes with the Canadian Paralympic team in Boccia. His success in the sport has been remarkable thus far winning a gold medal this past summer!
Boccia is a game of precision that requires extreme muscle control, accuracy and intense focus and concentration. It is practiced in more than 50 countries today.
Strategically similar to lawn bowling, Boccia is played indoors on a flat, smooth surface. The objective is to throw, kick, or use an assistive device to propel leather balls (six per competitor) as close as possible to a white target ball (called the “jack”) on a long, narrow field of play. A match has four ends. At the end of the game players receive 1 point for each ball closer to the “jack” than their opponent’s.
All events are mixed gender and feature individual, pair, and team competitions for a total of seven medal events. Throwers with cerebral palsy play in teams of three members for six ends; each team member “throws” two of the six balls per end. Pair games are played by athletes with non-cerebral disabilities who are able to throw and by athletes who may use a ramp as an assistive device to propel the ball. A pair of two plays four ends with each playing three balls.
Crowd participation is welcomed and encouraged, however, spectators, including team members not in competition, are encouraged to remain quiet during the action of a player throwing the ball.
Boccia is governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association (CPISRA) internationally and The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) within Canada.
Who can compete
Paralympic Boccia is open to male and female athletes with severe locomotor disabilities of a cerebral or non-cerebral origin. This includes individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), stroke, traumatic brain injury, high-level spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, ALS and arthrogryposis. Only athletes with a severe disability are eligible to compete in Boccia.Players are classified into four classes depending on their functional ability:
- BC1: For both CP1 throwers and CP2 foot players. Athletes may compete with the help of an assistant, who must remain outside the athlete's playing box. The assistant can only stabilize or adjust the playing chair and give a ball to the player on his request.
- BC2: For CP2 throwing players. Players are not eligible for assistance.
- BC3: For players with a very severe physical disability. Players use an assistive device and may be assisted by a person, who will remain in the player's box but who must keep his/her back to the court and eyes averted from play.
- BC4: For players with other severe physical disabilities. Players are not eligible for assistance.
History
Boccia originated in Ancient Greece and was later refined by Italians in the 16th century when its popularity spread worldwide. It was first introduced to the Paralympics at the 1984 New York Games and included in the official program of events in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games, primarily for athletes with cerebral palsy. Boccia was opened up to athletes using assistive devices in the 1996 Games. Boccia has no counterpart in the Olympic program.source: www.paralympic.ca
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