Boccia is a Paralympic sport that can be played by anyone, with or without a disability. It’s generally played by athletes with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or related disabilities, but at the grassroots level anyone can play! It is an easy sport to pick-up, but quickly builds intensity and complexity as you develop in the sport.
Unique to boccia is it’s co-ed. Men and women play on the court together and against each other. It’s a sport of accuracy and precision similar to curling and lawn-bowling. The court itself is indoors and is about the size of a badminton court. Each game lasts four or six ends and can be played in teams/pairs or individually. Players propel the ball (throw, kick, roll, etc.), towards the target ball known as the Jack. Each side is given either six red balls or six blue balls per end and try to score points. The side closest to the Jack (white ball) at the end scores! If it is a tie, a tie-break end is played to determine a winner. Official Rules are available from the Boccia International Federation (BISFed)
There are different classifications in boccia to level the playing field. Athletes can be classified by attending a sanctioned tournament/event where there is a full classification team present. To see which tournaments are available in Ontario stay tuned on our events page.
Want to see which classification you may fit under? Click here to see!
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