A young athlete is staying positive about the sport he loves despite being ruled out of international competition.Alex Dickson, 16, was all set to represent New Zealand in boccia later this year. But a recent classification test has found he has too much function to compete in the sport internationally.This is despite Alex having cerebral palsy which impedes his mobility and speech and requires him to use a wheelchair or walking frame to get around.Boccia – pronounced botcha – is a cross between petanque and indoor bowls and designed for people with significant physical impairment.Alex has been playing since 2002 in the BC2 class – a classification for people with cerebral palsy who have locomotor dysfunction affecting the whole body.Last month he was named the youngest player in the eight-strong Boccia New Zealand high performance squad.

via Boccia athlete out of contest