Gardner woman to compete on U.S. paralympic boccia team
Practicing for an international-level competition of any sport requires hard work and dedication, but that preparation takes even more persistence for 19-year-old Gardner resident Elizabeth “Lizzie” Flora-Swick.
Flora-Swick, who was born with cerebral palsy, will compete in the 2013 Boccia Americas Cup on Aug. 2-9 at the New Century Field House near Gardner. Cerebral palsy is a physical disability that limits one’s body movement.
“I practice about four times a week for an hour and a half at a time,” she said. “I get pretty tired.”
Although internationally recognized, boccia isn’t a well-known game in the United States.
via Gardner woman to compete on U.S. paralympic boccia team | CJOnline.com.
Boccia Silver medal for Heanor Gate Science College
A team from Heanor Gate Science College was among the medallists at the recent Derbyshire School Games Event, supported by Trent College, where around 1,000 young people competed in a day of close competition in glorious sunshine.
School teams represented their districts in either Mini Tennis, Tri-Golf, QuadKids athletics (primary) QuadKids athletics (secondary), cricket, tennis, rounders, touch rugby, Boccia Plus and Sportshall Athletics Plus.
The Heanor Gate team took silver in the Boccia, representing Amber Valley.
via Silver medal for Heanor Gate Science College – Local Sport – Ripley and Heanor News.
US Army veteran wins Boccia games medal
An Army Veteran arrived home to Simpson, PA with two gold and one bronze medal from the 33rd National Veterans Wheelchair Games held in Tampa, Fla. July 13-18. Albert Cortez participated in bowling, motorized slalom and boccia ball.
Nearly 600 athletes came from the United States, Great Britain and Puerto Rico to compete in the world’s largest annual multi-sport wheelchair event for military service Veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, amputations or neurological problems.
via PAHomepage.com.
Ben achieves boccia success at the highest level
A former Willoughby man who moved to Gloucester over three years ago to pursue his career of playing boccia has achieved success at the highest level.
Boccia is a Paralympic sport similar to boules.
And Ben Curry, 26, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, has been part of the BC3 England Squad for the past two years.
He is also a Lloyds TSB Local Hero and attends training camps throughout the year around the country.
Earlier in the year he competed in regional competitions, gaining silver and bronze medals, which qualified him for a place in the National Boccia Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield in May for the seventh consecutive year.
He played exceptionally well but narrowly missing out on a medal by coming fourth.
At the end of May, Ben was one of four England players selected to travel to Oslo for the Norwegian Invitational at the National Olympic Training Centre; a fantastic venue where he enjoyed two days of training with the Norwegian elite squad followed by a tournament on the final day.
England had great results, taking the top four positions with Ben successfully bringing home the amazing trophy.
via Ben achieves boccia success at the highest level – Bowls – Skegness Standard.
New DEMAND Boccia ramp for the athletes in Mettingen, Germany
With the financial support of a Trust a high-tech ramp made by the UK based charity DEMAND could be purchased (More about DEMAND’s range of ramps here).
Ths means the Boccia athletes’ Sarah and Alexander are now able to practice their sport with the new ramp. Both athletes meet on a regular basis to practice at the Ernst-Klee-Schule, a special school for physical development in the North-West of Germany. Both players have been practicing together for about 5 years. Their biggest sporting achievements so far are a runner-up by Alexander and a 6th place by Sarah at the German championship.
Even though the sport was included in the German paralympic games, Boccia is not very well known yet. However within the sport there is fierce competition amongst the BC3 Boccia athletes. By now, the biggest barrier is the qualification for the German championship. As there are only few tournaments overall, all the more that there is great competition to be picked for inclusion in these events. Therefore, the Boccia ramp from DEMAND in England came just in time. Especially as Sarah is very excited and hopes to be able to participate at the national championship again next year with the aid of the new ramp and a lot of practice.
An additional athlete of the team in Mettingen has already accomplished success by securing a spot at the championship.
Alban participated in the BC1 category and won at this year’s qualification tournament, which was also attended by the national team coach. He outmatched the other Boccia players in all of his games. He is now hoping to be able to continue his great performance at the 10th German championships, which takes part near Munich this Autumn (2013).
Camboccia do a Super double
Camboccia will be represented by two teams in the inaugural National Boccia Super League next year following success at the Boccia England team finals in Nottingham.
Both the Cannons and the Scorpions finished in the top six at the tournament to seal their place in the national elite next season.
Scorpions finished just outside the medals after losing 6-5 to Boccia Durham in the third-place play-off having gone down 13-2 to Bristol outfit Paul’s Place in the semi-finals.
They had earlier beaten the Breakaways 6-5 and Stockport 7-3 to top their group.
via Camboccia do a Super double
Hope Valley College (Derbyshire) win Boccia bronze
Teams from Harpur Hill Primary School and Hope Valley College were among those to win medals at the Derbyshire School Games Event.
A team from Harpur Hill Primary School (top) won silver in the QuadKids Primary competition, while a team from Hope Valley College (below) won bronze in the Boccia. Both were representing High Peak.
The event was held at Trent College in Long Eaton last Tuesday. The opening ceremony included a performance by Derbyshire School Games Music Competition winners St Philip Howard School.
via Schools’ medal success at county games – Local Sport – Derbyshire Times.
Volunteer for the World Dwarf Games
The World Dwarf Games will be held at Michigan State University from Aug. 3-10, and organizers are seeking volunteers to help out with the games.
The World Dwarf Games are hosted by the Dwarf Athletic Association of America, a nonprofit that provides amateur athletic opportunities for people with dwarfism.
Volunteers will be asked to greet spectators and guide them to the various events, as well as assist athletes and event officials. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old, and can choose the days and times they are available.
Campaign support director Amy Welch said there are opportunities for volunteers with specific sport knowledge to help out with individual games.
“Specifically, we’re looking for people who know anything about boccia, to help out with that event,” Welch said. “We don’t have anyone yet for that.” Boccia is a precision throwing game, similar to the lawn game bocce ball. In boccia, players throw leather balls at a target, with points given to the person who throws closest.
Danny gets the ball rolling on his Paralympics dream
Danny, who has cerebral palsy and relies on a motorised wheelchair for mobility, is hoping Warrnambool residents and businesses will support his fund-raising efforts.
Danny’s brother Keegan coaches him in the sport of boccia, a precision ball sport that is similar to bocce.
Danny won a silver medal at the Victorian titles in February and captained the state side at the national championships in Sydney in April. “He’s getting better all the time,” Keegan said. “He performed very well against tough competition in the nationals and he only lost to the captain of the Australian Paralympic squad and one of its best players.”
Danny now has his sights set on the New Zealand national championships in September, where he hopes the international competition will help him qualify for the Paralympic team.
Keegan said a squad comprised up to seven players, with only three people taking to the court at any one time.
“There’s quite a big showing for the sport in Queensland and News South Wales where the boccia program has been running for a long time, but it’s relatively new to Victoria.
via Danny gets the ball rolling on his Paralympics dream | The Standard.
Boccia athlete out of contest
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.
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