Focus on boccia – York, UK
SO successful they had to move from their Melbourne base to New Earswick Bowls Club, First York Boccia Club are hoping the Paralympics will shine a bright light on their tactical sport.
Boccia, pronounced botcha, is played by wheelchair athletes with cerebral palsy and other conditions.
It is likened to boules with the aim to throw, or drop, either red or blue balls as close as possible to the white jack.
Athletes can play individually, in pairs or in teams. Those with a high level of impairment can use a ramp and a guide, who must face away from the play.
First York Boccia Club hosts an invitational tournament each year with teams coming from Middlesbrough, Wakefield and Huddersfield. Having already gone through difficult times, with volunteers having to take charge of their own affairs from the council, it has continued to thrive.
And, with around 30 regular members, the club are always willing to take more, said chair Carol Walker.
“We would like to get more youngsters to come,” she said. “When we take the sport into primary schools, children absolutely love it. We hope the Paralympics will give people the insight into what the game is. We include everyone and we have lots of members with different abilities.”
To find out more, log on to http://www.firstyorkboccia.co.uk or email firstyorkboccia@hotmail.co.uk
Cheering on the Boccia McGuire brothers
Today I got to see some sporting action at the Excel centre.
Excel is home to sitting-volley ball, Boccia and power lifting to name but a few. Union Jack in hand I was able to cheer home GB’s Boccia McGuire brothers in the semi-finals but unfortunately Brazil beat them and GB now faces Canada in the bronze medal match. However Brazil let themselves down in the sitting volley ball when Iraq stole victory.
I couldn’t enjoy the action for too long though as the Paralympic Post second edition deadline is looming and I’m spending the remainder of my day in the NASUWT offices typing up my articles and interviews – sparks flying off the keyboard so I don’t miss my deadline.
The venues are still packed even though most schools go back today which is great to see. I also saw a medal ceremony n powerlifting, unfortunately no medals for Team GB but it was still very moving to see athletes living out their dreams.
via Paralympic Post: Cheering on the Boccia McGuire brothers – Harrow Observer.
Greece defeats Portugal in boccia match at 2012 London Paralympics
London, England— Greece defeated Portugal on Tuesday in the boccia BC3 pairs gold medal match, by four points to one. 2012 is the eighth Paralympics since the introduction of the sport, which is similar to lawn bowls.
The Greek pair Nikolaos Pananos and Grigorios Polychronidis won three sets, and lost one, against Portugal’s Armando Costa and Luis Silva by scores of 2—0, 1—0, 1—0 and 0—1. They enjoyed enthusiastic support from Greek fans repeatedly shouting, “Bravo!” after each took their respective shots. Following the Greek win, supporters broke into rhythmic clapping, continuing their flag-waving and chanting. One of the Greeks competitors rolled his electric wheelchair around, whilst smiling and posing for photos.
Georgian-born Polychronidis holds an accounting degree from the Athens University of Economics and Business. He came into the London Games as a silver medallist from the BC3 individual event at the Beijing Paralympics. Having spinal muscular atrophy, he took up the sport at university where he was introduced to it by George Tzimas.
With London being Pananos’s debut Paralympic Games, he only took up boccia competitively in 2007 and took part in both individual and team events at these Games. Pananos, who has cerebral palsy and is retired, is coached by Andreas Keramidas and plays his club boccia for ASAX Eidiki Olympiada.
Portugal qualified for this match after beating South Korea 4—3 in the semi-finals. The Greeks earned their gold medal round opportunity after beating Belgium who went through pool play undefeated. Portugal won two of their three matches in pool play, losing one, and taking 14 points with only four scored against them. In pool play, Greece won two matches, lost one, and took eight points versus 13 points against them.
Boccia, which is similar to lawn bowls, was first played at the 1984 Summer Paralympics. As a Paralympic sport, it is played by people with cerebral palsy and similar locomotor conditions; players are divided into four different classifications based upon their functional ability.
via Greece defeats Portugal in boccia match at 2012 London Paralympics – Wikinews, the free news source.
Canada’s elegant boccia team
One of my most enjoyable experiences so far at the London Paralympics was meeting and interviewing the Canadian bronze medal-winning boccia team of Josh Vander Vies and Marco Dispaltro. These men are the best possible ambassadors for their sport – or any sport. They are articulate, bilingual and ooze self awareness.
Boccia is somewhat similar to lawn bowling, but is played indoors instead of outside. The aim of the game is to get your team’s balls closer to the white ball (jack ball) than you opponents’. Like Curling, only one team can score per end.
Vander Vies, a Sarnia, Ont., native who I first met when he was 11 years old, is now a 27-year-old studying law at the University of British Columbia. He already holds an honours double degree in political Science and French from the University of Western Ontario. He is an athlete representative for both the International Boccia Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. And in his spare time he has become one of the top 20 boccia players in the world.
His partner, the 45-year-old Dispaltro, has a rich sporting heritage. The St-Jerome, Que., native comes from a wheelchair rugby background. In fact, he played the game for many years and then acted as the sport’s High Performance Director in Canada. Following that he was hired as head coach of the Swedish wheelchair rugby team, which he ran very successfully until 2008. He played boccia for the first time in 2010, and is obviously a natural. But he takes nothing for granted, training religiously in pursuit of perfection.
Getting to the starting line: easier for some than others
If the International Paralympic Committee’s anti-doping code is about fair play and the classification system is meant to have athletes of equal ability competing against each other then the question of technological advantage between nations must be addressed.
The public fascination with the cyborgs of disability (technology body interface) and the ‘normalising’ of Paralympic bodies has been brought to the fore with Oscar Pistorius’ involvement with the Olympics. What will be interesting to observe is whether all Paralympic bodies and sports get an equality of media coverage.
This includes people with high support needs and the sports that they are engaged in. I just hope that the cerebral palsy athletes in Boccia get the coverage they deserve as much as the high profile sports such as amputee track, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
via The Conversation.
Boccia: Cronin advances, Miller misses out
IRELAND’S INDIVIDUAL BOCCIA challenge got off to the best possible start on Wednesday morning when Johnny Cronin won his BC3 seeding match at the ExCeL Arena.
Cronin was the first of three Irish competitors up in the mixed individual event where he beat Nurul Mohammad of Singapore 6-4. He now qualifies for Thursday’s last 16 round.
Bobbie Connolly and Tom Leahy will hope to follow that example with wins of their own when they take to the court in the BC2 classification later this afternoon. Leahy faces Abilio Valente of Portugal at 4.40pm while Connolly is up against Robert Mezik of Slovakia at 5.45pm.
via Paralympics 2012: Cronin advances, Miller misses out · The Score.
Brains beget boccia bronze
From the seat of his motorized wheelchair, Josh Vander Vies tucks the small leather ball between his chin and the stump that is his left arm until the red sphere is steadied.
Then he lifts his chin, takes aim and swings his stump, softly releasing the ball on a 10-foot throw and watching it roll deftly past a blue opponent’s ball to nestle up to the white jack ball.
Inspirational stories are the Paralympics stock in trade, but there are few as compelling as that of Vander Vies, not just for his remarkable ability to play a game so tactical and strategic, but also in the way he has led a life that has been all about creating opportunities.
His sport is boccia, one of three Paralympic specific sports – the others being goalball and wheelchair rugby. And despite being born with no legs and just stumps for arms, Vander Vies, a UBC law student, is one of the world’s best.
On Tuesday, he and BC4 pairs partner, Marco Dispaltro, captured a bronze medal, silencing all but the healthy Canadian contingent inside the Excel Centre by handily defeating a duo from Britain 8-2.
Greece Defeats Portugal in Boccia; Wins Gold at London Paralympics
Greece’s Boccia team won Portugal with 4-1 and managed the Gold medal in the category Boccia Mixed Pairs in London Paralympics 2012. The team consists of Maria-Eleni Kordali, Nikolaos Pananos and Grigorios Polychronidis.
The Greek pair of Nikolaos Pananos and Grigorios Polychronidis won their three sets and lost one against Portugal’s pair of Armando Costa and Luis Silva by scores of 2-0, 1-0, 1-0 and 0-1.
Greek fans entousiastically supported the team and shouted Bravo! after their shots. Following the Greek win, supporters broke out into rhythmic clapping, continued their flag waving and chanted their joy. One of the Greeks rolled his electric wheelchair around with a smile on his face and and posed for pictures.
Georgian-born Polychronidis, who has an accounting degree from the Athens University of Economics and Business, came into the games having earned a silver medal in the individual event at the Beijing Paralympics. Having spinal muscular atrophy, he took up the sport at university where he was introduced to it by George Tzimas.
Josh Vander Vies of UBC captures Paralympics boccia bronze
From the seat of his motorized wheelchair, Josh Vander Vies tucks the small leather ball between his chin and the stump that is his left arm until the red sphere is steadied.Then he lifts his chin, takes aim and swings his stump, softly releasing the ball on a 10-foot throw and watching it roll deftly past a blue opponents ball to nestle up to the white jack ball.Inspirational stories are the Paralympics stock in trade, but there are few as compelling as that of Vander Vies, not just for his remarkable ability to play a game so tactical and strategic, but also in the way he has led a life that has been all about creating opportunities.His sport is boccia, one of three Paralympic specific sports – the others being goalball and wheelchair rugby. And despite being born with no legs and just stumps for arms, Vander Vies, a UBC law student, is one of the worlds best.
via Josh Vander Vies of UBC captures Paralympics boccia bronze.
Scott McCowan on cusp of Paralympic dream
STIRLING student Scott McCowan is preparing to make his Paralympic debut at the weekend.
The 21-year-old boccia player, who studies sport and psychology locally, will compete in the BC3 Mixed Pairs and Mixed Individual events in his sport – similar to French boules.
Scott, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, took up boccia in 2007 and will make his Paralympic debut on Sunday. The London Paralympics get underway today (Wednesday).
Speaking after a weekend training camp in Bath, he said: “We’ve had a number of squad camps recently and it has been going very well, so now it’s more about keeping an eye in, but not tiring ourselves out.
“Watching the Olympics has got everyone pumped up, seeing Britain do so well was really inspiring and now we can’t wait to get going. We have been training in Bath regularly for the past two and a half years, so it’s a home from home.
via Scott McCowan on cusp of realising Paralympic dream – Stirling Observer.
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