Paralympic Boccia – overview, rules and classification
Great Britain won Paralympic gold in the BC1/BC2 Team and a silver in the Individual BC2 in Beijing in 2008. It was an outstanding performance from the GB Boccia team, and they have set themselves similarly ambitious targets for 2012.
Since Beijing, the British team has maintained its reputation as a leading nation in Boccia.
At the 2009 European Championships the team won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze. David Smith won gold in the Individual BC1 event and Nigel Murray won bronze in the Individual BC2 event. The duo then teamed up with Zoe Robinson, Dan Bentley and Andrew Morgan to win silver in the BC1/BC2 Team event. Meanwhile brothers Stephen and Peter McGuire and Jamie Kelly won GB’s second gold in the Pairs BC4. Sadly, Jamie passed away in 2011 at the age of 17.
At the 2010 World Championships, Nigel Murray went one better than at the Europeans to win silver in Individual BC2, while Stephen McGuire secured silver in Individual BC4 and then joined Peter to win the same colour in Pairs BC4.
The 2011 World Cup in Belfast saw the BC1/BC2 Team pick up a bronze while Nigel Murray kept up his record of medalling in every Individual BC2 event since Beijing with silver, thus retaining his World No.1 ranking. The BC3s had their best performance for many years with the Pair finishing sixth and Jacob Thomas coming fifth on his major championship debut.
The final qualification event, the 2011 Europa Cup, saw David Smith and Dan Bentley win Individual BC1 and BC2 golds respectively. Stephen McGuire won BC4 silver with brother Peter picking up the bronze.
At the London Prepares Test Event in May 2012, British athletes won five medals: gold for David Smith in Individual BC1, gold for Nigel Murray in Individual BC2, gold for Jacob Thomas and Jess Hunter in BC3 Pairs, bronze for Jacob Thomas in Individual BC3 and bronze for Team BC1/BC2.
GB Boccia has also invested in talent identification and development, with the result that several athletes have been fast-tracked onto the GB squad. Both Jess Hunter and Jacob Thomas were identified through a systematic talent programme and are hoping to compete in London.
Boccia explained – by the experts!
Not many people know about Boccia. But at John Grant School we play Boccia and have a lunchtime and after-school club.
We are young Boccia officials, which means we know how to referee games.
As an official we have to keep score and check players aren’t crossing other players’ lines, but we can never touch the ball. It can be quite tough as you have to keep concentrating.
One of the good things about Boccia is that anyone can play it and it’s good fun!
History of the Sport
Boccia is a very old game. Boccia comes from the Latin word meaning ball. It was played by the ancient Greeks and today it is a part of the Paralympic Games
Boccia was first introduced to the Paralympic Games at Stoke Mandeville in 1984
In the 2008 Beijing Games the Great Britain team won a gold medal
In the London 2012 Games the Boccia will take place at the ExCeL Centre
via School Report – Paralympics 2012: Boccia explained – by the experts!.
You may not know about – Boccia
Boccia is a precision sport focusing on muscle control and accuracy which resembles boules. Athletes propel balls towards a white target ball known as the jack playing either four ends (that’s rounds to you and me) for individual and pairs and six ends for teams. Each player, pair or team gets six balls during each end and the athlete, pair or team whose ball is closest to the jack at the close of an end scores one point, and an extra point for every ball that’s closer to the jack than the opposition’s closest ball.
Players must be in a wheelchair as a result of cerebral palsy or other related locomotor conditions such as muscular dystrophy. There are four classifications relating to the athletes ability within the sport. They are:
BC1 – athletes with cerebral palsy who can either kick or throw the ball
BC2 – athletes with cerebral palsy who find it a little easier to throw than BC1 athletes
BC3 – athletes with cerebral palsy who cannot independently kick or throw the ball three metres, and who therefore use a ramp
BC4 – athletes with an impairment other than cerebral palsy who have difficulty in throwing the ball
via Five Paralympic sports you may not know about – Now. Here. This. – Time Out London.
Boccia: Facts & Encyclopedia Article
Boccia is a traditional recreational sport, similar to bocce. The name Boccia is derived from the Latin word for boss – bottia. The sport is competed at national and international level, by athletes who require a wheelchair because of physical disability. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984 it became a Paralympic sport, and in 2008 was being practiced in over fifty countries worldwide. Boccia is governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association CPISRA and is one of three Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program.
via Boccia: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article.
GB Boccia – about them
The Great Britain Boccia Federation (GBBF) was formed in 2007 to meet the growing need for Boccia to have a co-ordinated Great Britain wide approach to the development of the elite level of the sport.
Previously ‘Great Britain’ had only competed as a unified team at the Paralympic Games. The Home Countries had sent separate teams to European Championships, World Championships and World Cups. These events contribute to world ranking positions and prior to 2007 Great Britain would only qualify for the Paralympic Games based on the position of the highest ranked Home Country. Now Great Britain attend these championships and are able to send the best players from across England, Scotland and Wales in one unified team. The Home Countries continue to send representative teams to non ranking events.
via ABOUT US – GB Boccia.
The Rules Of Boccia
Boccia is an attack and defend game, with two sides competing over a set number of ends. The aim is to score as many points as possible by placing their set of coloured balls closest to the white ‘Jack’ ball.
news from the world of Boccia 