Boccia is a Paralympic sport for athletes with severe disabilities affecting motor skills.

Boccia is a target sport played by individuals, pairs or teams belonging to the same family as bowls. A game of skill, concentration and nerves of steel… yep, I loved Boccia! (pronounced ‘botcha’, in case you were wondering).

It requires a high degree of muscle control, accuracy, concentration and tactical awareness and the goal is to land six of your balls closer to the white target ball than the opponents’ balls.

The jack is thrown first, then each side takes turns to propel their ball towards the jack. The balls can be moved with hands, feet, or, if the competitor’s disability is severe, with an assistive device. At the end of each round, the referee measures the distance of the balls closest to the jack, and awards points accordingly – one point for each ball which is closer to the jack than the opponent’s closest ball. The team/player with the highest number of points at the end of play is the winner.

Boccia is one of the fastest growing International and Paralympic Sports. Over 50 countries have local and / or national competitive programs.

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