Rules of Boccia for the Disabled

Boccia is a sport for people with severe spasticity (jīng luán), cerebral palsy or severe physical disabilities. There are four levels of boccia according to the degree of disability of the players, including BC1 and BC2 for cerebral palsy (CP1 or CP2), and BC3 and BC4 for severe physical dysfunction or physical disability. Each of the four levels has a single level competition. BC1 and BC2 can form a team competition with three athletes on the field, one of which must be a member of BC1. BC3 and BC4 have a doubles competition respectively. Both male and female athletes are allowed to compete in each division.

Athletes must be seated in a wheelchair to throw the ball. The score is calculated by the distance of the ball from the target ball, and the one with the highest cumulative score wins the match. The singles and doubles matches will consist of 4 innings, with each player throwing 6 balls in singles and 3 balls in doubles. Team matches*** will have 6 innings, with 3 players from each team throwing 2 balls each in each inning. When a participant's limbs are affected by a severe motor disability, the ball may be pushed out using the feet or an assistive device. The assistive device must not extend beyond the throwing line and the hip must not leave the wheelchair when the ball is thrown, otherwise a penalty point will be awarded or the ball will be disallowed to be thrown.

The playing surface is a flat, smooth wooden floor or plastic indoor arena, 12.5 meters long and 6 meters wide, which must be clean and not waxed or coated with any other smoothing agent. The balls used for the game are six red balls, six blue balls and one white target ball. The sport originated in Italy 20 years ago and became popular in Europe. Because the game skills are easy to master and the rules are simple, it is loved by people with disabilities, and was officially listed as a Paralympic Games event in 1992 with seven medals.

Program features

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Boccia is one of the three special programs (the other two are goalball for the blind and wheelchair rugby) that do not correspond to the Olympic Games among the current 20 Paralympic sports. The athletes who participate are people with severe cerebral palsy or similar conditions that require the use of a wheelchair. People with cerebral palsy are those who have a brain injury that affects muscle motor control and muscle motor coordination. Due to abnormal development in the behavioral aspects of motor reflexes, people with cerebral palsy have poor coordination and balance, so special attention is given to the development of strength, flexibility and coordination in people with cerebral palsy. Boccia is a sport that uses fewer physical movements but requires the use of strategy and skill, making it a particularly suitable competition for people with disabilities who have severe motor control difficulties. At the same time, boccia is a sport that tests athletes' muscle control and accuracy, requiring them to be highly concentrated during the game, which is conducive to the development of body coordination. In conclusion, participating in boccia competition is conducive to the physiological and psychological rehabilitation of cerebral palsy patients. It can be said that the program is a sport that fully embodies humanistic care for people with cerebral palsy.

History

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The English name of boccia comes from the Latin word for ball (bottia). Boccia is an ancient traditional sport whose origins can be traced back to a game of throwing a ball in a circle for accuracy in ancient Greece.In the 16th century, the Italians introduced and improved upon the Greek game of boccia. It developed into the modern sport of bocce. At present, 42 countries and regions have carried out this sport. The boccia program is managed by the International Boccia Committee (IBC) under the International Association of Sports and Recreation for People with Cerebral Palsy.

Boccia first entered the Paralympic Games in 1984. At that time, it was divided into five divisions: men's BC1 and BC2, women's BC1 and BC2, and the team competition (C1C2). As the difference between the sexes in this sport was not very obvious, the men and women were put together in groups at the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games, and doubles competitions began to appear at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games. The IBC then included non-cerebral palsy people with physical and limb impairments in two new categories, BC3 and BC4, allowing them to compete as well. In this way, BC3 athletes were allowed to compete at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000, and BC4 athletes were allowed to compete at the Athens Paralympics in 2004, leading to the current grouping pattern of three major and seven minor competitions.

At present, athletes from Portugal, Spain and South Korea represent the world level of this program. In our country, this project has just been carried out, the mainland has not yet organized a team to participate in the Paralympic Games. However, it is worth mentioning that in the 2004 Athens Paralympics, the first time to send a team to participate in this project competition in Hong Kong, China team won two gold medals. One of them, Leung Yuk Wing, won the singles BC4 level competition with a total score of 38 points. He then won the Doubles BC4 with his teammate Lau Yan Chi. Two more gold medals were added to the Hong Kong, China delegation.