Boccia is a game of strategy and accuracy that was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy. Now, the sport includes athletes with impairments that affect motor skills.

The sport is played on a flat, smooth surface, where players must throw or roll coloured balls as close as possible to a white target ball, known as the “jack.” The player, pair or team with the most balls near the jack is the winner.

The individual and pair matches consist of four ends, while team matches have six ends. After each end, the athlete, pair or team with the ball closest to the jack receive one point, and an additional point for every ball that is closer to the jack than their opponent’s.

Each athlete, pair or team “throws” six balls per end.

Boccia Classes (BCs)

BC1: Players in this class throw the ball with the hand or foot. They may compete with an assistant who stays outside of the competitor’s playing box, to stabilize or adjust their playing chair and give the ball to the player when requested.

BC2: Players in this class throw the ball with the hand. They are not eligible for assistance.

BC3: Players in this class have very severe locomotor dysfunction in all four extremities. Players in this class have no sustained grasp or release action and although they may have arm movement, they have insufficient range of movement to propel a Boccia ball onto the court. They may use an assistive device such as a ramp to deliver the ball. They may compete with an assistant; assistants must keep their back to the court and their eyes averted from play.

BC4: Players in this class have severe locomotor dysfunction of all four extremities as well as poor trunk control. They can demonstrate sufficient dexterity to throw the ball onto the court. Players are not eligible for assistance.

History

Boccia is perhaps the earliest game ever played by mankind, with roots in ancient Greece and Egypt. It has roots in Greece, where players threw large stones at a stone target. There were also objects and mural engravings relating to a similar form of the sport that were found as early as 5200 BC during the excavation of the tombs in Egypt. The sport was also played in market places and in the streets during the Middle Ages, and the word ‘boccia’ is derived from the Italian meaning to bowl.

One of the most famous games of boccia was played by Sir Francis Drake and Lord Howard in Plymouth, England, in 1588. They played whilst waiting for the arrival of the Spanish Armada and Sir Francis Drake insisted on finishing the game before sailing out to defeat the enemy.

The sport eventually became wide spread and was initially designed for people with cerebral palsy. It is now played by people who have any kind of neurological impairment that affects their motor function.

Paralympic Debut

Boccia was practised for many years as a leisure activity before being introduced at the New York 1984 Paralympics as a competitive sport. It is one of only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart (goalball being the other) and is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed).

Iran Boccia

In Iran, Boccia was first practiced in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, the first group of Iranian athletes were sent to Malaysia to take part in the 2006 FESPIC Games and compete against the Asian competitors.

Currently, Boccia is played in the majority of the provinces across the country, under the supervision of Iran Sports Federation for the Enabled (IRISFE) which is member and also under support of I.R.I NPC.

Para athletics is the biggest sport within the Paralympic Movement in terms of the number of participating athletes and countries. Its wide range of competition opportunities includes the Paralympic Games, biennial World and World Junior Championships and biennial or quadrennial regional Championships.

History

The first Para athletics competition was held in 1952 when several athletes with a spinal cord injury took part in a javelin event as part of the Stoke Mandeville Games which served injured World War II veterans.

Paralympic Debut

The sport has been included in all editions of the Paralympic Games from Rome 1960 onwards.

Classification

There are 10 eligible impairment types in Para Athletics: eight physical impairments as well as vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

Athletes compete according to their sport specific classification in each event. Some compete in wheelchairs and some with prostheses, while vision impaired athletes are supported by a sighted guide.

Iran Para Athletics

Para athletics made its debut in 1980 with the first national championships taking place in the same year.

In 1983, National Para Athletics team represented at Stoke Mandeville World Competition in the UK.

Currently, all para athletes divided into two groups including the athletes with a Vision Impairment (VI) under support of IRISFB, the athletes with a Physical Impairment (PI) and the athletes with an intellectual impairment who are under support of IRISFE. Both national federations are the members of I.R. Iran NPC to receive support.

As the ultimate test of accuracy and skill, Shooting Para Sport debuted at 1976 Paralympic Games with only three events, and was featured in every Paralympic Games ever since.

This sport is practiced in individual and team events according to the following classifications:

Class SH1 for pistol and rifle contestants with 10 events

Class SH2 which features rifle shooters and is divided into 2 events.

This sport was adopted in Iran in 1982. The first edition of the national championships was staged next year in 1983.

Being widely played by over 10,000 athletes across the world, Sitting Volleyball officially debuted in 1956 by the Dutch Sports Committee with modified abled-bodied rules of volleyball for sitting athletes. This sport made its first Paralympic appearance at the Arnhem 1980 Paralympic Games and turned out to be a regular fixture ever since.

Sitting Volleyball made its debut in Iran in 1980 with the first national championships taking place in the same year. Team Iran made its first international appearance 4 years later in 1984 when they took part in the competitions in Norway.

Team Iran with 7 gold and 2 silver out of 9 Paralympic appearances has etched its name in the history books as the most decorated team.

This fast-paced Paralympic sport was first played by some American war veterans in 1945, with its first tournament being delivered in Illinois in 1949. At the same time in England, netball was played by British war veterans at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital which was later switched to wheelchair basketball, and finally this sport set to make its first Paralympic appearance in 1960.

Wheelchair basketball debuted in 1980 in Iran with the first local tournament taking place in the same year. Team Iran made its first international appearance in 1981.

Para swimming as one of the most popular sports in the Paralympic Movement was featured at the first edition of the Paralympic Games in Rome 1960. This sport is classified according to the functional ability of the swimmers and is divided into three types of impairment: physical Impairment, visual Impairment and intellectual Impairment.

Para swimming made its debut in 1980 in Iran with the first national championships for the Iranian swimmers, and in 1993, a team of top Iranian swimmers were sent to the international tournament of war veterans in 1993.

Para swimming is now open for men and women in Iran and is practiced across 31 provinces.

Physical Impairments

• Amputees/Dysmelia;

• Cerebral palsy/acquired brain injury;

• Spinal cord injury/polio; dwarfism

• Others (Major joint restrictions, coordination restriction, limb paralysis/weakness)

Visual Impairments

• Blind; visually impaired

Intellectual Impairments

• Typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.

Para powerlifting made its first Paralympic appearance in Tokyo 1964 featuring athletes with spinal cord injuries. This sport, now, has 10 categories dividing athletes into 10 bodyweight groups for each gender.

Para powerlifting made its debut in 1980 in Iran. Eight years later, Team Iran experience its first international appearance at the Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games. In 2016, Siamand Rahman cleared the bar at an unprecedented 310 kg to break the world record and won his second gold in the super heavyweight.