Player Stories

I’m not a sporting person, but I got the boccia bug and with six month’s experience of club Boccia, I attended a Level One Officials course, well led by Tutor Richard. I quote from his closing words: “You’ll officiate at a couple of matches to qualify, but don’t...

How did you first get involved in Boccia? It all started back in 2017 at a school competition. I had gone there for fun with our inclusive sports team. Whilst playing a match, Pete the referee (club lead at Nottinghamshire Boccia Club) was paying close attention to...

I first heard about boccia at secondary school and after attending the weekly club for around two years we went on a trip to watch boccia being played at the London 2012 Paralympic games. After this trip we held a young official’s course at school which I attended....

England Performance Group athlete, Gabriella Rolls, tells us all about the transformative effect watching the Paralympics has had on her life. I discovered the Paralympics aged 8, due to the London 2012 coverage. It was the first time I'd seen anyone like me on TV,...

In celebration of Boccia England's 10th birthday, we are shining the spotlight on 10 of our fantastic boccia clubs this year. Here we're giving an insight into the boccia sessions run by ActivLives. ActivLives is a small charity based in Ipswich. They run a variety of...

My name is Azhad and I am a BC3 athlete and an aspiring Paralympian. I have been playing boccia for almost seven years after finding about it in school. I have always loved physical sport and I was determined to find something that I could play. Boccia gave me an...

Imagine being the only disabled sports enthusiast in an able-bodied school. That’s what it was like (and can still be like) for many of the severely disabled young people whom Boccia England help today. Without Boccia England’s existence and education these potential...

I first picked up a Boccia ball early 2017 when I was 33 years old. I had graduated from university and qualified as a primary school teacher but sadly the teaching world was not as inclusive as I had hoped. It became exhausting as my disability side effects worsened....

Here Sophie Coyne, from Merseyside, tells us about the impact playing and volunteering in boccia has had on her life and why she believes the sport is so powerful. I started playing boccia in 2010 at Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, a special educational needs...