2008 Woodie Awards
'Boccia' tourney gives special athletes a chance
Mindy Townsend
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Sports
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| A boccia tournament will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 28, in the John Lance Arena. Daniel Fitzpatrick, junior in recreation administration, says the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation has been planning the tournament since February. Boccia is similar to bocce, but is designed for people with physical disabilities. It is a game of precision; a player's goal is to get all of his or her balls closest to the target ball on a long, narrow court. Fitzpatrick says this is the first year for the tournament, but the department hopes to make it an annual event. "We realized there wasn't (a boccia tournament) in the area and decided we could get one going at Pitt State," he said. Boccia is an individual sport with three class divisions; class one, class two upper and class two lower. Class one is for athletes with severe limitations, class two upper is less severe and class two lower is even less severe. Athletes will compete only against those will similar abilities. There are also divisions, including three youth divisions, an open division for ages 16-39 and a masters division for athletes over age 40. People participating will be wheelchair athletes with cerebral palsy and survivors of brain injuries or strokes. In addition, there are divisions for athletes who throw the balls and divisions for athletes to roll the balls down a ramp. Registration is still open for the tournament. Fitzpatrick says they have handed out fliers and are expecting more people to sign up in the coming week. There is a $5 charge and the tournament is sponsored by the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, with the help of students in the Recreation Programming class. |
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