29 May BOCCIA SESSIONS HELP PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Huddersfield Town Foundation work hard throughout the year to provide as many inclusive programmes as possible, one of which includes Boccia.

Boccia has been a Paralympic sport since 1984 and is very similar to Crown Green Bowls. It is a version of the game that makes low intensity exercise accessible to all.

The sport requires only chairs and a Bowls kit! All of the same rules apply, however in this version, the players stay sat down and work on their arm movements and accuracy. One of the team members throws the ‘jack’, as normal in Bowls, then the rest of the players have to try throw a ball as close as they can whilst sat down. The winner is whoever gets the closest!

At the Branches Day Centre, Batley, Boccia has been a staple activity for the mature adults with learning difficulties.

The game helps the participants to keep range of movement in their upper-body, and the score is always kept so there is a real incentive to win and keep pushing their limits!

Josh Smith, The Town Foundation’s Disability Development Coach, and his team put this session on every week along with many others!

Their aim is to ‘help people with disabilities to become more active, independent and involved in their wider community, and ultimately enjoy the power of sport’.

Josh spoke on what he sees as some of the biggest benefits of the programme at Branches Day Centre:

“I think the main benefit for programme is the physical activity itself.

“There are some big football fans here, and they may not get the chance to play any football activities with restricted mobility.

“So, something like Boccia gives them that chance to get involved in sport!”