Back To Paralympic Sports
Making its debut as a Paralympic sport in 1984, boccia tests competitors’ degree of muscle control and accuracy. Competing in wheelchairs, athletes throw, kick or use a ramp device to propel leather balls as close as possible to a white ball called the ‘jack’.
Players compete in singles, pairs and teams events.
| Intellectual Impairment | No |
| Physical Impairment | Yes |
| Vision Impairment | No |
A physical impairment is an impairment affecting the physical body and relates to one or more of the following conditions:
Athletes are grouped into classes in accordance with the classification rules. An athlete’s class is based on how their impairment impacts the movement skills required in their sport.
In boccia, players are allocated one of five sport classes ranging from BC1 to BC5. BC5 events are not currently contested at the Paralympic Games.
| BC1, BC2, BC3, BC4, BC5 | Athletes with a physical impairment |
| Not Eligible | Does not have an eligible impairment type and/or meet the minimum impairment criteria for boccia |
A boccia ball is made of natural or synthetic leather and is slightly bigger than a tennis ball. Any ball will be accepted for play from any manufacturer providing it weighs 275g (+/- 12g) and measures 270mm in circumference (+/- 8mm). There are six red and six blue balls to indicate which team is playing, and one white ball called the ‘jack’.
A boccia court measures 12.5m long by 6m wide. The throwing area is split into six rectangles, and there are lines shaped like a ‘V’ which the ball must cross for a throw to be valid. A cross marks the position where the jack must be placed if it touches or crosses the boundary line, or in the event of a tiebreaker. The surface of the court is flat and smooth.
A dead ball container is placed at the end of the court. A ball is ‘dead’ if it is thrown after the time limit or out of the court, or if an athlete makes a rule violation during their throw.
A measuring device is used to accurately measure the distance of each ball from the jack.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
We encourage those wishing to explore boccia to contact their state federation in the first instance. The national federation link below provides information on the national high performance program leading to competing internationally and at the Paralympic Games.
| National Federation | ||
| Organisation | Website | |
| Boccia Australia | boccia.com.au/home | |
| State Federations | ||
| State | Organisation | Website |
| ACT | ACT Boccia | revolutionise.com.au/bocciaact |
| NSW | Boccia NSW | revolutionise.com.au/bocciansw |
| QLD | Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association | sportingwheelies.org.au/?s=boccia |
| SA | Boccia SA | revolutionise.com.au/bocciasa |
| TAS | Boccia TAS | revolutionise.com.au/bocciatas/ |
| VIC | Boccia VIC | boccia.com.au/get-involved/Victoria/ |
| facebook.com/bocciavic | ||
| WA | Boccia WA | wadsa.org.au/wd_activity/boccia-wa/ |
