Continuing the work to make boccia a global sport, World Boccia was fortunate to receive a Sports Technical Training grant from the International Paralympic Committee. This grant allowed us to deliver World Boccia Level 1 in Coaching courses for aspiring boccia coaches in regions, where boccia being introduced and developed.
Over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of December, the Jamaican World Boccia member, Boccia Jamaica, organised and hosted the level 1 course in Kingston, Jamaica for attendants from all over the Caribbean.
From Bermuda to Trinidad and Tobago; 9 budding Caribbean coaches successfully received their World Boccia Level 1 in Coaching.
The level 1 course in Kingston, was delivered by World Boccia coach educators Joana Catarina Silva (Portugal) and Camilo Ortega Arellano (Colombia). Participants learned all the basics to be good coaches and to spread the game of boccia to not only the players in their countries, but also to educate parents, teachers, therapists, and coaches on the sport.
Local organiser and Boccia Jamaica President Peter Hornig was delighted with the energy in the group and the enthusiasm that everyone had from start to finish of the course.
“Seeing the Sport of Boccia blossom in the Caribbean has been captivating from the start of my undertaking. This course brought it all home that we are moving in the right direction. The energy, competitiveness, and drive in the room was magical. Seeing all the attendees their drive to go out there and change the Caribbean through boccia will not go unnoticed for long. As a region, we are very sports-focused, so I am sure Caribbean countries will be making waves at International level competition very soon while ensuring we have a healthy grassroots level of play so that everyone can enjoy boccia.”
The course also facilitated invaluable in-person conversations on issues a lot of Caribbean nations face in developing Parasport and offered the chance to find solutions and work on a regional roadmap for the development of boccia players from the region – while also allowing Joana and Camilo to share their experience in coaching Boccia.
Countries that attended the course were Jamaica, Bermuda, Grenada, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. All participating nations also received a set of boccia balls and a refereeing kit from Tutti per Tutti so that they can apply their newly acquired boccia coaching knowledge with quality boccia equipment.
Congratulations to all our new coaches in the Caribbean.
