Boccia Canada Announces its 2017-18 National Training Squad
Ottawa, ON (April 21, 2017) – Boccia Canada is excited to announce the 16 athletes named to the 2017-18 Boccia National Training Squad. The squad has a great variety of players, from up-and coming athletes to Paralympic veterans.
Prospective athletes were invited to attend a selection camp in Montreal in March prior to the 2017 Canadian Boccia Championships, where coaches were able to test the skills of each athlete. Despite a snowy start, the athletes gave it their all and coaches were impressed by the high calibre of boccia they demonstrated.
“It is with great excitement that we welcome these 16 athletes onto the 2017 National Training Squad,” comments Head Coach Mario Delisle. “In this first year of the quadrennial we will be focusing on events happening in the Americas and some of these athletes will have the occasion to participate in their first international event. Meanwhile others will continue their international progressions and quest for podiums. In 2017, the coaches are looking forward to great opportunities to build confidence and succeed thru individual specific training and targeted competitions.”
The full list of players named to the National Training Squad is listed below.
BC1
Hanif Mawji (Burnaby, BC)
Brock Richardson (Brampton, ON)
Josée Lamothe (Trois-Rivières, QC)
Éric Lefebvre (Montreal, QC)
BC2
Adam Dukovich (London, ON)
Benoit Ostiguy (Montreal, QC)
Tammy McLeod (London, ON)
Mike Mercer (St. John’s, NL)
BC3
Eric Bussière (Montreal, QC)
Bruno Garneau (Montreal, QC)
Philippe Lord (Montreal, QC)
Marylou Martineau (Quebec, QC)
Paul Gauthier (New Westminster, BC)
BC4
Marco Dispaltro (St-Jerome, QC)
Alison Levine (Cote Saint Luc, QC)
Iulian Ciobanu (Montreal, QC)
About Boccia Canada
Boccia Canada is the boccia delivery arm of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA), the National Sport Organization for the Paralympic sport of boccia. Boccia Canada is focused on providing athletes and individuals of all ages and skill with the chance to play a unique Paralympic sport. CCPSA collaborates with partners to increase the participation of Canadians with cerebral palsy and related disabilities in sport and physical activity, while leading, developing and growing boccia from grassroots, to producing World and Paralympic Champions.
About boccia
Boccia is a Paralympic sport of precision and strategy similar to lawn bowling or curling, played by athletes with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and related disabilities. It is one of only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart. Athletes compete in one of six sport classes based on their level and type of disability: BC1, BC2, BC3 BC4, BC5, and Open.
Media contact:
Kaymin Roorda
Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Boccia Canada
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: (613)806-5669