Boccia Canada Awards $22,000 in Provincial Development Grants
Tara Chisholm was flown out to Montreal for the Défi sportif AlterGo to be assistant to Gabriel Couturier, the official Technical Delegate for Boccia Canada’s Défi sportif AlterGo National Open
Ottawa, ON (August 4, 2023) – Seven organizations across Canada received $22,000 to support boccia development through Boccia Canada’s 2022-2023 Provincial Development Grant Program.
Grant recipients were keen to activate this year after several years of limited programming under COVID and delivered many boccia projects benefiting children, youth, and adults with disabilities across Canada.
The seven recipients were the Alberta Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (ACPSA), SportAbility, Association québécoise de sports pour paralytiques cérébraux (AQSPC), Boccia Newfoundland and Labrador, the Ontario Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (OCPSA), ParaSport and Recreation PEI, and the Manitoba Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (MCPSA).
The Provincial Development Program supports the development of boccia across Canada, following the principles of the Boccia Long-Term Athlete Development Model. Through this model, provinces are responsible for the Learn to Train, Train to Train, and Train to Compete stages of athlete development. Progression levels within each stage are intended to provide athletes with a solid foundation of technical and tactical skills from which they can become proficient boccia players.
The program enhances existing capacity to deliver programming across five strategic pillars: Recruitment and Development, Daily Training, Coach Education, Official Development and Competition Hosting.
The Alberta Cerebral Palsy Sports Association was able to run an NCCP Community Initiation course for new volunteers as well as skills programs in Medicine Hat and Edmonton. Alberta Coach, Tara Chisholm, was also able to attend the 2023 Défi Sportif AlterGo National Open as Assistant Technical Delegate (ATD) where she learned the ropes from experienced World Boccia Technical Delegate Gabriel Couturier.
“Teaching Tara was fun! She already has so much experience in sports that it made it easier to transmit the information so that she understood. She helped me a lot and did a great job.”
SportAbility received support for three development camps, the Western Boccia Challenge competition, and five boccia “Try It” events for children and youth.
“The funds played a crucial role in the growth of boccia in BC at all levels of participation. We have been able to engage with communities for recruitment, offer training camps at the grassroots and deliver on our annual BC Provincial Championships for active athletes. For coaches, we were able to host an online Community Initiation course in January 2022 to engage new leaders across the province that lead community programs. Finally, we supported the attendance of officials at the Western Boccia Championships for evaluation following their officiating course,” said Jade Werger, Sport Development Coordinator, SportAbility.
New provincial partner ParaSport and Recreation PEI got the ball rolling by purchasing new equipment and supporting the PEI ParaSport Festival, where 98 students with disabilities and approximately 70 staff from across the province participated in a full day of boccia and other parasport activities.
Another highlight was the seven new referees trained by AQSPC, some of whom officiated at the 2023 Défi Sportif AlterGo National Boccia Open.
“We are always impressed by our provincial partners’ commitment to grow and develop boccia across Canada” says Jennifer Larson, Program Manager. “Over the past few challenging years, they have remained positive, flexible and focused on creative ways to recruit and train volunteers, introduce boccia to new participants and support existing athletes to develop their skills. We are proud to partner with them.”
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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. We lead, develop and grow boccia from grassroots to producing World Champions, and we collaborate with partners to increase participation of Canadians with physical disabilities in sport.
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
Holly Janna
Communications Lead and National Team Coordinator, Boccia Canada
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: 613-748-1430 x3 | Cell: 514-944-5193