John Bentley students do well at South West Regional Boccia Championships (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

John Bentley students do well at South West Regional Boccia Championships

8:00am Saturday 16th February 2013 in News

Students from John Bentley School gained their first taste of Paralympic sport at a competitive level during the South West Regional Boccia Championships.

Boccia, which became a Paralympic sport in 1984, is a non-contact sport similar to bowls where players aim to throw their balls as close as possible to the target.

Three students at the school competed against 12 other teams in Exeter to win tenth place overall.

For Chelsea Jinks, Levi Jinks and Leanne Stevens this was only the sixth time they had played the game after learning how to play it in school.

During the game a ball can be propelled by rolling, throwing or kicking. Players can also use a ramp to assist them or, if they are unable to use their hands, a head pointer.

Chelsea, aged 15, said: “It was nice to prove to able bodied people, who might think people in wheelchairs can’t do a lot of sport, that we can actually do it just in a different way.”

Eight other students also attended the championship as game officials.