Train the Trainer - Boccia

It was a full house on March 28th at Marquette Park for the second Train the Trainer session, this time focusing on the sport of boccia.  More chairs had to be brought in to accommodate everyone who came to learn, and the coaches could not have been happier.

The two premier boccia coaches in the United States were on hand to lead the session, and they knew their boccia.

Boccia has been part of the Paralympics since 1984 and has been growing fast.  The game was originally geared towards athletes with Cerebral Palsy but is now open to all athletes with significant disabilities.

“I kind of fell in love with the idea that there were extremely competitive sports out there for athletes with significant disabilities,” said Kathy Brinker of how she drawn into the sport of boccia.

Cathy Drobny flew all the way from Kansas, where she coaches, to be part of the event.  Cathy is a national and international referee and has been a part of boccia at every Paralympics since Seoul in 1988.

Kathy Brinker is from right here in the Chicago area and is currently coaching a number of athletes with Olympic aspirations through the Windy City Warriors.  She has 19 years of boccia experience and is an international and national referee who hosted national games in 2006 and 2007 in Chicago.

The women provided an extremely informative and thorough presentation about all things boccia in order to give everyone a basic understanding of the game and its rules.

But the best part of the session was when two boccia masters demonstrated how they play and even allowed some of the coaches to challenge them to a game.

Kenny Johnson, a Paralympian in 1992 and 1996, demonstrated how many athletes with his disability play the game.  He even talked a little bit about strategies he uses and why they work for him.

Chris Lenart also came to demonstrate a different type of boccia, as he plays with a ramp.

Athletes can either use their hands, feet or head to release the ball onto the court.  Athletes, who use their head, use it in conjunction with a ramp, holding the ball in place with a head device made for the specific purpose.   

Because boccia is a Paralympic event reserved for those athletes with more severe disabilities it is often harder to find athletes to play in the first place. 
 
These two boccia coaches are hoping that by spreading the word through events such as this, they will be able to reach those people who qualify for the sport and don’t even know that they could win a gold medal at the Olympics.

For more photos from this event, please visit our flickr page.