STUDENTS OF VILLA EL SALVADOR LEARN ABOUT STRATEGY AND PRECISION OF BOCCIA

More than 600 students and teachers of the N ° 7094 Sasakawa and Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo schools in Villa El Salvador had an exciting day and learned about boccia, a precision discipline that has been designed exclusively for people with cerebral palsy and motor impairment.

The pool stage of this competition started today at the Villa El Salvador Sports Center. Fifty-two Para athletes from 11 countries will compete for the seven medals awarded for this sport.

Young students from both schools attended this sports celebration, thanks to the second stage of the “Soy Lima 2019” campaign. Más de ochenta mil estudiantes se han beneficiado con las entradas solidarias. 

The principal of the Nº 7094 Sasakawa school, Ada Rosa Figueroa, said the Parapan American Games gave her students a life lesson because it allows them to learn about new sports and the Para athletes’ desire to move forward, as well as their struggles, enthusiasm and energy. Thanks to these experiences, students learn to value more what they have and what they can achieve.

The vice principal of the Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo school, Rosa Picho, said that thanks to the Parapan American Games, students are learning to be supportive of people with an impairment. Picho also highlights the sensitivity with them in each of the competitions she attended, which turns Lima into an impairment-friendly city.

Boccia: precision in each movement

It is a Para sport involving strategy and precision that was originally created for athletes with cerebral palsy, but nowadays it is played by people with different physical impairments.

Boccia has four sport classes: BC1 for Para athletes with cerebral palsy and may have a sport assistant to perform actions such as give the ball; BC2 for Para athletes with cerebral palsy who do not require an assistant; BC3 for those with cerebral palsy or a severe physical impairment who are allowed to use a ramp to throw the ball; and BC4 for athletes with non-cerebral impairments who do not require an assistant to throw the ball.

The Peruvian team for the Lima 2019 Games is made up of Dean Acosta, Carlos Cano, Javier Soto, and María Cecilia Pancca.

Boccia players have six balls of different colors (red and blue), and the game starts with a player throwing a white or target ball. A point is scored for each ball getting as close as possible to the target ball, in relation to the rivals.

“Soy Lima 2019” Campaign

The Lima 2019 Organizing Committee developed this initiative from April this year. The campaign has three stages. The first one included visiting many schools in Lima to teach the Olympic and Paralympic values such as equality, inspiration, courage, and determination through activations, socio-cultural activities and the participation of high-performance athletes.

In the second stage, students attend a competition to learn about new Para sport disciplines, so that they inspire more boys and girls, and raise awareness for the future. Also, it builds a society with more opportunities for people with an impairment.

The third and last stage will be the application of the lessons learned from the Pan American and Parapan American Games at the schools.