Belgium bocce scene ready to expand with new portable courts

Belgium’s thriving Special Olympics scene has been boosted with the recent purchase of six high-quality inflatable bocce courts to take the sport to new locations and communities.

Belgium boasts one of the biggest bocce Special Olympics programmes in Europe and is one of the only countries in the world that holds Special Olympics National Summer Games every year.

The bocce competition at Belgium’s most recent national games allowed for 115 participants, but with the help of the new courts, organisers hope to grow the game and cater for far more in future.

Special Olympics Belgium Sports Executive Bart Oers said the logistical challenge of transporting, storing and setting up courts using wooden court boundary boards had been a problem for years, limiting organisers’ ability to grow the sport.

The wooden courts used to take up eight pallets of storage space and required half a day to set up with the assistance of roughly 20 people, including a specialist assembly co-ordinator who was familiar with each individual block and knew exactly where it had to go, he said.

“That’s one big puzzle and it’s really difficult.”

In comparison, the six new inflatable Packabocce courts used at Belgium’s National Summer Games fit in the boot of a car and took six volunteers with no prior experience about 40 minutes to set up.

“It’s amazing, not only can we can put more time and energy into other stuff, our bocce competition feels and looks so much more professional now.”

Oers said the portability of the new courts opened up the possibility of bringing the game to other sports clubs and also schools, where unified bocce could be played. Unified sports are those that bring together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to play together on the same court or field - generally in teams.

“Because we have the perfect set up now we can take them anywhere and grow bocce.”

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said he was looking forward to seeing the courts unlocking the potential in Belgium’s Special Olympics bocce scene and removing the barriers that prevent more players from enjoying the sport.

“It’s great to see our portable courts making it easier for Belgian bocce fans to get their fix as well as bringing the game to new people who might not have had the opportunity to try it.”

Packabocce courts have become the go-to for many Special Olympics bocce organisers around the world and were used for the bocce competition at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games, held in Berlin in June.

They have previously been used at a variety of other high profile Special Olympics competitions, including many Special Olympics State Games in the USA, National Games across Europe and around the world, and Regional Games in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

> Find out more about our portable bocce courts on our Packabocce product page.