Packaworld’s portable bocce courts made their first appearance at the birthplace of the ancient sport on the weekend when they were used for a special bocce event held during the Lions Clubs International Convention in Milan, Italy.

The event was run by Special Olympics and Lions Club International as part of an annual tradition that sees Special Olympics athletes and Lions Club members compete in a different unified sport at each international Lions convention.

Special Olympics Director of Sport & Development Christian Guiralt said the event was a great example of sport’s ability to bring people together.

“There was a lot of participation and everyone was so excited with the new courts.”

When it comes to what makes bocce special, there are few people better qualified to comment than Special Olympics Bocce Sports Resource Team chairman Mike Ryan.

Known to some as "Mr Bocce", the hardworking New Zealander has been involved in the sport for 25 years.

There’s no doubting his passion either – his car number plate is BOCCE and he has "bocce" tattooed on him in Greek, Arabic, Chinese and English – one for each of the Special Olympics World Games he’s attended as either a bocce coach or technical advisor.

We caught up with Mike to ask his views on what makes bocce so popular in the Special Olympics, and what it might take for it to achieve world domination.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef became the stage for a world-first water polo event on Sunday, when members of the Australian women’s water polo team took to its warm tropical waters for a one-of-a-kind exhibition match.

The match was organised by Cairns Water Polo Club and Sunlover Reef Cruises, with special permission from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It was played 47 km offshore alongside the Moore Reef Marine Base using a portable Packaworld water polo field and Water Polo Packagoals.

“It was a pretty spectacular day,” says Cairns Water Polo president Jesse O’Hara.

“The blue and green colours were just shining through the water, the reef was looking great and there were plenty of fish around.”

Twelve teams from across England plunged into the waters off Liverpool’s Historic Royal Albert Dock on Saturday for the second MANUP! Water Polo Festival of 2019.

The event saw eight men’s teams and four women’s teams play non-stop, back to back games in soaring summer temperatures in a fantastic outdoor location.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said teams from Oxford, Durham and Loughborough Universities travelled to the event to participate, joining City of Birmingham, Bridgefield, Liverpool, Warrington, Chester, Tyldesley and Castleford.

Liverpool club Bridgefield narrowly beat last year’s Salford Quays MANUP! Water Polo competition winners Castleford in the men’s final, with City of Liverpool victorious against Tyldesley in the women’s final.

Packaworld has bolstered its East Asia team with the appointment of Alfred Xie as sales manager for the region.

Mr Xie has worked in the sports industry for the past five years and brings strong experience in sales, marketing and product development.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said the appointment would improve Packaworld’s ability to bring portable sporting solutions to customers in China and across all of East Asia.

"Demand for our portable sports solutions is growing rapidly in Asia so its fantastic to have Alfred on board. Our Packabocce courts are proving particularly popular and are now used in bars, on cruise ships and by many Special Olympics clubs as part of their bocce ball programmes."

​Mr Xie is based in Shanghai and is a fluent Chinese speaker. Mr Roberts said his communication skills and “can do” attitude would ensure Packaworld continued to provide exceptional service to East Asian customers.

New inflatable goalball goals are helping a Canadian sport organisation introduce sport and physical activity to aspiring blind and low vision participants, as well as supporting its high-performance goalball athletes.

The Alberta Sports and Recreation Association for the Blind (ASRAB) has recently received two portable Goalball Packagoals from New Zealand company Packaworld International. The unique goals are the same size as conventional nine-metre-wide metal goalball goals but are inflatable, making them easy to transport and store.

ASRAB Executive Director Linda MacPhail said the new goals would play an important part in helping the Association to take its sport and recreation programmes to people with vision impairments in more towns and cities across Alberta.

Some of the young guns of English water polo dived into Nantwich Outdoor Pool in Cheshire, England, on Saturday for the MANUP! Junior Edition festival of open-air water polo.

The festival was the first in a series of three unique open-air events being run by MANUP! Water Polo this year. Packaworld is sponsoring the series by providing portable Water Polo Packagoals for all matches.

MANUP! Water Polo Co-founder Craig Stowell said the Nantwich event attracted 10 teams from across England with players aged 15 and under. Liverpool-based Bridgefield Water Polo Club finished in first place, beating City of Sheffield Water Polo Club in a hard-fought final.

“It was a great day out and a real showcase of the talented young players that are emerging in England," he said.

Portable courts making bocce ball more accessible around the world were used last week to host the next generation of bocce ball stars at the Special Olympics Ontario Invitational Youth Games in Canada.

More than 2,000 student athletes from around the world descended on Toronto for the four-day event, which ran from 14-17 May.

The bocce ball competition was held at the University of Toronto’s St George Campus, where more than 240 young athletes competed for gold on 10 inflatable Packabocce courts.

The innovative courts feature a lightweight but durable design that makes them easier to transport, set up and store than bocce ball courts made out of wood or PVC piping.