Bocce courts featuring a revolutionary inflatable design were centre stage at the USA’s largest Special Olympics state games in Florida over the weekend.

Developed by Packaworld International, the inflatable Packabocce courts feature a lightweight but highly durable design that makes them far more portable than traditional bocce ball courts made out of wood or stone.

More than 5,000 athletes, coaches, volunteers and family members took part in the Special Olympics Florida State Summer Games, hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, Orlando.

Hundreds more American Special Olympics athletes will soon be bowling their way to bocce bliss following a decision by Special Olympics Florida to purchase 28 new portable playing courts to help grow the game across the state.

Special Olympics Florida Vice President – Operations Akin Joseph said the courts, which arrived last month, had been impressive at their debut at the Area 8 Summer Games in Tampa.

Inflatable ‘Packabocce’ courts, first developed in 2013 by Packaworld International, feature a lightweight but highly durable design that makes them far more portable than traditional bocce courts made out of wood or stone.

The nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines may be home to just 100,000 people, but that isn’t stopping it from sending a bocce team to the United Arab Emirates to compete at the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi.

In 2015, the tiny Caribbean nation returned to the World Summer Games in Los Angeles after a 10-year absence to win silver in the sport of bocce. This time, they are out for gold with the support of portable bocce courts from Packaworld International.

Special Olympics Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has purchased competition and recreation-sized ‘Packabocce’ courts to aid their bocce team’s training efforts for the World Summer Games and help them increase participation in the sport of bocce across the nation’s nine inhabited islands.

The number of athletes playing bocce at the 2017 Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games has increased by 28 per cent since the previous event – and inflatable courts from Packaworld International have been a driving force behind rising participation.

The National Summer Games bocce tournament was played at the Hutt Indoor Sports Centre from 27-30 November 2017 using inflatable ‘Packabocce’ courts, which first transformed the way bocce is played in New Zealand in 2013.
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Special Olympics Regional Sports Coordinator Jayden Richards said the event had gone fantastically well, and was closely contested between athletes from 10 New Zealand clubs. 

The sport of bocce appeared alongside superstars such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers and Jay-Z at the Austin City Limits Music Festival last month.

The annual music festival in Austin, Texas is a celebration of music over two consecutive weekends, and draws a crowd of nearly 500,000 music lovers each year. The inclusion of bocce outside the wine lounge and inside the artists’ area provided hundreds of festival-goers and musicians with the opportunity to enjoy a game of bocce between acts.

​“The courts added a whole new dimension to the festival,” said Peter Norris, the Austin Territory Manager for the American Bocce Company.

Wellington’s Village at the Park has become one of the first lifestyle villages in New Zealand to offer bocce after the ancient Italian sport graced its halls during Seniors’ Week.

​An introductory ‘have a go’ session was run by Packaworld International CEO Peter Roberts, who showcased bocce to a group of intrigued residents using one of Packaworld’s world-first inflatable mini bocce courts.

​Bocce is an ideal sport for people of all ages and abilities because it relies on skill rather than athleticism. The game shares a common heritage with bowls and petanque, but is played in a court with walls. This allows different strategies such as rebound plays.

Sports enthusiasts in several Asian countries will now be able to buy a range of unique sports equipment from New Zealand company Packaworld International, thanks to an agreement with one of China’s leading sports equipment suppliers, AirGoal Sports.

Following several years of collaboration, Packaworld and AirGoal Sports have entered a distribution agreement, which extends Packaworld’s distribution network to east Asian countries, including China.

Packaworld CEO Peter Roberts said the agreement was a significant milestone in Packaworld’s history and a huge step towards achieving the company’s vision of bringing the joy of sport to more people around the world.

Special Olympics athletes from across South and Central America experienced the magic of portable Packabocce courts during the recent 2017 Latin American Special Olympics Games bocce tournament in Panama City.

Bocce is an ancient sport of Italian origin, similar to petanque but played within a court with raised sides.

​Latin American Special Olympics Sports Director Domenico Carnevali said the inflatable 60 x 12-foot competition size Packabocce courts produced by Packaworld International had performed admirably over five days of solid competition play, and had captured a lot of people’s imagination.

Innovative inflatable sports courts produced by Packaworld International will take the field at the Latin American Special Olympics Games in Panama this April, along with more than 800 athletes from 21 countries.

The courts provide the arenas for the sport of bocce, an ancient Italian sport similar to pétanque and lawn bowls, to be contested by 110 athletes from 13 countries at the event.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said competition bocce courts were 60 feet long and 12 feet wide, and were traditionally built into venues or composed of bulky materials.

Winter rains and falling snow spell the end of the bocce season for many American players. But in Philadephia, the arrival of portable Packabocce courts, produced by sporting goods supplier Packaworld, has provided local players with an easy way to bring the game indoors over the colder months.

All-American Liberty Leagues co-founders Sam Holloschutz and Kyle Fernley say there have been “rave reviews” after three weeks of their first eight-week indoor season, hosted at Urban Saloon in the neighbourhood of Fairmount.

Founded in June 2016 during the American summer, the leagues began at Triangle Park along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, beginning with 90 players in the first season and expanding to two different league nights in the fall.

Participation numbers in Special Olympics Bocce have almost doubled in the Australian state of New South Wales since 2013, thanks to portable courts and passionate volunteers.

New South Wales Special Olympics Bocce Sports Coordinator Mary Greig says 55 Special Olympics athletes participated in last month’s New South Wales Special Olympics State Bocce Competition, which took place at Charlestown Bowling Club on 11 September.

Charlestown Bowling Club was the venue for bocce at the 2013 Special Olympics Asia-Pacific Games, and Ms Greig says the games resulted in “a wonderful legacy”.

Cruise ships operated by Carnival Cruise Line have added bocce to their list of on-board activities, thanks to an inflatable court developed by New Zealand company Packaworld.

Joey Colby-Begovich, Manager of Entertainment Experience for Carnival Cruise Line, said Carnival was excited to introduce bocce on 18 ships across its fleet after successful trials on-board Carnival Pride and Carnival Glory. The trials were run by the American Bocce Company, which is leading a revitalisation of the sport across the USA.

"Adding a sport like bocce gives our guests yet another fun activity to enjoy,” Mr Colby-Begovich said. “We are really excited to offer bocce across our fleet. Bocce is a fantastic ice-breaker and can be enjoyed by guests of all ages. The response from our guests has been wonderful.”

Malaysia-based businessman Yap Yam Voon has taken Packabocce to heart, becoming the latest distributor of Packaworld products.

Operating out of Kuala Lumpur, his business supplies sporting goods to several countries in South-East Asia, including Malaysia and Singapore.

Mr Yap said he was extremely gratified to become Packaworld’s latest distributor.

“We really felt appreciated to be appointed as a distributor of Packaworld products to Malaysia and Singapore.

An innovative inflatable bocce court produced by New Zealand company Packaworld International has the potential to revolutionise the global sport of bocce.

Chair of the Special Olympics Bocce Sports Resource Team Mike Ryan said inflatable ‘Packabocce’ courts have been “a revelation” for the sport since their initial production. As Special Olympics New Zealand Manager of Sports Operations, he had seen bocce prosper since their introduction.

As the courts are 60 feet long and 12 feet wide, and were previously composed of wood or Plexiglas, their storage and transport posed significant issues for the uptake of the traditional Italian sport in countries without established facilities.

Packaworld was announced as a finalist in the Global Gold category of the 2016 Wellington Gold Awards last night.

This award recognises major business contributions from Wellington-based exporters of goods and services. Previous winners include Icebreaker (2006) and Xero (2012).

Packaworld CEO Peter Roberts said he was “blown away” by the news.

The award finalists were named at Te Wharewaka o Poneke function centre, in Wellington. A full list of finalists is available on the awards website, and features in an article in today's edition of the Dominion Post.