Portable bocce ball courts are from Packaworld are helping to pump up bocce participation in one of the world’s windiest cities.

Special Olympics Wellington has purchased two Competition Packabocce courts to help grow bocce in New Zealand’s capital and to ensure players can train in all weather.

Bert Warda, the head bocce coach at Special Olympics Wellington, says the high-quality inflatable courts are helping athletes maximise training sessions for future competition.

“It’s fantastic to be able to take them indoors or outdoors depending on the conditions, and the timing is perfect as our region’s bocce players prepare for the Special Olympics National Summer Games in Hamilton in December 2022.”

Packaworld has launched a campaign to bring Visually Impaired Rugby to Paralympic Games. 

Run with the support of UK Charity The Change Foundation, the campaign aims to raise the profile of the sport and further its case to be played at the Paralympic Games in future.

“Rugby is a way of life where we are based in New Zealand,” says Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts.

“We’d love to see pathways created for our rugby-mad visually impaired athletes to compete at the highest level globally. If we can get a full scrum of supporters packed down behind us, there’s no telling where the sport can go.”

A New Zealand business with a reputation for world-first innovations is continuing to make sport accessible to all with the official launch of Packaline – temporary indoor line markings designed for use in leisure and recreation centres.

Designed by Wellington’s Packaworld International, Packaline allows leisure facility managers and sports coordinators to mark temporary courts of play without damage to expensive flooring.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said the lines were originally designed for the Paralympic sport of boccia, which is played by athletes in wheelchairs. 

“Our lines are specially designed to sit on top of the floor, allowing them to be rolled out and rolled up as needed," Mr Roberts said.

A German sports programme is using innovative portable goals from Packaworld to grow participation in the Paralympic sport of goalball – following the recent launch of Packaworld’s online store in Europe.

The Association for Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports (VBRS) is using the unique inflatable Goalball Packagoals for their project “Die Aufklärer (The Scout)”, which brings goalball to school students in the north-east German state of Mecklenburg—Western Pomerania.

Youth Goalball Coach Heiko Prinz says the inflatable Packagoals have allowed VBRS to introduce the sport to more people with and without vision impairments. The portability of the new goals makes the easy to take to new communities and schools, unlike standard metal goals which are difficult to move due to their width and bulk.