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A group of French Special Olympics athletes was introduced to bocce recently when one of Packaworld’s portable bocce courts was used at a multi-sport meeting in Issy-les-Moulineaux, on the outskirts of Paris.

The sport, which has similarities to lawn bowls and pétanque but is played within a walled court, was included to provide ‘taster sessions’ for athletes competing in basketball, climbing and a motor activity training programme (MATP) for those with limited mobility at the event.

Special Olympics France National Manager of Sport and Solidarity Events Antoine Fournier said more than 100 athletes played on the portable Packabocce court throughout the event, held on 17-18 November.

Lakers Social and Recreation Club is a beacon of community spirit in The Emerald Isle’s County of Wicklow, providing a supportive environment for children and adults with intellectual disabilities to thrive through the pleasure of social interaction and the joy of sport.

The Bray-based club was set up in 1989 by a group of local parents with intellectually disabled children who wanted to fill a social, sporting and developmental gap to help their children participate fully in the community and prepare for Special Olympics events in Ireland.

Lakers’ Fundraising and Communications Manager Grainne Clarke said the fast-growing sport of bocce had become a cornerstone of the club’s program because all its members could participate regardless of ability.

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.

Some of bocce’s best battled it out in Berlin last week on a new breed of portable bocce court that is revolutionising the game globally.

The inflatable Packabocce courts, created by Packaworld to help organisers bring the game anywhere and grow participation, were used to host the bocce competition at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games.

The World Games are a chance for Special Olympics athletes to represent their country, explore different cultures and bond through the joy of sport.

This year’s event involved more than 7,000 athletes from 190 countries and featured 26 sports over nine days of competition and camaraderie.

Inflatable bocce courts developed in New Zealand will grace the stage of the world’s largest inclusive sporting event this month when they are used at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany.

The World Games will attract 7,000 athletes from around 170 countries for nine days of competition starting on Saturday (17 June).

The ‘Packabocce’ courts designed by Wellington-based Packaworld will be used for the World Games’ bocce competition, played at the Messe Berlin exhibition grounds. Bocce – a sport with similarities to bowls but played within a walled court – is enjoyed by more than 400,000 people in Special Olympics globally, making it the third most played sport, behind only football and golf.

​A portable bocce court from Packaworld will help set the stage for four days of sport, joy and cultural immersion as part of the Special Olympics World Games’ Host Town Programme in Bamberg, Germany.

Bamberg will host athletes from Bahrain in June as part of the nationwide Host Town Programme, helping them acclimatise and sharpen their skills for the supreme challenge of the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin from 17 to 25 June. 

​​The Packabocce court being used for bocce training and events in Bamberg is the same model as the courts athletes will compete on at this year’s World Games, allowing locals and visitors to get a taste of ‘the World Games experience’ ahead of the main event.

One of the reasons bocce has remained popular and retained its appeal over thousands of years is that it can be played on a wide range of surfaces – from high grade oyster shell and grass to artificial turf and carpet.

Bocce ball can be played just about anywhere that has a reasonably flat surface. You could find yourself playing on the beach, in a park, bar, or community center, on a cruise ship, or at home in your backyard.

The best surfaces for bocce ball are smooth and uniform to allow fast rolling and straight tracking of balls. Proper bocce ball tournaments require a court with back walls and side walls to allow players to play bank shots, rebounding their bocce ball off the walls to get around blocking balls and nestle in close to the pallino.

Anticipation was high as Gibraltar faced off against the Isle of Man at the start of the Special Olympics Gibraltar National Games 2022.

The competition rolled into action at the Bayside Sports Complex on 22 September after a three year delay due to Covid, with two portable Packaworld’s Packabocce courts setting the stage for an international bocce battle.

This year’s National Games were the first in Gibraltar to feature bocce – a sport for people of all abilities that has become the fourth most popular sport in Special Olympics programmes globally.

Special Olympics Gibraltar President and CEO Annie Risso said the bocce competition had been a success for athletes and organisers, who commented on the “high quality” playing experience offered by the courts, as well as their ease of setup.