A pioneering program to promote inclusive sport in New York has seen basketball, volleyball, baseball, track and field and the highly accessible sport of bocce reaching a whole new group of students across the city’s public schools.

Co-funded by Special Olympics New York ($50,000) and New York City Public Schools ($300,000), the initiative is providing schools with competitions, coaches and equipment to ensure people of all abilities, including those with disabilities, can experience the joy of sport.

But while the growth in participation across all the sports involved has been strong, it’s the rise of bocce ball that has perhaps been the largest surprise.

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.

The ancient sport of bocce has rolled through many centuries, countries and cultures.

Originally developed in Italy, Greece or Ancient Egypt – depending on who you ask – it is now played by millions around the world, at everything from family gatherings and social pub leagues to schools and even the Special Olympics.

Throughout bocce’s evolution, off-shoots have been spawned, including the similarly named but very different sport of boccia (there’s also English lawn bowls and French pétanque, but that’s another story).

The similar spelling and pronunciation of bocce and boccia has created a lot of confusion, so to help make sure you don’t drop the ball when deciding which one to play, we’ve created this guide with an overview of each and advice on bringing the game to your bocce or boccia venue of choice.

Buffalo is home to rising NFL star Josh Allen, tasty wings, and soon an inaugural high school unified bocce league that will be played on innovative inflatable bocce courts from Packaworld.

The new unified league, run with support from Special Olympics New York, will see students with and without disabilities competing together in teams for their high schools to determine the divisions they are placed into for a finals tournament in the fall.

The league’s creation follows the success of the inaugural Section VI Unified Bocce Culminating Tournament in November 2022, attended by 66 students from four high schools.