August 5, 2015
It’s been another whirlwind day
here in Toronto. Started off with an
early day at 7:30 to eat breakfast before we headed off to pick up our
accreditation and uniforms for the games.
Surprisingly it was a fast process to pick everything up, but it also helped
we were the only ones there. We had a
few hours to do what we wanted before the next meeting so a few of us went out
for lunch and explore the area. Our next
stop was at the Ryerson Athletic Center to have our training and tour the
facility. This is the area where we will
be volunteering with wheelchair basketball.
Once finishing the tour we realized we had 2 hours until our
dinner. So what does a group do to kill
2 hours? Shop! Specifically at PATH, the
worlds largest underground shopping complex.
After a very long walk through China Town, we got to whine down at Kensington
Cornerstone Restaurant. Finally, we have
arrived back at the dorms and we are all calling it an early night. We have so much more to do around the city!
Boccia is one of the many sports
that are being played at the Parapan Am Games.
It is a tactical target sport where athletes propel balls as close as
possible to the white target ball, known as the “jack”. It was originally to only be played by those
with cerebral palsy, but it now includes athletes with other disabilities that
affect motor skills. It can be played individually,
in pairs, or teams. Boccia is also a
co-ed sport. Each competitor is given
six balls and much like golf, the furthest player from the jack gets to toss a
ball. One point is awarded to the team
whose ball is closest to the jack, and additional points are added for every
ball that is closer to the jack than the opponent’s closest ball. Boccia is fairly unknown, but is just as fun
to watch as other Parapan Am sports!
Fun fact: Boccia is
one of only 3 Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart.
If you would like to watch Boccia in action,
here is a highlight video from the London 2012 Paralympic Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bojqjx-PoH0--Sarah Kent
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| Only a small portion of the PATH |
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| We got some cool new gear! |
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| Team race |
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