Boccia (BOCH-Ə) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce – a sport common in Europe today. Boccia is sport for wheelchair athletes.

The rules governing boccia include a sophisticated classification system that matches athletes based on their level of disability. Boccia is contested at local, national and international levels.

In 1984 boccia became a Paralympic sport, and by 2008 was being practiced in over fifty countries worldwide. Boccia is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation, (BISFed) and is one of only three Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program. USA Boccia is the nonprofit national organization for boccia in the USA.

Mission

USA Boccia provides athletes with physical disabilities the opportunity to participate and compete in the sport of Boccia at the local, regional, national and international level. USA Boccia seeks to promote and grow the sport of Boccia in the United States.

History

Boccia in this country started in the early 1980’s under a multi-sport organization called United States Cerebral Palsy Athletic Association (USCPAA).

The first time Boccia was a part of a Paralympic-level competition was in 1984 in New York. USA was represented well and earned several medals. In 2002 USCPAA changed its name to National Disability Sport Alliance (NDSA) because it served athletes that had disabilities besides Cerebral Palsy (i.e., Muscular Dystrophy, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Arthrogryposis, and similar disabilities, all with non-cerebral origin).

In August of 2007 NDSA was taking over by another multi-sport organization called Blaze Sports America. It was during this period that United States boccia began to build the boccia class 4 division. This division was developed for athletes who could throw, whose disability was of a non-cerebral origin. The first were athletes with a spinal cord injury and now has grown to attract those listed earlier in this article. During this same period of time USA Boccia started its alliance with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

In late 2014 there was a leadership change at Blaze and the Boccia Committee saw an opportunity to become independent. After months of negotiations with the then United States Paralympic Committee and Blaze Sports, the governance of the sport was transferred to USA Boccia, Inc. in June of 2015.

Historically speaking, the USA Boccia nonprofit saw its genesis as New York Chariots of Fire, Inc.. It was formed in 2005 by a local group based on Long Island, New York to run two local indoor wheelchair soccer teams. In 2010 the sport of indoor wheelchair soccer collapsed and disbanded. From 2010 until early 2015 Jim Thomson kept the nonprofit open in the hopes that one day we could take the sport of Boccia independent. At the start of 2015 five boccia enthusiasts (Cathy Drobny, Mark Flora-Swick, Kathy Brinker, Charles Brown, James Thomson) joined the Chariots of Fire Board and changed its name to USA Boccia, Inc..

History Continued

USA Boccia hosts a National competition annually with the exception of 2020.  In 2017 USA Boccia hosted its first international event in Kansas City, Mo. and in 2020 it was able to hire its first two paid employees.

On the international level boccia started in the 1970’s and was governed by a sports federation called Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA).  The sport continued under CPISRA until Boccia became independent with the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) in 2013. It is noted that in 2021 BISFed rebranded as World Boccia.

www.worldboccia.com


Board of Directors

Connor Mealey – Independent Director

Cathy Drobny – Contributing Organizational Director

David Christopher – Contributing Organizational Director

Benji Wolken – Independent Director

Patrick Parkes – Athlete Director

Brenda Wiggins – Independent Director

Michelle Miranda – Contributing Organizational Director

Nick Taylor – Athlete Director

 

Development and Administrative Director

Laura McKinney

 

Committees

Bylaw Committee
 
Connor Mealey

Referee Committee
 
Louis Mitchell
Roberta Flanders
Troy Berry
Troy McPherson
Jennifer Smith-Mugnaini

Assessment Committee
 
Cathy Drobny
Lee Graybeal
 
Advisors

Matthew Mayer
Johanna M Paniagua
Julie Bye
Pam Carey

Ethics & Judicial Committee
 
Sarah Walton-Kinney
David Christopher
Connor Mealey
Brenda Wiggins
Melanie Yules
Elizabeth Flora-Swick
Nick Taylor
Daniel Castillo
Larry Doss
 

Ethics Contact: ethicscommittee@usaboccia.org
Judicial Contact: judicialcommittee@usaboccia.org

Nominating and Governance Committee
 
Connor Mealey
Patrick Parkes
Benji Wolken

Nationals Steering Committee
 
Nick Taylor
Micah Flora-Swick
Melanie Yules
Jim Thomson
Laura McKinney
Cathy Drobny

Regional Competition Committee
 
Mary Hodge
Michelle Miranda
Chris Garr
Kevin Berry
Troy McPherson
Becky Prince

 

Social Media Committee
 
Laura McKinney

Development (Fundraising) Committee
 
Laura McKinney
Benji Wolken
Tim Dalton
Patrick Parkes
David Christopher
AB Anwar
Michelle Miranda

Finance Committee
 
Benji Wolken

Technology Committee
 
Tim Dalton
Kevin Berry

Explore and Learn About

Contact Us

USAboccia@gmail.com
631-388-6164
1398 Penataquit Avenue Bay Shore, NY 11706

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