Boccia words · Beginner

A Paralympic target sport in which athletes propel red or blue balls onto a court so that they finish closer to a white target ball, the jack, than the opponent's balls. Athletes play from a throwing box, by throwing, kicking or using a ramp and pointer, and the sport's ethics are said to be similar to tennis.

The classes recognised in boccia, with a men's and a women's individual event for each, and athletes must be classified in the matching class. BC1 and BC4 foot players may have a sport assistant, and BC3 athletes, who play with a ramp, have a ramp operator.

Individual play has eight events, four ends with six balls each. Pairs play in BC3 and BC4, four ends with three balls each, one man and one woman. The team event is for BC1 and BC2, six ends with two balls each, with at least one man, one woman and one BC1 athlete.

A match is one game between two sides. It is divided into ends, and an end is one section of a match in which all the balls of both sides have been played.

A flat, smooth court of 12.5 m by 6 m, whose throwing area is divided into six numbered throwing boxes. The playing area is the court minus the throwing boxes.

One of the six marked and numbered boxes from which athletes play. In individual play red uses box 3 and blue box 4. In pairs red uses boxes 2 and 4 and blue 3 and 5, and in teams red uses 1, 3 and 5 and blue 2, 4 and 6.

The white target ball. In individual divisions each athlete may use their own jack, and in team and pair divisions each side uses one.

A set is six red balls, six blue balls and one white jack. A ball must come from a licensed manufacturer with the World Boccia logo, weigh 275 g give or take 12 g, and have a circumference of 270 mm give or take 8 mm, and be made of uniform panels filled with plastic pellets or similar. Balls are red, blue or white.

The assistive device a BC3 athlete uses to release the ball. Laid on its side with every extension out it must fit in 2.5 m by 1 m, and it may have no mechanical device that aids propulsion, speed, braking or aiming, such as lasers, levels, brakes or sights. It may not overhang the throwing line when a ball is released.

Each side has a time limit for an end: BC1 4:30 minutes per athlete, BC2 3:30, BC3 6 minutes, BC4 3:30, teams 5 minutes, BC3 pairs 7 minutes and BC4 pairs 4 minutes. Propelling the jack counts, and balls not released in time become dead balls. A penalty ball has one minute.

Clearly moving the ramp at least 20 cm to the left and 20 cm to the right. A BC3 athlete must do it after the referee presents the jack and before propelling it, before any penalty ball and tie-break first ball, and when returning to replay a ball, so the ramp operator cannot line up the first shot. Missing it means retraction of the ball.

The athlete who propels the jack also plays the first coloured ball. After that the side that does not have the ball closest to the jack plays, until it has used all its balls, and the other side then plays on. The side not playing must move out of the way.

After all balls are played, the side with the ball closest to the jack scores one point for each of its balls closer than the opponent's closest. If balls of different colours are equidistant and nothing is closer, each side scores a point per ball. The higher total over the ends wins, and the referee may measure to decide.

An extra ball awarded to the opponent after all balls in an end are played, thrown at the target box, with one minute. If it stops inside the box without touching the line it scores one point. Examples are entering the playing area out of turn, preparing a shot in the opponent's time, delaying the match or not accepting a referee's decision. Violations by both sides do not cancel.