Boccia England announces the first National Boccia Day that will take place at sports clubs up and down the country on Saturday 17 September.

Disability sport boccia is one of the events of the Paralympic Games, being held in Rio de Janeiro and National Boccia Day is timed to coincide with the games.

Boccia England Interim CEO Jerome Pels said: ‘Boccia is celebrated as a very inclusive sport, and people of all ages and abilities can easily play.

Following the success of our athletes in the London 2012 Games, we have high hopes for this year and we wanted to bring some of the excitement of the games to a whole new audience at a local level. We want to encourage anyone, regardless of ability to come along for the day and try something new!’

Clubs that have already signed up include:

Access Sport (Bristol) Boccia Club
BEEs Boccia Club
Bidston Bullets Boccia Club
Boccia Sheffield
Croydon Boccia Club
Cumbria Wheelchair Sports Boccia Club
Don’t Disability Boccia Club
Hambleton Boccia Club
Harlow Hurricanes Boccia Club
Herne Bay Boccia Club
Nottinghamshire Boccia Club
Pauls Place Boccia Club
Portland College Boccia Club
Prince Arthur Boccia Club
Sleaford Boccia Club
Sportsable Boccia Club
Telford Boccia Club
YMCA Redhill Boccia Club

Boccia athlete and multi Paralympic medal winner David Smith said 'I think this is a truly great way to get more people involved in this awesome sport, and I hope that National Boccia Day inspires Paralympians of the future’.

For more information about how you can participate in National Boccia Day, visit the Boccia England website www.bocciaengland.org.uk.