COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — The USA Boccia Nationals are underway at the Iowa West Fieldhouse in Council Bluffs, Iowa, bringing together past Paralympians and competitors hoping to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
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Boccia is a wheelchair sport similar to the lawn game bocce ball. Players take turns throwing balls toward a target.
"Each person starts out with six balls and the whole idea is to be closer to the white ball, which is called the 'jack,' and that's the whole game — is to be closer to the white ball," tournament director Nick Taylor said.
Taylor said boccia opens up competition to people whose disabilities might keep them out of other sports. He was a long-time, profressional wheelchair tennis player before switching to boccia.
"I knew tennis was coming to an end and I'm very, very competitive and I wanted to try to continue on and try to make another Paralympics," Taylor said.
Head referee Micah Flora-Swick got involved with the sport because his sister was a competitor.
"It's a very, very mental sport. You have to know angles like pool and be able to think ahead and strategize," Flora-Swick said.
Cassie Mitchell, who already has Paralympic medals in track and field, is also competing in boccia and hopes to qualify for both at the Los Angeles games in 2028.
"I was supposed to have a college track and field scholarship, but I was paralyzed at 18, so I converted into Paralympic sports," she said.
For Mitchell, competing at the highest level carries a deeper meaning.
"And you have the flag on and you have the anthem. You're representing more than yourself," she said.
Army veteran Cheryl Gerdes got involved in boccia through Paralyzed Veterans of America.
"Love it. It's really fun to be part of a sport that I'm able to do and that gives me the feeling that I'm able," she said.
The national championship tournament runs through Sunday at the Iowa West Fieldhouse in Council Bluffs.
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