page_title: Bocce
section_title: Boccia
hierarchical_section_title: Bocce / Variants / Boccia
caption_attribution_description: English: Non-competing Australian team members at the boccia, Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games. L-R: Jenni Banks (athletics PCA/coach), unknown, and boccia players Fiona Given, Lyn Coleman, John Richardson.
context_page_description: Bocce, sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family, closely related to British bowls and French pétanque, with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Developed into its present form in Italy, bocce is played around Europe and also in other areas with Italian immigrants, including Australia, North America, and South America. Initially played only by the Italian immigrants, the game has slowly become more popular with their descendants and more broadly.
context_section_description: Another development, for persons with disabilities, is called boccia. It is a shorter-range game, played with leather balls on an indoor, smooth surface. Boccia was first introduced to the Paralympics at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Summer Games, and is one of the only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart (the other being goalball).
caption: Australian boccia team members
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