Precision, focus and having fun.
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That's what Boccia is all about, and schools from around the Central West were able to showcase their skills on Thursday (June 9) for the Western Region Boccia Final at PCYC Orange.
Schools taking part in the day were Orange High School (OHS), Spring Hill Public School, Cumnock Public School, Anson Street School, Carenne School, Parkes High School, Canobolas Rural Tech School, Dubbo College, Mudgee High School and Wellington High School.
Thurday's event enabled a return of Boccia to the area after COVID cancelled previous plans.
"Boccia has been supported by the school sport unit for over a decade, it's one of the best sports because it's very inclusive," School Sport Unit sport inclusion officer Anthony Moyes said.
"Even people with the most significant impairments are still able to participate and the sport was originally designed for people with cerebral palsy. It's designed to allow people with significant impairments to participate in a competitive sport."
Along with the opportunity to enjoy sport, Boccia has presented the chance for students to feel a sense of school pride.
"Students with disabilities don't necessarily get an opportunity to represent their school in sport and Boccia provides that opportunity in a statewide competition," Mr Moyes explained.
After a full day of competition, the final encounter came down to OHS and Wellington High School.
With the home ground advantage, OHS secured victory and booked their spot at Sydney Olympic Park on August 10 where they'll compete with schools from all around New South Wales.
In total there are 17 Boccia finals across the state with Broken Hill North set to be the school travelling the longest distance in August.
Mr Moyes said the sport has continued to grow over the years with a significant amount of schools jumping on board after COVID.
"Prior to COVID we travelled around the state, it's almost like we're rebooting the competition," he said.
"It's increased hugely from 40 schools to 180 across New South Wales.
"Students, staff and parents are excited events are taking place considering the last couple of years. We get good feedback considering there's more schools involved, we're happy with how it's running and organised."
Competitors on the day were also blessed to receive one-on-one advice from paralympian Jamieson Leeson whose experience with the sport started out at a similar event.
Leeson, who hails from Dunedoo, was delighted to see Central West students embrace the sport she loves.
"It was awesome, there's not a whole lot of Boccia out this way, I travel to Sydney to train and play with my team-mates. It's funny, the Thursday event was how I started playing Boccia four years ago, it has a very special place in my heart and it was great to see lots of kids having fun and learning the sport of Boccia," she said.
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