Some of Canada’s top-ranked boccia athletes will be competing for Québec at the 2021 Canadian Championships

Ottawa, ON (September 28, 2021) – The 2021 Canadian Boccia Championships are coming to Québec City this November, marking only the second major boccia event in Canada since the COVID pandemic began. Games will be played from November 15-21 and will feature the nation’s best boccia athletes in the BC1, BC2, BC3, BC4, BC5, and Open classes competing at the Québec City Convention Centre.
 
The event will follow Boccia Canada’s Back to Boccia Competition Guidelines and local health requirements to ensure the event is as safe as possible. Team and pairs events will be included if COVID restrictions permit. Spectators will not be allowed, but the event will be webcast live on Boccia Canada’s YouTube page so all Canadians can watch the action from their home.
 
This is the first time Québec City is hosting the Canadian Boccia Championships, but not the first time the city has been part of a major boccia event. The city hosted the Jeux du Québec in 2019, which included boccia.
 
Association québécoise de sports pour paralytiques cérébraux Executive Director, José Malo, is looking forward to watching world class performances this year and hosting the Championships.

“Québec is proud to host this major Canadian event! It will be a great return to competition for all athletes and their entourage after 20 months of isolation and uncertainty. Everything has been put in place to ensure the safety of all and also for the pleasure of getting together once more. This will be the first post-Paralympic competition on Canadian soil for the four athletes and three coaches who represented Canada in Tokyo. We will be celebrating everyone’s determination and achievements in Tokyo. It will be a great competition inciting a lot of emotion by all!”
 
“After a one-year pause of the Canadian Boccia Championships, we are very excited to bring the boccia community back together and celebrate the return of the sport,” noted Peter Leyser, Executive Director, Boccia Canada.  “There has been a tremendous amount of effort and collaboration by the AQSPC, Boccia Canada, Province of Quebec, and local health officials to ensure the health and safety of all participants.”
 
After a long hiatus, boccia athletes are anxious to start competing again. No one is more excited than Marylou Martineau (Québec City, QC), who is ready to return to competition in her hometown: “My goal is of course to win a medal in my hometown of Québec City. I’m looking forward to playing matches against other athletes after a year and a half of break and feel the joy of competing once more!”
 
Register for the event here.   
 
Attendees can follow the action via Boccia Canada’s Facebook page.
 
For information on the Back to Boccia Competition Guidelines click here.

 
About Boccia Canada
Boccia Canada is the boccia delivery arm of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA), the National Sport Organization for the Paralympic sport of boccia. Boccia Canada is focused on providing athletes and individuals of all ages and skill with the chance to play a unique Paralympic sport. CCPSA collaborates with partners to increase the participation of Canadians with cerebral palsy and related disabilities in sport and physical activity, while leading, developing and growing boccia from grassroots, to producing World and Paralympic Champions.

About boccia
Boccia is a Paralympic sport of precision and strategy similar to lawn bowling or curling, played by athletes with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and related disabilities. It is one of only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart. Athletes compete in one of six sport classes based on their level and type of disability: BC1, BC2, BC3, BC4, BC5, and Open. For more information on boccia, visit www.bocciacanada.ca.