Four of our Bridge II Sports Boccia Flame Thrower team members traveled to the Lone Star State to compete at the 2019 USA Boccia Nationals. The biggest boccia tournament of the year, the 2019 Nationals brought in the best athletes from around the country for 4 days of red, jack, and blue action on the court from July 25-28th. There were 175 people in attendance at the competition held at the San Antonio Sports Complex.
Karen, Deja, Katie and Elianna played individually in several tight matches. This was Elianna’s first time to Nationals and she scored in each of her games! Katie’s second trip to the ‘big dance’ and she won a game and had to have the head referee called in to decide the score of another game because it was so close. Both Deja and Karen, our experienced team members who had been to Nationals several times, stepped up as leaders and mentors. Karen serves on the by-law committee for USA Boccia and attended the annual board meeting and assisted in laying out the courts.
Karen, Deja and Elianna held their own in team competition. In fact they only lost to the gold medal team 7-3 in team play- quite an accomplishment for the Flame Throwers! Each player used their strengths and communicated well as they grew their skills and teamwork against some seasoned boccia veterans.
All had fun bonding with old friends and new over their love of boccia.
There is no substitute for the confidence and community gained from traveling and competing in events like Boccia Nationals for our athletes. Each athlete and family paid their own way to go to this tournament.
Please consider sponsoring our Boccia program and help make more of these experiences possible.
Call 866-880-2742 for more information.
(thank you to Karen, Katie and Tara for your reports on the tournament)