Boccia UK

Boccia UK is the governing body for boccia in the UK. We are a small but ambitious team with a mission to become the world’s most successful nation. Our role is to develop the sport at elite and competitive levels, encouraging new athletes into the sport and supporting them to excel at the highest levels. With a solid track record of success at Paralympic Games and other major world-class events, Boccia UK has a reputation for holistically supporting athletes to achieve their full potential. Providing pathways to international competition, we work with home nation partners to develop talent, cultivating the talents of our future Paralympians.

Boccia UK was set up in 2007 and we are responsible for the management, preparation, and performance of British boccia players at major events including the Paralympic Games. Our primary role is to manage the World Class Programme (WCP), with the support of UK Sport and National Lottery funding. Currently, we have 12 athletes who are supported by the WCP.

Working together with Boccia England, Disability Sport NI, Disability Sport Wales, and Scottish Disability Sport, we set up our first Talent Transition Squad in 2023 to improve the strength and depth of boccia players in the UK. We are currently supporting three athletes on this programme, nurturing their talents in the hope they can progress onto the World Class Programme.

Our vision is to become the world’s leading boccia nation.

We now enter the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic cycle, fresh from success in Paris where Stephen McGuire won gold in the BC4 category.

Looking at the broader results, Boccia UK achieved its best performance in the individuals in recent Paralympic Games. Five of our seven athletes progressed out of the pool stages into quarter-finals. We also achieved three semi-finals, two bronze medal play-offs, and two athletes finishing fourth.

“We were very close in achieving history-making results which makes us feel confident for the future. We’ve made some fantastic progress as a squad, building on the strength and depth in the squad across all classifications, but we also know there is work to be done if we are to reduce those finer margins that this sport obviously brings. In boccia, you can lose in millimetres and the score can change so quickly. As we head to LA, we will be closing in on those fine margins,”