FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – USA Boccia 2023 National Championship will be at Turnstone this weekend, and it is the first time a Boccia national will be held in Indiana.

What is Boccia?

Boccia is best described as a combination of three sports: Bocce ball, curling and chess. You take a white ball and throw it out on the court, then you have colored balls and you throw those out as well to try and get them as close as you can to the white ball. Then, whoever has their colored balls as close to the white one earns points. Take a look at this video for a visual on how the sport is played. The game can be played with individuals, pairs or teams.

Visit Fort Wayne and Turnstone Center have partnered for the event. Organizers with USA Boccia and Visit Fort Wayne weighed in on how exciting it is to host championship this year.

“This is like the last stop they can’t play any other Paralympic sports, they have no other functional use in their arms or legs,” said Eric Pfeifer, USA Boccia Executive Director. “It’s extremely life changing experience for so many of them and we keep expanding so the more people that know about it the more and exciting there are out there.”

“We have sought after some nationally governing body events because of the caliber and the way that the venue is being the Paralympic training sites,” said Jazmin Zavala, Visit Fort Wayne Sport Sales Manager.

This is the largest National Championship they have ever had with around 110 athletes involved. One of those athletes is a Fort Wayne native, 35-year-old Casey Sowers.

USA Boccia is also hosting a Skills Clinic Aug. 2 from 6pm-8pm, open to the public for all of Fort Wayne to participate in. The clinic will be led by USA Boccia Certified Coaches, International Referees, and the USA Boccia CEO.