The Long Way To Introduce Bocce Sports For The Mentally Retarded

Sports bocce (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Perhaps the sport of Bocce for people with disabilities is still foreign to the ears of the Indonesian people. Bocce loses echoes compared to his brother, Boccia, who has competed in various world competitions, including the paralympic.

In principle, the mechanics of the two sports are almost the same. The difference is that if boccia is intended for people with cerebral palsy, bocce is created specifically for people with mental retardation. But over time, a number of bocce activists made a mechanism so that it could be played by blind people.

Quoted from Antara, bocce is a sport whose implementation combines bowling and billiards. How to play bocce is to throw a ball with a certain color, to touch or approach the white ball that has been placed at a certain point. The smaller white ball is called the palina. The ball tossed by the player who can touch the ball or the closest distance is the winner.

The race can be played singly or in teams. Each participant is given eight balls: four blue and four red. They must toss the balls alternately in a rectangular arena measuring 18x3.5 meters.

Palina ball is placed in an area or grass field as a goal. Then, on that field there is a limit for the thrower of the ball. Two teams facing each other compete to throw a ball that is larger in size to hit or approach the target.

At the end of the throw, the distance of the ball that is closest to the ball will be counted in the points system. The closest ball is awarded one point.

Indeed, during the 2022 ASEAN Para Games in Solo, this sport was not contested. However, the ASEAN Para Games still provide space for bocce sports to be known, which is displayed through the Sport Industry Exhibition.

In principle, the 2022 ASEAN Games in Solo is to echo the values of equality, brotherhood, and humanity. So it is at this point that all matters relating to the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities must be accommodated.

The long road

The bocce sport in Indonesia has only been competed in special Olympic events and in schools with special needs under the Ministry of Education and Culture. Unlike in European countries, this sport is quite popular and is widely competed in big events.

At the ASEAN Para Games 2022, there is a stand that introduces the sport of bocce. Ariyadi Yuli Kristiawan is the figure behind it all. He was invited by the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as the Central Java Sports Office to fill the stands around the Manahan Stadium, Solo.

Ariyadi is a teacher at the Boyolali State Special School as well as a bocce coach in Central Java. At the exhibition, he actively invites visitors to introduce bocce sports. In fact, visitors are also invited to play in order to feel the sensation of playing bocce.

"I am grateful to be invited here to fill the bocce stand during the ASEAN Para Games. Although there is no bocce branch at the ASEAN Para Games, this is actually a step to introduce it," said Ariyadi when met on the sidelines of his busy schedule of tidying up the bocce ball.

Because in his mind, if Bocce is more widely known, the fulfillment of the rights of people with mental retardation will also be more fulfilled. On the other hand, he hopes that one day the sport of bocce can be competed in big events such as the National Paralympic Week (Peparnas).

"I am aware that the road to that is very long. But the point is we have to be optimistic that bocce can be competed in Peparnas or other championships," continued Ariyadi while looking at the Manahan Stadium, which is the main location for the ASEAN Para Games.

Not just sports

In the bocce game, there is a combination of play and body movements that are useful for stimulating the nerves and motor movements of the body. Bocce can train hand and foot motor skills, hone concentration, coordination, and teamwork.

Body position and movement when throwing the ball also serves to train the flexibility of the back, hands, and feet. So, each team member gets a chance to throw the ball. In order for the ball to hit or approach the target, the thrower must do so with full concentration.

For Ariyadi, bocce is not just a sport, it also stimulates the motor skills of people with mental retardation. In addition, they are also encouraged to be able to make decisions in every opportunity to throw the ball.

In official competitions, the coaches may not interfere with the players. Participants must make their own decisions whether to keep the opponent's ball or bring the ball closer to the palina ball. This condition requires intensive training considering that they have different abilities from people in general.

However, whatever the benefits, both in terms of achievement and motor development, bocce will be nothing if there is no support from all policy makers. There needs to be a breakthrough so that this sport becomes one of the popular branches, thankfully it becomes one of the sports achievements in the paralympic event.

Hopes must be kept up, dreams must be skyrocketed so that bocce becomes one of the popular branches in the implementation of sports for people with disabilities.

Moreover, there will be many officials and representatives from participating countries attending the 2022 ASEAN Games, so the hope to further exalt the sport of bocce is very wide open.