This article was previously published on GuelphToday.
After a decade-long career as a boccia player, winning national accolades in the process, Guelph’s Giovanni De Sero decided it was time to give back.
He retired last month, and in the process of turning his focus to coaching, decided to help establish the Royal City Boccia Rollers, a new boccia program in Guelph that begins in January.
And it doesn’t matter if you’re able bodied or not. Everyone can come play.
“Literally anyone can play. They can use their feet or their arms to propel the ball onto the court,” De Sero said. “Athletes use ramps to propel the ball onto the court if they don’t have the muscle strength or what have you to throw it. They can do it that way.”
The para program runs every Monday from Jan. 6 to March 31 during the evening at the West End Community Centre on Imperial Road.
Equipment is provided, and it’s free to join for any member of the Ontario Cerebral Palsy Sports Association, which is a $20 fee. The OCPSA is the governing body for these boccia clubs across the province.
De Sero is hoping to have the fee changed so someone can try the sport out for free.
Increasing the availability of para sports is something that hits De Sero close to home.
De Sero has muscular dystrophy. He is still able to move, but he has weakness and gets around in a manual wheelchair.
“All four of my limbs are affected,” he said. “It’s essentially that I'm a quadriplegic, but not your typical Christopher Reeve or that type of quadriplegic.”
He has competed in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
But boccia is where he shined, turning pro after starting to play in 2014.
He has nine medals at nationals, and is looking forward to bringing his experience in to teach.
“What really got me going back in 2014 was just the absolute joy of it,” he said. “One of the (other) reasons for me was the coach, at the time, took me under his wing.
“That’s what I’m trying to do now with the next generation.”
