Viana do Castelo organizes 1st Inclusive Senior Boccia Meeting

On the 21st of December, the team of athletes from the IN COMMON SPORTS + project from Vila Nova de Cerveira and Viana do Castelo were present at the 1st Senior Boccia Meeting, which was promoted by the Municipality of Viana do Castelo. This initiative included delegations from the Alto Minho district that are part of the Olympics4all project and users of the Portuguese Association of Parents and Friends of the Mentally Handicapped Citizen of Viana do Castelo (APPACDM).

It was a ludic, non-competitive event, preparatory to the VII edition of the Senior Olympics (Olympics4all) to be held in October 2023, in Viana do Castelo, with athletes from APPACDM and the municipalities of Viana do Castelo, Monção, Paredes de Coura, Arcos de Valdevez, Caminha and Vila Nova de Cerveira, who played several games throughout the day.

Boccia aims to contribute to increasing the participants' mental, physical and social vitality. It aims to improve their quality of life, restoring to the elderly the awareness of their body and the possibility of using it effectively. It develops fine and global motor skills, hand-eye coordination and the ability to concentrate, contributing to the motivation and continuation of the sport at a local level.

The Vila Nova de Cerveira team participated with a group of 20 athletes and 5 teams accompanied by their respective coaches.

It should be recalled that the IN COMMON SPORTS 2021-2023 project, funded by the Erasmus + Sport project, focuses on adapting sports games, based on information collected by different European partners with the aim of defining new regulations for collective sports and which it's the traditional games that are best suited to the elderly”, and to test the motivation to practice physical exercise through sports adapted to the characteristics of the senior population.