Boccia, which means to bowl in Italian, is a target ball sport played by athletes in wheelchairs. Goalball relies almost entirely on sound, having been created for those who are blind or have low vision.
While SDSC has yet to be involved in designing the space, it recently developed a preliminary set of guidelines for inclusive sport facilities that has been shared with Sport Singapore (SportSG) for its review.
Some considerations would be whether the facility for para-sports would be on ground level or lift levels and whether there are sufficient accessible changing rooms and toilets for multiple wheelchair users, said Ms Fan. Flooring would preferably be non-carpeted and level, to facilitate movement of wheelchair users, she added.
“Developing sports science and sports medicine knowledge and expertise in disability sports would also be useful to develop the performance of our para-athletes,” she told CNA on Thursday.
“Most specialists base their practice on non-disabled athletes so when it comes to para-athletes, it becomes a more cautious and experimental approach.”
