Hi Nico, how are you, could you tell us something about yourself?

My name is Nico Iemma, I am 10 years old (Turning 11yrs on Nov 16th, 2019), I live in Canada, Ontario, Oshawa and I have Cerebral Palsy.

So, you are turning a young man next month :-) How long have you been playing boccia and what does boccia mean to you?

I started playing Boccia about 2yrs ago only going competitive Aug 2018 with my father as my assistant.

We were classified as BC3 at the provincial and national level and I only currently play in individual games but looking forward to beginning partners in 2020. My father and cousin are currently looking to set a boccia club up in the regional area.

I Train once a week against throwing players (BC1 and Open)

The sport of boccia gives me confidence and allows me to excel at a sport which is very technically demanding. It really is an all inclusive sport.



That sounds good, the idea to set up a sports club is just great. What results have you achieved so far in boccia? Do you take part of home tournaments only, or also on an international level?

As a 10yr old, unfortunately I cannot play internationally but I have achieved the following results in the adult competitive levels.
- Ontario Provincial Champion (2 Gold Medals) in 2018 & 2019
- Ontario Provincial 2019 Parasport Silver Medalist
- Multiple regional qualifier gold medals
- Defi Sportif National tournament 7th place finish.

Very nice just keep going!! And who supports you most in sport? Professionally, mentally, financially…

My entire family is very supportive of my boccia career. My father is my assistant/coach, my cousin has been qualified as a provincial coach, my mom helps in organizing events and all our needs and my grany helps with making the equipment better. Family, friends and even area schools are super supportive and watch my games when they can.

You are lucky to have good people around you. How does your sports equipment help you win? What sports equipment do you use now? Brand, model... Can you compare it with your previous ones?

We are now using the BASHTO X-clusive ramp and it has been a great improvement from our previous ramp. It addresses a lot of the previous technical issues but also looks great. I value the sturdiness, accuracy and consistency of the roll.

The case is very sturdy and easy to handle. It doesn’t hurt that it looks great. After playing with this ramp in the Ontario Championship and National tournaments, there has been great interest from other players in purchasing this ramp.

Wow, that’s some good news to us! We appreciate your satisfaction. Can you also tell us something about the situation in boccia in your country?

Although I cannot speak for Boccia Canada, it is set up as Regional Clubs, Provincial Organizations and then Canadian National Organization all of which have their own levels of tournament.

From what we can see, Boccia is growing considerable in Canada and the level of play is world class.



Do you have any other activities and hobbies besides boccia, do you do any other sports besides boccia?

Well my job is just being a kid and a good student :-)
Unfortunately my level of disability makes playing sports difficult making the game of Boccia so special for me.

We believe you are an outstanding student :-) What are your sporting and life goals for the future?

Going to start by trying to make the Provincial Team (at 15yrs old) and then hopefully National and International competition. Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this wild ride! Thank you to Ondrej and the BASHTO team for putting together a great ramp. Looking forward to a few more medals. :-)

We thank you for your time and wish you many successes in the sport and life for the future!