00:00Focus, precision and strategy, that's what it takes to make it here, to the Boccia State
00:07Finals.
00:08Boccia is a Paralympic sport, similar to lawn bowls, where it's played seated.
00:15So if a player's in a wheelchair, they roll into the player box.
00:19The rules are simple, two teams, three players each, two balls per player.
00:24There's a jack, a white ball that is rolled out first, and the aim of the game is to get
00:29your boccia balls as close to the jack as possible.
00:32This is not as easy as it looks.
00:35Twelve years ago, when this competition first started, there were 40 schools participating.
00:39Today, there's more than 500 competing from all across New South Wales, and they've come
00:45here to win.
00:46We were undefeated back at Timworth.
00:50We were undefeated at Armidale.
00:52Ethan and his teammates took a five-hour bus ride to be here.
00:56Despite not making the grand final, the presence of an Australian Boccia world champion has
01:01them inspired.
01:02It started here for me, and for me to be here today and be that role model for them is something
01:07I'm very proud of.
01:08Born with spinal muscular atrophy, Leeson never crawled or walked, but she soared in Boccia,
01:15winning the world championship in 2022.
01:18She's favoured for a podium finish in Paris later this month.
01:21Hopefully in, you know, 30 years down the line, when I'm not playing anymore and we've
01:25got a new generation, that I can be proud in saying that I've made a difference in that.
01:29I do want to compete in the Olympics one day.
01:32Passing the torch from the current world champion to future Paralympic hopefuls.
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