Musanze district dominated the first round of the Boccia sport championship that took place on Sunday, January 30 in Rulindo district.

Boccia is a precision ball sport that is played indoors while sitting down either in a chair or a wheelchair.

Globally, the sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical disabilities.

During the local championship which was organised by the National Paralympics Committee (NPC) that attracted athletes with intellectual disability from three districts, Musanze beat Gakenke and Rulindo 12-1 and 11-6 points respectively to walk away with maximum points going into the next round of the games which will take place on February 26.

"We played well. The victory was partly due to the good training, and we’re generally happy to reach this far,” said Patrick Nkusi, Musanze’s head coach.

Musanze district leads in the national standings with 23 points, followed by Rulindo with 19 points while Gakenke has two points.

Boccia was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities. 

In 1984, it became a Paralympic Sport.