"Mr. Boccia" of Bermuda stepping away from sport with high hopes

The man known as “Mr. Boccia” of Bermuda is stepping back from the sport with hopes that the sport continues to develop in the island. 

Troy Farnsworth has done every job possible with Boccia Bermuda – from coach to administrator, to board member – but has decided to now leave the sport in order to devote more time to his family.

His legacy after a 13-year involvement is a small but established Bermudan boccia squad that competes internationally and includes Yushae Desilva-Andrade, who reached the semi-finals of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in the women’s individual BC1 event.

At Rio 2016, Desilva-Andrade made history as the first boccia player from Bermuda to compete at a Paralympic Games. Eight years later, she advanced to the final four in her event in Paris, before losing to eventual champion Aurelie Aubert of France. 

She was one of only two athletes from Bermuda at the Paris Games, along with wheelchair racer Jessica Cooper Lewis, and was named Bermudan Female Athlete of the Year after returning from her second Games. 

"When I’m home people come up to me and they’ll be like, ‘What’s boccia?’ and I’ll have to explain it to them more, because a lot of people don’t really understand what it is," Desilva-Andrade said after her competition in Paris.

"Now I’m finding myself just explaining it more and having more conversations and getting people to open their eyes to what boccia really is.” 

Building a team

Those achievements and the growing interest in boccia are a far cry from when Farnsworth, an Australian national from Sydney, arrived in Bermuda in 2006.

“I was introduced to boccia through my background as an occupational therapist and then working for a charity, WindReach,” he said. “They had a bunch of people who were playing boccia, but only recreationally. They said they were interested in going to a competition, so I got to work."

He started out by finding a tournament in Montreal, Canada, and taking six athletes from Bermuda to compete.

"I didn’t know much about the sport, but I thought going there would be a good way to learn.

“What I saw really shocked me. It was a very high level of competition, and I realised if we were going to do this properly, we had to take it more seriously and really lift our game.”

That first tournament was back in 2012 and since then Farnsworth has worked hard at improving playing standards on the North Atlantic island, whilst at the same time helping build support networks that would allow talented athletes to progress.

Growing boccia in Bermuda

Farnsworth was part of a small group that set up Boccia Bermuda in 2014, an entirely volunteer-run governing body with a small board.

Despite Bermuda having a population of a little more than 60,000 people, and with limited resources, “Mr. Boccia” has helped bring through a number of elite players, who have competed internationally under the Bermudan flag.

Omar Hayward is currently ranked at world No.19 in the men’s BC1 category, whilst Desilva-Andrade is world No.3 in the women’s BC1.

“For smaller countries, it is a case of getting more recreational players into competition and then once you get them to that first tournament, they learn from being there,” said Farnsworth, a former Australian Rules footballer.

“The sport of boccia is growing rapidly around the world and it’s becoming more technical and more scientific.”

To keep up with the latest trends in equipment, training, analysis and sports science takes resources and this is where the co-founder of Boccia Bermuda hopes that smaller nations can also continue to see the sport grow.

“You have to make good decisions and work hard as a small country and there is no doubt that the sport has grown tremendously, and competitive opportunities have increased dramatically. World Boccia have done a phenomenal job since I have been involved with the sport, and I have seen the standard of play get better every year.

“But the issue facing small countries now is cost. That can be really challenging because the more competitions you go to, the more the costs rise. We get a little bit of money from the government, and we have done well to raise money from corporate sponsorship.

“But countries like Great Britain, Canada, Brazil - they have high performance programmes. Small countries can’t really afford those, so the sport has to guard against the gap growing between the richer countries and the ones with smaller budgets.

“How we manage that is difficult, but for the sport to fully grow across the world, smaller nations have to be assisted.”

All eyes on LA28

Boccia Bermuda are now focused on the next cycle towards the Paralympics. The LA28 Paralympic Games will take place in the USA, the islands’ nearest neighbour.

It is a proximity that Farnsworth believes will provide opportunities for the sport in his country.

“Our boccia athletes have definitely got their eyes on trying to make it to LA. It’s not as difficult for us to reach as some places and so it’s a big goal.

“I was lucky enough to be involved at two Paralympic Games - in Rio in 2016 and then Paris last year – and they were incredible experiences.

“I am always trying to educate people about boccia and that is my main message. It’s about the sport, this is elite sport, and the Paralympics is the pinnacle. 

“I shall miss being involved.”