Team Washington takes gold in Bocce at USA Games

MOSES LAKE — Kirk Wells from the Moses Lake Scorpions Special Olympics and doubles teammate Jodi Boiles from Clarkston had success in Bocce for Team Washington at the USA Games last week. The duo individually claimed fourth place finishes and took home the gold for mixed doubles. 

“I’m excited for them,” said Moses Lake Scorpions Head Coach Shane Lunderville, who travelled to assist with coaching for Team Washington. “What a great achievement to come and play with all those states and be able to come out like that with the gold.” 

Both Lunderville and Wells spent one night in Tacoma before heading off to Minnesota. The coach said he appreciated the courtesy that the airlines provided for Team Washington and its 83 delegates including coaches, athletes and other staff as they made their way to the USA games.  

“Alaska Airlines took care of us,” said Lunderville. “They had a special spot for our baggage, special line for TSA and just got through all that.” 

Once in Minnesota, Team Washington began to assign the players into their appropriate competition levels. When it was all said and done, Wells and Boiles were matched up to play in doubles the following Monday. 

Before their first match, Lunderville said each team got 15 minutes to practice on the field. While the coach worked on helping the players with their stance to maintain ball control and game time strategies, one of the biggest adjustments that had to be made was playing on a turf field rather than real grass. 

“It was a practice football field, so the ball runs totally different on that compared to grass,” said the coach.  

During that first day Lunderville said he told the players to compensate their throws since turf allows the ball to roll farther than it would than a natural playing field.  

“That was a challenge for me as a coach to say, ‘Okay, here’s how we practice, and now we’re going to practice on something a little different and only have 15 minutes to do so,’” he said. 

Team Washington managed to adjust to the different environment and played in three games for doubles where Wells and Boiles overcame the competition and took first place in Bocce. 

“We won gold which was totally awesome,” said Lunderville. “We went and had (milkshakes) that night and then we had a day off and they got to go to the Mall of America, so have a little fun at the same time.” 

On top of this, Wells and Boiles were the first ones to get gold in Washington state for the USA games in 2026. 

Wednesday marked the women’s competition for Bocce which Jodi battled through to place fourth in the country. The men’s competition took place Thursday where Wells earned a fourth-place finish. 

Wells and Boiles’ success at the USA Games came from their ability to complement each other on the field, said the coach. Any time one player struggled with something during competition, the other would step up and help bring their teammate back up. 

Lunderville said this was also the culmination of four years of hard work and experience in Bocce. 

“To see them have that growth and then have that ability to come to a USA national stage and say, ‘Wow, we’re competitors,’ and that I think was something that just shocked them,” he said. “It was a growth for them and for me (as a coach).” 

Returning home from the USA Games, the bocce players are now preparing for the regional tournament being held in Moses Lake Aug. 22. The coach said both he and the players are coming back home with confidence as they spend the next few weeks training. 

This confidence that Wells is bringing back to Moses Lake is something that he said will inspire the other Scorpions players to compete their hardest as well. 

“I always tell them, ‘The game’s not over until the last ball is thrown,’ and the reason is even if it’s the other team, they can knock their own ball off and then you’re the one scoring,” said Lunderville. “So they played that way... they played until the last ball was thrown and they’re going to do the same thing for competition this year.” 

    Kirk Wells, a player from the Moses Lake Scorpions who qualified for the USA Games, prepares to throw the ball during practice in Minnesota.
  

    After winning the bocce doubles competition at the USA Games, Kirk Wells and Jodi Boiles stand atop the podium with their gold medals.