A HUNTER Boccia Club player has been hand-picked to represent Australia at the Boccia World Open in South Korea.
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Charlestown's Wendy Evans is one of three Australians travelling to Seoul for a week in July.
Evans has been a member of the Hunter club for five years.
She has cerebral palsy and uses a ramp to play the sport, which is related to bowls and similar to bocce.
It is designed for athletes with a disability who require a wheelchair.
Evans has spent years perfecting her technique.
Her support worker and ramp assistant, Kylie Harvey, acts as Evans' arms, while Evans does all the thinking.
There are various factors to consider, Evans says, including how far the ball has to go, which ball to use and where to place it on the ramp.
This precision landed Evans on the NSW Boccia team in 2014 and again this year.
Her first major achievement was winning bronze in the singles event at the state titles last year.
At the 2014 national titles Evans won bronze in singles again and gold in pairs, while this year she won silver in pairs.
She lost only marginally to a Singaporean player. Evans hopes to reclaim gold at the world open.
With the competition on the horizon, Evans travels to Sydney every Wednesday to train with the Australian squad.
She hopes her international boccia debut will lead to greater things.
"I'd really love to compete at the Paralympics," she said.
"I don't know whether I'll get there, but I never thought I'd get this far."
Evans' trip to South Korea with her support worker costs $5400.
To help them, Charlestown Bowling Club is selling raffle tickets at its gala day this Sunday, May 31.
For more information phone the club on 4943 3766.