Coach Duplain

Bocce, an ancient sport little known in the United States,
has finally begun to take root in the American sports
culture. Bocce was first documented in a 5200 B.C.
painting of two boys playing in an Egyptian tomb. Bocce
spread throughout Palestine and into Asia Minor. In 600
B.C., Bocce was picked up by the Greeks and passed to the
Romans. In 1519, Bocce became a public game. It was
played in Flanders, Holland and Belgium. Greek colonists
brought Bocce with them to what is now modern Italy. It
became so popular that it was once again threatened with
prohibition, as people who were playing Bocce in the
streets were hitting the knees of passing noblemen with
the Bocce balls. Bocce frequently lost and gained
popularity throughout the ages. In 1896, during a
resurgence of popularity, the first Bocce Olympiad was
held in Athens, Greece. Bocce has been a part of
international sports ever since

Bocce is traditionally played on natural soil or
asphalt courts approximately 20 to 27 meters in
length and 2.5 to 4 meters wide, sometimes
with wooden boards of approximately 15
centimeters in height surrounding the court.

. Bocce balls can be made of metal or various
kinds of plastic.
Step 1. Find a flat, level playing surface
(packed dirt, gravel or grass are ideal). A
regulation bocce court is 76 feet long and 10
feet wide.
Step 2. Divide players into two teams of one,
two or four players each. Each team gets four
balls, divided equally among the players.
Step 3. Have a player from the starting team
stand behind the foul line (which is 10 feet
from the throwing end of the court) and throw
the small ball, or "pallina," toward the opposite
end of the playing surface.
Step 4. Let the player then throw one of the
larger balls, or "boccia," trying to get it as close
to the pallina as possible without touching it.
Step 5. Have players from the opposing team
take turns throwing their balls until one of the
balls stops closer to the pallina than the starting
player's ball. If they fail to do so, the starting
team tries to outdo its first attempt.
Step 6. Let the starting players take their
second turn if the opposing team gets closer to
the pallina than the starting team without
using all of their balls.
Step 7. Continue in this fashion until all eight
balls have been thrown. The team with the
closest ball gets one point for each of its balls
that are closer to the pallina than the other
team's closest ball.
Step 8. Keep in mind that if the two teams'
closest balls are an equal distance from the
pallina, no points are awarded.


Step 9. End the frame after all eight balls have
been thrown and appropriate points have been
awarded. The scoring team begins the next
frame. If no team previously scored, the team
that threw the pallina last begins the next
frame.
Step 10
Play as many frames as needed until one team
has a total scored of 21 points. (Or, a final score
decided upon prior to the match.)