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Don’t know
what Bocce is?
Bocce is a competitive game of skill played by
young and old alike. Bocce is closely related to lawn bowling. The
biggest difference is that Bocce is played on a hard-surface court
with a backstop at each end, while lawn bowling is played on grass
with a relatively free-form "court."
The standard Bocce court dimensions are 10
to 13 feet in width (12’ is recommended) and 70 to 90 feet long (90’
is recommended). A Pointing Foul Line is 4 to 6 feet (6’ is
recommended) and the Hitting Foul Line is 10 feet. There is also a
court centerline located halfway down the length of the court. A
surrounding border generally of 6” x 6” pressure treated wood
timbers encloses the four sides.
The purpose of the game is to roll the Bocce, a
4½ inch ball weighing about three pounds, as close as possible to
the pallino, a 1¾ inch ball which is rolled down the court first. The Bocce coming closest to the pallino scores. For
'official' play,
1 and 2-player teams play to 12 points. Four-player teams play to 16
points. For casual play, a player can go to 21 and optionally a
'win by
2 points' rule can be used.
A little
Bocce history...
Throwing balls toward a target is the oldest
game known to mankind. As early as 5000 BC, the Egyptians played a
form of Bocce with polished rocks. Graphic representations of
figures tossing a ball or polished stone have been recorded as early
as 5200 BC. While Bocce today looks quite different from its early
predecessors, the unbroken thread of Bocce’s consistently common
objective of trying to come as close to a fixed target as possible
makes this the oldest known game to mankind.
In modern times, the first Bocce clubs were
organized in Italy. The first Italian League was formed in 1947 by
fifteen teams in and around the town of Rivoli (Torino). That
year also
marked the beginning of the yearly Bocce World Championships. Fifty-nine years later, the first league here at Pelican landing
is ready to go.
Want to play
Bocce?
The
Beija Flor Bocce League consists of two divisions, each with
five teams having four players on each team.
Play will start on
Monday, January 9, 2006 at 1:30 pm. This is a couples league.
Currently, there are no available player openings on this league, but
anyone interested in getting on a waiting list or starting their own
league should contact Beija Flor President,
Wes Stillwaggon at (239) 949-0268.
Come on out any Monday afternoon
and see what we’re all about!
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