Play Bocce Ball
Sir Francis Petrial, an English scientist discovered a painting that dates back to 5200 BC that depicts two Egyptian boys playing a game of what is now called bocce. The Egyptians used polished rocks in their version of the ancient game. This is the first known example of bocce being played. The Greeks discovered the game around 800 BC. The Greek physician, Ipocrates believed the game rejuvenated the body with its athleticism and spirit of competition.
The Greeks passed the game on to the Romans who added their slant to the game with their word bocce, which is a derivative of the Vulgate Latin word bottia, meaning boss. The Romans advanced the game from tossing coconuts to carving balls from olive wood. The sport took off in Rome first as a sport of statesmen and rulers with Emperor Augustus being the first to find amusement in playing the game. Bocce eventually trickled down to include commoners and peasants. The game became wildly popular as time passed and in 1576 a law in Venice forbade the playing of bocce on penalty of fine or imprisonment. It was believed that the game was interfering with the protection of the state because bocce was replacing the time men spent practicing archery and other military endeavors.
While doctors from the University of Montpellier in France made attempts to disclaim the belief that playing bocce was responsible for curing rheumatism. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth I of England took an interest in the game and played with gusto. Sir Francis Drake, another Englishmen who played the English version of bocce called bowies, reportedly refused to stop the game until it was finished, even with the threat of the Spanish Armada at the doorstep.
The English brought the sport of bowis, from the French boulle word meaning ball, to America. Following the English tradition, Americans threw the ball on closely sheared grass, which may have been the beginning of the modern day lawn. One early playing field was at Bowling Green on the southern tip of Manhattan. George Washington had his own court built at Mount Vernon in the 1780s.
Credit for spreading the popularity of bocce as it is known today goes to Guiseppi Garibaldi, the man who unified and nationalized Italy. A passionate player, Garibaldi played the game everywhere he went when there was time introducing it to new players. Fifteen teams around the city of Rivoli (Turino) organized a bocce club in 1947. Soon after The Bocce World Championships began, also in 1947. The Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas in Rome, Italy, is the organization that governs the game of bocce.
A bocce craze started in California in the late 1980s and swept across the United States expanding interest around in the sport. The second most popular game in the world, bocce is known or played by over 250,000,000 devotees of the sport. The World Corporate Games include bocce in their schedule of events as does the Special Olympics. The Olympics are taking a look at bringing bocce to the world’s attention. Through the years, bocce has been known by various names including lawn bowling, ninepins, skittles, and pentanque. Rules have changed over thousands of years of playing, until established rules are now available to all who wish to learn the game of bocce.
Unofficial Rules for a Fun Game of Bocce
The game is played with 2,4, or 8 players on a team. A level-playing surface is needed along with a bocce ball set that can be purchased for about $60 from places like Dick’s Sporting Goods.
1.A coin is flipped and called. The winning team will throw the pallino (the smallest ball in the set) out.
2.A throwing line is designated. The thrower may not cross this line when tossing out the pallino. The tossed pallino should fly out from 15 to 25 feet.
3.Each player is given 2 boccia (balls). Taking turns, players roll (lag) their balls toward the pallino trying to get the ball as close to the pallino as they possibly can. Teams alternate players. Each trying to do outdo the other.
4.Volo is tossing the ball into the air beyond the center of the playing surface in order to strike a ball to move the point ball. Players may displace the balls of other players and the pallino to better their advantage.
5.Scoring: Points are given to the boccia closest to the pallino. The team closest to the pallino receives one point for every ball they have closest to the pallino. The other team receives nothing.
The official rules for bocce are long and complex. The website for the Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas has the European rules for bocce covering everything from beginning the round to administrative rules. The USBF (United States Bocce Federation) covers the rules Americans follow for playing bocce. Learn to play the ancient sport called bocce and you’ll be in good company with the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Queen Elizabeth I, and Sir Francis Drake who thought so much of the sport that he made this comment as the Spanish Armada advanced, “First we finish the game, then we’ll deal with the Armada.”
