Bocce

(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci, or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to English bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Bocce is played around Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in overseas areas with historical Italian immigrant population, including Australia, North and South America, principally Argentina and the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Initially only played by Italian immigrants, the game has slowly gained popularity among descendant generations and outside the Italian diaspora.

History

Having developed from games played in the Roman Empire, bocce developed into its present form in Italy, where it is called ', the plural of the Italian word ' which means 'bowl' in the general sporting sense. It spread around Europe and also in regions to which Italians have migrated. The first form of regulation was described in the book "Gioco delle bocchie" by Raffaele Bisteghi in 1753. In South America it is known as ', or '' bolas criollas'' (' Criollo balls') in Venezuela, and ' in southern Brazil. The accessibility of bocce to people of all ages and abilities has seen it grow in popularity among Special Olympics programmes globally, and it is now the third most-played sport among Special Olympics athletes.

Geographical spread

The sport is also very popular on the eastern side of the Adriatic, especially in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the sport is known in Croatian as ' ('playing '') or ' (colloquially also '). Croatian Bocce Federation In Slovenia the sport is known as ' or colloquially 'playing '', or ' (from Italian ' and Venetian ', meaning 'balls'). There are numerous bocce leagues in the United States (USA).

Bocce was brought to Venezuela between 1498 and 1510 by a Spanish friar or by Priest Sojo, great-uncle of Simón Bolívar. The Venezuelan modality became popular during the 1930s and is played in several Caribbean islands, including Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. In 1946, bocce was included in the first Venezuelan National Sports Games, and in 1956 the National Venezuelan Federation of Creole Bocce was founded.

Bocce is also played in Brazil. The sport was brought between 1880 and 1930 by the Italian families of Baggio, Zanetti, Tedesco, Merlin, Pazello, Bolisenha, Ricetti, Fressatos and Dorigos. The sport became popular on Curitiba and in 1952 the families created the bocci club Sociedade 25 de Maio. The city has also developed their own modality of bocce, "bocha clássico" (classic bocce). On 25 May, the city celebrates the bocce day.

Brazil is also notorious in the paralympic bocce modality. During the 2012 Summer Paralympics, the country conquered three gold medals and one bronze medal in the BC2 and BC4 categories. Brazil hosted the paralympic bocce world championship twice. On Rio 2016, Brazil conquered a gold medal and a silver medal in the BC3 and BC4 categories. On 2022, the World Championship was hosted again on Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil conquered one gold, three silver and three bronze medals. In 2025, Curitiba hosted the Youth Bocce World Cup.

Rules and play

Bocce is traditionally played on a natural soil or asphalt court up to in length and wide. While the court walls are traditionally made of wood or stone, many social leagues and Special Olympics programs now use inflatable 'Packabocce' PVC courts due to their portability and ease of storage. Bocce balls can be made of wood (traditional), metal, baked clay, or various kinds of plastic. Unlike lawn bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no inbuilt bias.

A game can be conducted between two players, or two teams of two, three, or four. A match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the jack (called a ' ('little bocce') or ' ('bullet' or 'little ball') in Italian, depending on local custom), from one end of the court into a zone in length, ending from the far end of the court. If the first team misses twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to place the jack anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone. Casual play is common in reasonably flat areas of parks and yards lacking a bocce court, but players should agree to the minimum and maximum distance the jack may be thrown before play begins.

The side that first attempted to place the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does ''not'' have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining balls. The object of the game is for a team to get as many of its balls as possible closer to the target ball (jack, boccino, pallino) than the opposing team. The team with the closest ball to the jack is the only team that can score points in any frame. The scoring team receives one point for each of their balls that is closer to the jack than the closest ball of the other team. The length of a game varies by region but is typically from 7 to 13 points.

Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action only. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball away to attain a more favorable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the ball to throw or roll it accurately.

Variants

Punto raffa volo

Also known as PRV, punto raffa volo is the main international competition form of bocce. The name refers to the three legal types of throws in the game: punto, or lagging the ball toward the pallino; raffa, shooting a ball with an aerial throw that hits the ground and rolls toward the target; and volo, hitting a ball on the fly or a short hop. The rules of PRV are strict and reward precision and accuracy. Rules violations allow the opposing team to keep the result or reset the game to its set-up before the rules violation (and pulling the foul ball off the court). This reset is accomplished by marking the ground with chalk to indicate the placement of each ball and the pallino.

Rules include (but are not limited to):

*When lagging a ball toward the target, the thrown ball may not move another ball or the pallino more than 70 cm (in Italy, some leagues enforce a 50 cm rule).
*When throwing a raffa or volo, the player must declare which ball will hit first.
*Players cannot throw a ball off the side walls.
*The back wall is dead for missed shots and any balls that hit the back wall while lagging (there are some variations of the lagging rule that may allow the pallino to be pushed into the back wall).

Open bocce

Played mainly in the U.S. and Canada, open bocce features a basic set of rules as compared with PRV. In open bocce, there are fewer limitations on lagging (side walls are live, balls can be moved any distance), and missed targets while shooting are allowed. Some clubs play with the back wall live, while other clubs play with the back wall as dead if a ball hits the back wall on the fly without striking a ball or the pallino. Other variations include angled corners and gutters at the end of the court rather than a back wall.

Bocce volo

A variation called ' uses a metal ball, which is thrown overhand (palm down), after a run-up to the throwing line. In that latter respect, it is similar to the French boules game ' also known as ' which is internationally called sport-boules. Another French variant of the game is called ', and (lacking the run-up) is more similar in some respects to traditional '.

Boccia

Another development, for persons with disabilities, is called '. It is a shorter-range game, played with leather balls on an indoor, smooth surface. Boccia was first introduced to the Paralympics at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Summer Games and is one of the only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart (the other being goalball).

Classic bocce

A Brazilian variety of bocce where the ball is rolled on the floor instead of thrown.

Creole bocce

A Venezuelan variety of bocce, where 4 red balls, 4 green balls and one 5 cm ball (called Mingo) are thrown at once in the field.

See also

* Fédération Internationale de Boules

References

External links

Confederation Mondiale des Sports de Boules

International Bocce Federation (FIB)

How to Play Bocce

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Boules
Lawn games
Sports originating in Italy
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