Park Street Cultural Tour

Bocce Ball

Bocce (pronounce bah-chee or boh-chay) is an ancient game from the time of the Roman Empire that originated somewhere in Europe. The Romans took it, borought it back to Italy,and refined. It is the third most popular sport in the world nd our class was lucky enough to be taught it by Raul De Luna, a pro (at least in my eyes).
–Izzy

We visited . . . a park neighboring Bayview Apartments to play bocce ball with Raul De Luna. Raul, being a Mexican-American, wasn’t born into the game. He was attending a party where his friend forced (by dragging) him across the lawn to where the bocce ball courts were set up.

A bocce ball court can simply be a couple of flags arranged in a rectangle. The fancy courts consist of layers of rock under a hard slate board with a light layer of turf on top.

The game consists of nine balls (eight large and one small). The small ball is called the pallino which each team of two tries to get their four balls closer to than the other team’s balls.
–Jeremy

Bocce ball is said to have originated in Italy, but it is so old that no one is sure. Bocce ball is over 7,000 years old.

The concept and goal in bocce ball is to roll a larger ball and try to get it as close as you can to a smaller ball called the pallino. This takes places in a court that is similar to a bowling alley except about four to six times wider. At the beginning of the game, you roll the pallino, which is usually neon orange for better visibility, to any certain point on the court. Then, you try to roll one of the four larger balls as close as you can to the pallino. At the end of the round you see whose ball got the closest to the pallino. If it was you, you get a point.
–Sam

Submit an Error Report