Bocce ball, or Bocci ball, is a game where the object is to get as many of your Bocce balls as close to the marker ball, known as the pallino or the jack. There are two balls per team and so the game can be played with two teams of up to four players. The game begins with one person throwing the jack, a little white ball. Then the teams try to throw their bocce ball as close to the jack as possible. A team scores a point for each ball that is closest to the jack. You can play a set number of rounds or until a team reaches a certain point total, say 15 or 21. There are variations to the actual bowling of bocce balls (some rules call for alternating bowls, some call for the team not closest to the jack to continue throwing until they are closest) but that’s the gist of the game.
Traditionally, it’s played on a court that measures 20-27 meters long by 2.5-5 meters wide made of oyster shells. Another traditional rule is that the jack must be thrown into a circle, 5 meters in diameter, at the opposite end of the court. If the first team misses the start zone, then the other team attempts to throw it into the zone. They alternate until someone hits the zone – then the team that attempted to his the zone first, bowls first.
Every single time I’ve played bocce ball, it has never been in a standard court and has never had a target zone for the jack. We’ve played at the beach (sand is close to oyster shells!), on our lawn, in our backyard, and at the park. The rules are the same though and the fun, like in golf, is in reading the terrain and adjusting your play accordingly.
(Photo: subportrait)