Does anyone in here play Bocce? Is there a league at all ? I only get to play Bocce on occasion. I plan on building a Bocce court in my front yard for friends and family to enjoy.

I used to play it in gym class.

You had Bocce in gym class? Man, I had basketball, volleyball and some dumb football type game. I wish I had bocce in my school.

Until I was about 15, we used to have a next door neighbor who had a bocce court in his backyard, on one little side of the tennis court. He was a little old widower, and he'd have his friends over in the evenings to play. It was the cutest thing ever. I'd totally forgotten about it until I saw this thread.

Anyway, sorry, I have no idea about any leagues or anything.

Yea, watching older people have fun together helps me appreciate life more than I do now. I hope to have friends grow old with me.

My ideal home would have a yard big enough to accomodate a full size clay bocce court.

There was a little neighborhood tavern and restaurant on a side street in the village where I live. Family-owned, mom in the kitchen, dad behind the bar, daughter waitressing, the drinks were cheap, the food was good, and you always knew at least one other patron in either the bar or the restaurant. A small family place, good food. Everyone minds his business. It had the coin-op bowling machine, the one with the metal puck that you'd glide along a six-foot wood surface and the pins would swing up into the machine. The men's room had the full-length urinal and the .25 cent rubber machine on the wall. It did NOT have the old-fashion' toilet -- you know, the box, and - and - and - ah the chain-thing. If only!

It was next to a public park that had a bocce court. My dad would play every Monday night in the summer, and the tavern would run drinks and antipasto platters out to the bocce court. When I moved back to Chicago in the early '90's, I'd occasionally join him. The tavern eventually changed hands, the park bulldozed the bocce courts, and that pastime gave way to card games.

Later, my dad introduced me to a neighborhood Italian social club in Chicago on Ashland near Diversey. They had indoor clay courts...three of 'em. And a small banquet floor, a bar, and a kitchen with a chef who should have been cooking at a five-star restaurant. We'd have dinner there maybe a half-dozen times each year. That was where I sat at a table with "Mafia Princess" Toni Giancana during a memorable St. Joseph's Day dinner.

Alas, the Lakeview club got an offer for the property that they couldn't refuse. The club disolved, they sold the property and built condominiums on the spot where the clay courts once graced the neighborhood.

I can't remember a moment at either of those two places that wasn't fun.

tony b.

...still looking for his volo shot...

My family and I played Bocce several times over the summer. The city built a huge park near my house, and in it they put a clay Bocce court.

I was thinking of starting a league next year. Or finding out if one exists that I can join. I love the game.

When I was a kid we used to have a couple of Bocci courts around the corner from where I grew up. I remember going there to watch the older men play. Sometimes they would get into some very loud arguements, screaming and cursing each other in Italian. I used to wonder why such nice old men would fight with each other like that. Then I got a little bit older and learned that they were playing for some BIG money in those Bocce tournaments.

I really love the game.


Don Cardi