By Carol Vaughn —
Eight enthusiastic adults gathered in Wachapreague’s Seaside Park last Thursday morning to learn to play bocce.
The class is one of a number of classes offered by the Academy for Lifetime Learning (A.L.L.).
Most of the students had never played the game before, but some had played informal, backyard games, and a few had taken the class previously and were returning to enjoy playing on a team and to hone their skills.
“Bocce is fun. It’s easy, physically, and anyone can play,” said Margo Digan, a volunteer teacher with A.L.L.
She explained that the objective of the game is to score points by rolling your team’s bocce balls closer than the opposing team’s balls to a smaller, typically yellow or white ball, called the pallino.
Digan, who retired to the Eastern Shore and serves on Wachapreague’s Town Council, grew up playing the game, which was brought to America by Italian immigrants.
“My father, an Irishman, loved bocce, so I grew up with it,” she said, noting her family had many Italian friends in their Waterbury, Conn., neighborhood.
A.L.L. is a non-profit membership organization open to adults. Its members, many of whom are retirees, come from a variety of backgrounds but share a common interest in continued learning experiences. In addition to bocce, classes this spring range from photography and painting to kayaking, line dancing, pickle ball, and more.
Many members take an active role in preparing and delivering the classes presented each semester, as is the case with Digan, who has taught bocce classes for the organization in the past.
Joining A.L.L. costs $25 per semester. The fee entitles a member to enroll in as many classes as desired.
Go to www.allesva.org for information about classes and enrollment.
A.L.L.’s mailing address is P.O. Box 509, Exmore, VA 23350
Semesters are held in the fall (starting in September) and spring (starting in February).
An annual meeting is held in June to give members an opportunity to meet and get to know each other better.
The spring semester of bocce, four sessions long, was supposed to start April 7, but the first session was rained out, making this gathering the first class.
Digan explained that bocce is one of those games in which different people use different rules.
“You’ll find as you go along you can really develop your own strategy fast,” she said.
After the pallino is tossed, two teams take turns rolling four bocce balls each, trying to get as close as possible to the pallino.
Digan explained that a flexible tape measure is one of the most important pieces of equipment in playing bocce, because only the team whose ball is closest to the pallino, called the “inside” team, scores.
Sometimes that can’t be determined visually, making the tape measure necessary.
The inside team scores one point for each ball closer to the Pallino and two points if the ball is actually touching the pallino, known as a “kiss.”
Games may be played to 11 or 21.
Games similar to bocce have been played for thousands of years, according to Digan.
“Apparently even with the Egyptians — it started out with them throwing stones to see who could get a stone closest to some other object,” she said.
In France, a similar game, called pétanque, is played, but using steel balls.
Additionally, the British in Colonial America played a game called bowls, which was played on a lawn using three-pound balls.
The park in Wachapreague has a grass court, but more typically, bocce is played on a hard-packed court, with a gravel base topped by a layer of finely crushed oyster shells.
The court at Wachapreague, built two years ago, is 67 feet long, but regulation courts for competitive play are longer.
According to the U.S. Bocce Federation, the court for competition must be precisely 86.92 feet long and 13.12 feet wide.
After introductions and Digan’s explanation of the basic rules, play got underway under sunny skies, with a friendly spirit of competition, accompanied by the usual banter, soon developing.
In Wachapreague, a bocce set is available to borrow from the gift shop at the Wachapreague Inn when the shop is open.
Additionally, Digan noted sets can be purchased online for around $40.
If you are looking for a fun new outdoor activity to do with friends, along with a bit of exercise, bocce just might be the ticket this summer.
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