Local bocce league holds first annual tournament
Charleston Bocce League holds their first annual Bocce tournament on Folly Beach.
By Alan L. Kleinfeld
The rain earlier in the day had left the sand wet and hard. The tide was coming in and the clouds had decided to stick around. It could storm again any minute. But that didn’t stop the members of the Charleston Bocce League (CBL) from holding their first annual Bocce tournament.
So at 6:30.p.m. on August 24, 22 two-person teams gathered on the beach in the third block of West Ashley and battled it out over suds, sand and sportsmanship to be the 2010 champions.
This is a significant milestone for the fledging league, which is not quite a year old. Organizers, the husband and wife team of Adam and Katie Webb, began the journey to start a league after a second honeymoon of sorts in Northern California last October, where they witnessed structured games of Bocce first hand.
“Living in Charleston and playing Bocce just about every weekend throughout the summer, this seemed like a no-brainer and needless to say we loved the idea,” said Adam.
“This way we have a chance to take a break, relax, and enjoy each other’s company in a laid back yet competitive environment. Plus it gives us an excuse to get out to the beach more often,” Katie said.
The CBL is now part of a six-city league that includes, Charleston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.
During the season, the CBL meets every Tuesday evening and each team plays two matches with a match consisting of five games. Team names run from standard to creative. Some favorites include “Balls on the Edge,” “Bocculism,” “Bocceholics,” “Bocce and Bullwinkle,” and “I Thought I Signed Up For Kickball.”
The recent tournament was played bracket-style, like NCAA, each winning team pitted against another winning team until the final two winners play against each other. The winner of this tournament is invited to play at the national tournament later in the year in Las Vegas.
“They also receive a trophy and a $200 prize,” said Webb. “In the future we hope the league can cover the expense to send the champions to Nationals, but that would be determined by the size of the league and the expense,” he said.
In a nutshell, local Bocce is played with a set of four balls for each team, one set is red and one is either blue or green. Then each team has one off-white pallino, a smaller ball about the size of a golf ball used as a marker. The object of the game is to get your team’s balls as close to the pallino as possible. After both teams have thrown all their balls the team with the ball closest to the pallino gets a point for every ball that is closer than their opponents. This is a match.
According to bocce.org, versions of Bocce started some 5,000 years ago, when Egyptians tossed polished stone at targets on the ground. In modern times, the first Bocce clubs were organized in Italy, with the first leagues created around 1947. Italian immigrants coming to America at the turn of the 20th century brought the game with them and it’s thanks to them that Bocce has come to grow in the United States. Next to soccer, it is the most popular sport in the world, according to bocce.org
Still in its infancy, the CBL is off to a good start, especially with a sponsorship from the Drop In Deli. “We gave them beer cozies, t-shirts and a place to eat and drink on league nights,” said manager/owner Matt Loda. “We expect to do the same thing next year. It’s been a fun experience.”
The Charleston Bocce League has only been around since January 2010, but it has certainly flourished. With more than 45 members and local sponsorship, Bocce on Folly will be rolling smoothly for some time to come.
Editors Note: Weather caused the end of the tournament to be postponed and a winner was not named. The final two matches took place after The Current went to press. The winning team will be announced in a future issue of The Current. The two teams in the final were 107mm Sag (Anthony Smith and Ed Lighhart) and Balls on the Edge (Rob Diprima and Brian Hawkins).
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