Last year, the Bocce team, coached by PE teacher Steven McMahon, held practices primarily during lunch since the basketball teams practiced nearly everyday after school in the main gym. Despite these circumstances, the team had a successful season last year as they finished at the top of their division. This distinction was good enough to advance to the county championship where they placed fifth out of eight teams and advanced all the way to the state playoffs. Unfortunately, the playoffs were canceled due to COVID. “Last year was a really good year for us and we won our division,” sophomore and second-year player McKenna Kupersmith said.

The team carried this momentum with them into this year’s season opener on Dec. 12 by securing a victory over Whitman. The first of two games, which are 30 minutes each in length, started off in favor of the Patriots as they jumped to an early 3-0 lead. After the next series of rolls the team would eventually win the game by a score of 6-1. Going into the second game, the teams switched sides of where they were rolling. During the second game, the team earned four points by having all four balls closest to the pallino and would go on to win by a score of 6-2 . As a result of winning these two games, the team clinched the match and earned their first victory of the season. “There is a dramatic difference in how stressful yet fun bocce can be,” junior Nico Marinos said.

Bocce ball (pronounced baa-chee) is one of the oldest known sports. It is one of the most played sports in the world due to its versatility and is played by both the young and old. Bocce developed into its current form in Italy although its roots go back to the Roman Empire.

Bocce is a game in which teams take turns rolling balls to get as close to a smaller ball (pallino) as possible. Each round begins with one of the teams throwing the pallino onto the court. Each team then has four rolls to get their balls as close to the pallino as possible. After both teams roll four times, whoever has a ball closest to the pallino scores either 1, 2, 3 or 4 points. Every ball that is closer than the opposing team’s closest ball scores a point. Whichever team tallies the most points at the end of this sequence wins the game and the first team to win 2 games wins the entire match.