Bocce (or
Bocci, or
Bocché) is a ball sport belonging to the
boules sport family, closely related to
bowls and
pétanque, with a common ancestry originating in Pharaonic Egypt and “globalized” by the Greeks and Romans. The object, simply, is to score points by rolling your
bocce balls closer to a smaller target ball (a.k.a. the
pallino, or
jack) than your opponent. Of the game: easily mastered basics; no exotic equipment required; gender-neutrality; minimal physical demands; and facile game durations. At MIYC it is these characteristics that have accounted for the game’s extraordinary popularity. They promote relaxed social interaction while still allowing for the genial exercise of the competitive spirit.
All MIYC Club members and their guests are invited to play a game at any time if one of the two courts (East of the tennis courts) is open. Necessary equipment (bocce balls, pallino, scoreboards) is available in the box next to the courts. More formally the Bocce Committee (or Comité de Bocché) each season organizes competitive matches pitting women against women, men against men, and women and men against women and men all for various trophies, prizes, and bragging rights as the case may be. Finally, throughout the season the Committee stages various events which are more accurately characterized as social bocce with the emphasis falling more on the “social” than the “competitive”.