The other day I was lucky enough to re-discover a long lost love. It’s a game I once thought was only reserved for Italian retirement centers, and southern California beach bums. I’m talking of course about the game of boccee.

Boccee (pronounced botch-ee) is a precision game involving a varying number of players. Each player gets between 2-4 boccee balls, which are pretty heavy and big. A smaller ball (the jack) is then thrown somewhere onto the court (which can be a park, or back yard and varies in size) and the goal of the game is to launch or roll your ball closest to it. It’s very easy to understand in theory, but application of the knowledge revolves around how well you can throw the balls.

Boccee sets are usually 8 balls with different patterns or colors, one jack, and a tape measure. After having forgotten about it for over a year, I decided to dust off the set and head down to Payson Park, here in Portland Maine. The sun was out, and we had some bottles of ice cold water for hydration. It made for a perfect afternoon. Now if only I could get over to Italy for some lessons!

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