Why Play Bocce?

For the Beauty. What could be better than being outside in the morning at Paradise Valley Estates with the sun shining down, standing on the creek bank with the beautiful oak trees on the other bank and the hills in the background? Look around you. Smell the flowers. Enjoy the serenity of the morning. Oh, look, a deer!

For the Fellowship. Meeting on the field of play with other residents is an excellent way to strengthen friendships and make new friends. By sharing benches with members of your team and the other team and enjoying the game together we learn about each other and that makes for lasting relationships. A great way to make new friends.

For the Excitement. Each roll of a ball brings a measure of excitement. Each frame is an opportunity for a team to win one or more points. Often the last ball rolled determines the outcome of a frame and one roll can drastically change a score. Just listen for the cheers on the court from time to time. People get excited.

For the Suspense. Sometimes, two balls from opposing teams are so nearly equidistant from the pallino that a measurement is required to determine who gets the point. The games truly are not over until the last ball is rolled. The outcome literally hangs on every roll and the suspense builds throughout the game.

For the Challenge. All bocce players want to be as good as they can be. There is a personal goal in all of us to get each ball right next to the pallino or to knock an opponent’s ball out of contention. A perfect roll can be elusive. There are so many variables. Distance is hard to judge. Releasing the ball perfectly so that it will roll exactly where you intended is difficult to do. And the courts aren’t perfectly flat. Playing the court means knowing where bumps, ridges and slopes are and trying to anticipate them. You have to learn where they are by experience. Bocce offers all the challenge you could want.

For the Exercise. There is more exercise in a game of bocce than one would expect. Standing, sitting, bending, picking balls up and rolling the ball down the court with precision require enough muscle action to bring a sweat (perspiration for ladies), and by the time the game is over you’ve had a workout.

For the Competition. We play bocce at Paradise Valley Estates for all of the above reasons, but we also love to compete. No team member is ever chastised for playing badly. It is only important that they are part of the team and that they are doing their best. We all play bocce for fun. But it is more fun to win and we all love to be on a winning team. It’s a special privilege to be on one of the top teams in the standings.