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24 economist sunsuntribune diversions saturday oct 15 2005 what is bocce bocce is a precision sport closely related to lawn bowling developed into its present form in italy it is played around europe and in countries with italian immigrants the sport usually becomes popular with the vider community as it is picked up by the secondgenerationy the aim of the game is to place ones balls as near as possible to a target ball called the jack the oppo nent attempts to place hisher balls nearer to this jack or move the bocce balls sitting in the way ivwwseatteboccecom httpenwikipediaorg by mike hayakawa staff writer they play on warm sunny days and when it snows sleets or rains in vaughan they are drawn to recreational facilities like the father ermanno bulfon community centre chan cellor community centre maple community centre and dufferin clark community centre in richmond hill they visit the rouge woods community centre what attracts them to these places are a series of 90foot elon gated playing courts layered by a synthetic surface their game is indoor bocce bearing a strong resemblance to lawn bowling bocce can be played on a social level or in a highly com petitive manner in which partici- 2 pants often raise their voices or use expressive body language the sport caneven build team morale domenic colalillo program manager at the father ermanno bulfon centre says theres no ques tion bocces huge following is con centrated in one ethnic group any bocce facility is 110 per cent italian mr colalillo said with a smile and vaughan has a massive ital ian population not only dp these courts fill a void during winter months when the game cant be played outdoors even on the hot muggy days of summer players sometimes head inside the buildings with indoor bocce these days are climate con trolled and court surfaces are all synthetic you dont have to deal f with crushed gravel or stone or dust the courts are user friendly and clean mr colalillo said noting theres a demand for the courts yearround he said peak playing hours arefrom 1230 to 4 pm when retirees are out in force as popular as the game is mr colalillo sees disturbing trends close to 90 per cent of the players are in the 60 to 65 age bracket he said its a small group but the small number that we have they use the courts regu- staff photosteve somerville salvatore lombardi tosses the bocce ball while competitors vincenzo santarangelo angelina genua and antoinette desanto look on during a game at father ermanno bulfon community centre in woodbridge the pallino and an opponents ball are in the foreground and are a target for his throw larly and they are vocal about their game lauren steckley manager of the rouge woods community centre concurred we do have a steady group of around 200 members who are mostly first generation people and our membership really isnt grow ing that much she said shifting ethnic populations are also having an affect at dufferin and clark we had four courts that were popular years ago but with the population now changing there are fewer players mr colalillo said he fears the game could go the way of the dinosaur unless meas ures are taken to preserve it with new blood via a youth league he also thinks bocce enthusi asts must try to do a better job of promoting the sport the game is very relaxing its a friendly way to kill off a few hours you wont get hurt per se you can walk up and down and theres a lot of socializing and kibitzing among players costs are low too a set of balls which mr colalillo said will last a long time might cost about 70 to 80 the only other piece of equip ment required he added are shoes necessary to avoid tracking outside debris on to the court- in some areas of york region efforts are being made to heighten the awareness of indoor bocce in markham the markham bocce association and town joined forces to construct an indoor court at markham centennial arena the 10000squarefoot facility is part of the second phase of the arenas expansion it will host four regulationsized indoor synthetic courts carolina moretti an association who to contact markham bocce association 9054724171 father ermanno bulfon community centre 9058798732 chancellor community centre 9052650097 maple community centre 9058322377 dufferin clark community centre 9059058328554 rouge woods community centre 9057871441 spokesperson is optimistic the indoor courts will entice more peo ple to take up the sport and add to her groups 125 members for 10 years the association has encountered problems promoting the sport because of its location in the north end of markham as well the court is in a con verted industrial warehouse that is not large enough to house full- sized courts being in the location that we were we werent attracting as many members as wed like she said the community centre is more viable and has easier access we want to introduce the sport to the entire community and even get people from thornhill once the facility is in place fall of 2006 is a tentative completion date ms moretti said the associa tion hopes to recruit younger play ers she notes some youngsters are already taking to the game in doing research we found special needs youngsters are being bused from brother andre catholic high school and father michael mcgivney to vaughan to play the sport- indoors she said bocce is a great social interac tive sport and the kids like it we would like to introduce it to the schools and into their gym pro grams the association will also be working with other groups includ ing the markham lawn bowling club to recruit players once people play bocce we find its a great team builder because theres lots of interaction and it can be very competitive she said not everyone can play basket- ballsocceror hockey bocce is a sport everyone can be a part of once people play it they find its a great game because theres lots of interaction but without the proper expo sure its hard to do mr moretti even goes out on a limb to predict once the facility is up and running the demand for bocce will grow it could be similar to what soccer experienced 20 years ago she said get local exposure for your business by advertising in york region business times our business readership includes owmers managers and other key decision makers as well as chamber of commerce and board of trade members w affordable advertising campaigns tailorecj to small and large businesses ad rates start at 70 per month and include professional copywritihg and design call our sales department for information 9055131 717 targeted distribution of 1 6000 monthly copies i