Bocce is the third most popular sport in the world, after soccer and golf.

Bocce in its current form was played as early as 264 B.C. in Rome. No one really knows how old bocce is, but stone balls dating back to 9000 B.C. have been found in Turkey.

25 million people in the U.S. alone play bocce.

Notable bocce players have included the Roman Emperor Augustus, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates and the astronomer Galileo.

George Washington built a bocce court at Mount Vernon in the 1780s.

Bocce is played between two teams. Each team plays with four bocce balls that are differentiated by color. The goal of the game is to roll your team’s bocce balls closer to the pallino--the smaller target ball--than the other team’s bocce balls.

Each frame is played from one side of the court and begins with the pallino being rolled into play on the court.

The pallino must cross the middle of the court in order for the game to start. If not, it must be rethrown, or given to the other team to throw.

A bocci is considered dead (or “morte” in Italian) when it hits the back wall. The bocci is removed from play and not allowed to be rethrown.

A game is typically played to 12 points in the U.S., though some games can go to 15 or 21 points.

The surface of a bocce court can be composed of stone dust, dirt, clay, grass or an artificial material.

Regulation bocce courts are 91 feet long by 13 feet long, and variations are acceptable if foul lines, mid-court lines and inbound markers are designated.

MWV Bocce Group offers recreational outdoor organized bocce three times a week from May to October for players of all skill levels. Please note that only members and their guests are welcome!