Bocce: A Summer Recreation

Lawn games are experiencing a resurgence of sorts as people of all ages are rediscovering classic lawn games such as horseshoes, croquet, and bocce. Bocce is played with eight balls and one pallino, and can be played on many surfaces, including dirt, sand or grass. The object of the game is to get your team's four bocce balls closest to the pallino. Bocce is considered the oldest known sport in world history. According to the United States Bocce Federation, "as early as 5000 B.C. the Egyptians played a form of bocce with polished rocks." Greeks also got into the game by 800 B.C., but it really caught on with the Romans, who spread the game throughout the rest of the European continent. PRIME Magazine caught up with a private game on a recent balmy night in East Longmeadow at the Italian-American War Veterans Post 64.