I’m German, but growning up in Rochester, NY, at family get-togethers my parents and my aunt and uncle would get out the bocce set and play in the backyard. It was on grass so I guess you could call it lawn bowling, but they’re all the same game. I’d ask if I could play, and the grown ups would let me throw a couple of balls. On my last birthday I bought a present for myself and got a bocce set. It’s a great game even for the kids.

Found wonderful site for Bocce at www.bocce.org/history.html it has rules, history, & court set up.

I too would like rules & instructions for building a Bocci court. Please E-mail me at johnrey70 [at] webtv [dot] net

I remember walking into a normal 18th century building on Cardinal Lemoine in Paris, France that held a huge mini-Roman Coliseum at the rear of the hall in the back courtyard. There were a bunch of elderly gentlemen playing bocci. It was so beautiful and sedate. trees blooming in early spring. Hidden in the middle of a metropolis. I started to go to that place at least once every week (I lived in that Latin Quarter. The old dudes always saluted and I always saved a sincere smile for them at the end of a long work day. Here is a picture of the place called Arenes de Luteces. It’s an actual 1200 year old mini Roman Coliseum. It has real cages and partially underground lion/gladiator rooms(I guess). spent a lot of daydreaming while watching those gentlemen concentrate on their game skills. Arenes de Lutece – 75005 History, Sculpture http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Arenes/gifs/arenes.1.jpg

boccie also spelled BOCCI, OR BOCCE, Italian bowling game that is especially popular in Piedmont and Liguria and is also played in Italian communities in the United States, Australia, and South America. The governing organization is the Unione Federazione Italiane Bocce. The first world championships were held at Genoa, Italy, in 1951. The boccie court, or campo, is about 75 feet long by 8 feet wide (23 by 2.4 m), with a level surface of sand or clay, enclosed with boarded ends and sides about 18 inches (45 cm) and 12 inches (30 cm) high, respectively. Each player or team in turn rolls or tosses four wooden, metal, or composition balls, called bocce, each 4-5 inches (10-13 cm) in diameter, toward a smaller ball, called the boccino, or pallino. The object, as in the game of lawn bowls, is to bring the ball to rest nearer the pallino than an opponent’s ball, to protect a well-placed ball, or to knock aside an opponent’s ball. Rebounds from the side walls are permitted. At the end of a round, a side receives a point for every ball nearer the pallino than the nearest opposing ball. The game usually proceeds until one side has 12 points.