Besides some simple equipment, all that's needed to play bocce is a spirit of fun and good sportsmanship. Any time is a good time to play bocce. It's not tied to any seasonal conditions, and you'll fall in love with this game, as you face its athletic and strategic challenges.
Court
reservations are available up to one week in advance and are
highly recommended. Please call 248-371-9987 ext. 0
Groups wishing to book more than one week in advance may book
though our events department - CLICK
HERE FOR GROUP EVENT DETAILS
Maximum of 12 players
allowed playing on court at any time
Bocce Rates
Per Person Bocce Rates*
Off-Peak $8 for 1.5 hours per person
$32 minimum court fee
Peak $10 for 1.5 hours per person
$40 minimum court fee
Event and Tournament Rates*
(up to 12 players per court)
Off-Peak $65 per court for 1.5 hours
Peak $80 per court for 1.5 hours
*Off-Peak hours: Sunday thru Friday before 5:00pm
Peak hours: Daily after 5:00pm, all day Saturday
Why You'll Want to Join One of Our Leagues
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Instruction for beginners – Our friendly staff
will be happy to show you how to
get rolling |
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One day/night a week commitment |
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Summer
Evening Leagues at 6:00 pm & 8:30 – to
suit your busy schedule |
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Sign up a full team or individually for team
placement |
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Fabulous food and drink available courtside |
FALL LEAGUES
Weekday Evening Leagues:
Leagues begin the week of September 8th
10 week session plus tournament
Choose from Competitive, Intermediate, & Beginners Leagues
2 or 4-person teams available by league type / $160 per player
Sign up your team or individually for team
placement
CLICK HERE for Evening League Details and
Registration Form
Senior Lunch Leagues:
Leagues begin the week of September 9th
10 week session
2 or 4-person teams / $140 per player (pay $14 weekly)
Sign up your team or individually for team
placement
Start Your Own
League
Group and
company leagues available
Minimum of 16 players is all you need
Medals included for top three placing teams
Choose # of play weeks and day of week (based on
availability)
Please call or email for more
information on leagues:
248-371-9987 ext. 11
Email:
Request
League Info
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Youth Play
Bocce is unique because it's athletic, yet accessible to people of every age. Its physical skill requirements are minimal, and having fun rules over the competition of it! Simple equipment is required, which can be rented right at our facility, so there's no need for exorbitant amounts money to "suit up" the kids for play.
Please call or email for more information on youth bocce:
248-371-9987 ext. 11
Request
Youth Bocce Info |
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| Palazzo di Bocce Open Bocce Rules |
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| Bocce Teams |
Teams will be comprised of up to six players, with the option of all players at one end of the court or 1/2 the team stationed at each end of the court, throwing two bocces each. At the end of each frame, the game resumes at the opposite end of the court.
Begin the match with the flip of a coin between the captains of each team. The winner of the coin flip may have the first toss of the pallino (small target ball), or choose the color of their bocces. |
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| Tossing the Pallino |
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The play of the pallino is legal if it passes the center line of the court, and does not pass the last/end line. If a player fails to toss the pallino properly, the opposing team will toss the pallino and put it into play. If the opposing team fails to properly toss the pallino, the pallino reverts back to the original team. Any time a player is rolling, opposing players must remain outside the court. |
| Starting the Bocce Game |
The first bocce will be thrown by the team that originally tossed the pallino. If that bocce hits the back board, the bocce is removed from the court. The other team throws until it beats (not ties) the opposing bocce. This continues until both teams have used all their bocces. Whenever a team gets a bocce closer, it steps aside and lets the other team roll. The team that scored last throws the pallino to begin the next frame. Consecutive
or alternating throws by teammates shall be at the option of the players. Players may use the side walls at any time. If a player rolls the wrong color bocce, simply replace
it with the correct color when it comes to rest. If a player rolls out of turn or plays
more than two bocces, the other team may leave all bocces as is or remove the illegal bocce from the play and return all bocces to their approximate position. |
| Foul Lines |
Players may step on but not over the foul line before releasing the pallino or their bocce.
Bocce Scoring
Only one team scores in a frame. One point is given
for each bocce that is closer to the pallino than the closest bocce of the opposing team. If at the end of
any frame the closest bocce of each team is an equal distance from the pallino, the bocce that was thrown first gets the point. Games are normally played to 12 or 15 points. The tournament host may change this number.
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| Bocces Hitting the Back Board |
A bocce hitting the back board without hitting any other bocce or pallino first is dead and must be removed from play. If it hits a bocce or pallino and then hits the back board, all bocces are valid. If a thrown bocce does not first touch another bocce and hits the back board and then strikes a stationary bocce, that stationary bocce shall be replaced to its approximate position. The thrown bocce is removed from play. |
| Pallino Hitting the Back Board |
Once the pallino is in play, it remains in play even if it hits the back board during the game. However, if the pallino is knocked out of the court, or is knocked in front of the centerline, the frame will end and play will resume from the opposite end of the court, with the same team tossing the pallino. |
| Late Arrivals and Substitutions |
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A team not showing within ten minutes of the scheduled starting time, loses two points, and an additional two points for each five minute increment thereafter. A team not showing up within thirty minutes of the scheduled starting time forfeits the game. A team missing players
at the start of the game may play, however, each player may only roll two bocces. (A player arriving late may enter a game, but only after the completion of the game.) A team may make one substitution per frame. Substitutions may only be made between frames. |
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Remember, You Don't Have to be Italian to Play Bocce
The Beginings of the Sport
Throwing an object toward a target is considered
the oldest game known to mankind. Graphic
representations of the sport, recorded as early
as 5200 B.C., have been found in Egypt and the
MiddleEast. While the game of Bocce today
appears quite different from the ancient
version, the consistently common objective of
trying to come as close as possible to a fixed
target remains intact. From this early
objective, the basic rules of Bocce were born.
The game made its way from Egypt to Greece
around 800 B.C. The version of the game
resembling what we know as Bocce today was
refined by early Romans, who adopted the game
from the Greeks and introduced it throughout
their empire. Beginning with Emperor Augustus,
Bocce became the sport of statesman and rulers.
The Roman influence lives on today. The game's
name, Bocce, is a derivative of the Vulgate
Latin bottia, which translates as “boss”.
European Growth
European history is filled with references to
Bocce, both good and bad. The Greek physician
Ipocrates and Italian Renaissance man Galileo
both noted that the game's athleticism and
spirit of competition rejuvenated the body and
the mind. Somewhere, the claim arose that
playing Bocce had great therapeutic effect in
curing rheumatism, and consequently the game
enjoyed rapid growth throughout Europe as the
sport of nobility and peasants alike. As Bocce's
popularity grew, it began to threaten and
interfere with the security of states. Kings
Carlos IV and V of Spain prohibited the playing
of Bocce because it took too much time away from
military exercises. The Republic of Venice
publicly condemned the sport in 1576, and
punished players with fines and imprisonment.
Perhaps the gravest condemnation of Bocce came
from the Catholic Church, which officially
prohibited clergy and deterred the laity from
playing the game by proclaiming Bocce a means of
gambling. Contrary to the rest of Europe,
British nobility such as Queen Elizabeth I and
Sir Francis Drake were avid players. According
to lore, Sir Frances Drake refused to set out to
defend England against the Spanish Armada until
he finished a game of Bocce. He proclaimed,
"First we finish the game, then we'll deal with
the Armada!”
Bocce Comes to America
The sport first came to America with the
English, with one early American playing field
being Bowling Green at the southern tip of
Manhattan. Though George Washington built a
court and played regularly at Mount Vernon in
the 1780s, the game did not flourish until turn
of the century Italian immigrants brought their
enthusiasm for the sport with them to America.
During its beginnings in the U.S. there were
many versions of the game. In 1947, fifteen
teams in and around the town of Rivoli (Torino)
organized the first Bocce “club”, first Italian
League, and the first of the yearly World Bocce
Championships, bringing some order to the game.
This idea of “order” soon spread to the new
world, though the game is still played by
several different sets of “regional rules” in
the United States. |
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