Where can you play bocce in Cochrane?

Been looking to pick up a few games of the ancient sport of bocce? In Cochrane, bocce players gather by the Bow River Edge Campground, enjoying this relatively simple game that is very hard to master.

The popularity of this low impact sport has been steadily growing among Cochrane seniors.  The Seniors on the Bow group in the town organized a league when two residents of nearby Cremona were looking for local players.  Adeline and Bill Fedyk were looking for more people because they wanted to brush up on their skills so they could compete in tournaments at provincial and national levels.

It was people who curl during the winter who first stepped forward.  Once learning about the game, which is played on short grass on 60 by 12-foot bocce ball courts, many felt it had enough similarities to curling that they were comfortable giving it a go.  The Seniors on the Bow group bought the required balls and Bow River Edge Campground not only had the necessary space for two courts next to their administration building, they agreed to maintain the lawn.   The game is not restricted to seniors, but an enthusiastic group is practicing and adding new members with the goal that in the next National 55-Plus Games Cochrane could submit a team.

However, 55-plus members aside, anyone is welcome to try bocce at the Bow River facility on Wednesday nights at 6:30 or Friday mornings at 11:00.  The games go on for a few hours and because it’s a game of skill it’s more relaxing and is quite sociable.

The History of Bocce

Pronounced “botchee”, the word is derived for the Latin word for bowl.  The game goes back to the time of Ancient Egypt in 4000 B.C.  The Romans picked it up in Egypt and brought it back to Italy where it became very popular.  The game has evolved into many other types of sports over the centuries.  While the Egyptians played in sand, the Romans modernized the game which can also be played on grass or asphalt.

The game can be played with two people or two teams of two to four people. The goal is to throw your ball or your team’s ball as close to the centre of the target as you can.   The target is established when a smaller ball called a “pallino” or “bullet” is thrown out onto the court at the beginning of a round.  Or as they say in curling, an “end”.   The idea is to get your ball or your team’s ball closer to the target than anyone else.   Unlike curling or shuffleboard, which has a static target, the target in bocce is dynamic and moves around during each round.  It can also be knocked into a new position by a throw.

What’s the difference between bocce and lawn bowling?

These two games are cousins. Lawn bowling was the British adaptation of bocce.  In Bocce the ball is completely round and in bowling the ball is rounded on one end and elliptical on the other end.  Bocce balls are thrown underhand in the same fashion as softball.  A ball in lawn bowling is rolled. The courts are different sizes –  small for bocce, larger for lawn bowling.  The target ball in lawn bowling is referred to as a “jack”.