Bocce has 'taken off' in Babylon, where club plays on new town courts
Shouts from the bocce ball courts pierced the whoosh of the salty breeze gusting off the Great South Bay at Tanner Park in Copiague on Tuesday night.
“Nice and easy, nice and easy!” a man willed his ball as it rolled down the court to join several others.
“No, no, no!” yelled another, who threw his hands up in the air as his ball came to a stop.
Nearly three dozen members of Babylon Bocce Club were gathered for one of four weekly team game nights at the park. They play on courts the Town of Babylon recently renovated.
Interest in bocce ball has exploded in recent years, said club president Santo Crocco, 56, of Babylon Village, who started the organization in September 2021 with 38 members.
The group now has 267 members, along with a waiting list of approximately 40 people. He said there are about a half-dozen bocce clubs on Long Island.
“It’s really taken off,” Crocco said. “I’m just trying to expose as many people to the sport as possible.”
While rules can vary among clubs, for Babylon's bocce games, each team of four to six players gets four balls and the objective is to roll the bocce ball as close as possible to a smaller ball called a pallino.
Players called “pointers” finesse the balls toward their target while players called “shooters” try to knock opposing balls away. The first team to reach 12 points wins.
Strategy is key, said Peter Rabito, 59, who heads American Bocce Club in Huntington, which he and Crocco said is Babylon’s “sister club.”
“It’s checkers, it’s chess, it’s golf, it’s pool. It’s angles," Rabito said. "I tell people, 'You never thought you would use geometry again after school? Well, you use geometry when you play bocce.' "
Long considered an “old Italian man” game, Crocco said, the demographic of bocce players has been changing. He said his club is 40% women, with players averaging in their early 50s.
While many people may be familiar with casual backyard bocce games, official games must be played on a court that typically consists of clay, Crocco said.
Two 10-year-old courts at Tanner had been “in bad shape,” according to town spokesman Ryan Bonner, who said renovation plans began after a meeting between Crocco and Babylon officials.
The town spent $236,160, adding two courts, increasing their size to meet regulation standards and adding lights, drainage and scoreboards.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Ann Fitzmaurice, 52, of South Setauket, as she waited to play Tuesday. “Growing up in an Italian family, that’s what we always used to do in the summer, play in the backyard at a barbecue.”
Tony Lovecchio, 79, of Lindenhurst, said he’s been playing since he was 6 years old back in Italy, where the game was played with rocks in the street.
“I love it. I could play it day and night,” he added.
The club has league games at 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and open sessions Sundays at 10 a.m., where anyone can give it a try.
Bill Seiman, 75, of Amityville, leaned against a fence and watched the games with fascination Tuesday.
“I think I’d like to try it,” he said. “I think it’s more difficult than it looks, but it seems like fun.”
Shouts from the bocce ball courts pierced the whoosh of the salty breeze gusting off the Great South Bay at Tanner Park in Copiague on Tuesday night.
“Nice and easy, nice and easy!” a man willed his ball as it rolled down the court to join several others.
“No, no, no!” yelled another, who threw his hands up in the air as his ball came to a stop.
Nearly three dozen members of Babylon Bocce Club were gathered for one of four weekly team game nights at the park. They play on courts the Town of Babylon recently renovated.
Interest in bocce ball has exploded in recent years, said club president Santo Crocco, 56, of Babylon Village, who started the organization in September 2021 with 38 members.
The group now has 267 members, along with a waiting list of approximately 40 people. He said there are about a half-dozen bocce clubs on Long Island.
“It’s really taken off,” Crocco said. “I’m just trying to expose as many people to the sport as possible.”
While rules can vary among clubs, for Babylon's bocce games, each team of four to six players gets four balls and the objective is to roll the bocce ball as close as possible to a smaller ball called a pallino.
Players called “pointers” finesse the balls toward their target while players called “shooters” try to knock opposing balls away. The first team to reach 12 points wins.
Strategy is key, said Peter Rabito, 59, who heads American Bocce Club in Huntington, which he and Crocco said is Babylon’s “sister club.”
“It’s checkers, it’s chess, it’s golf, it’s pool. It’s angles," Rabito said. "I tell people, 'You never thought you would use geometry again after school? Well, you use geometry when you play bocce.' "
Tony Buscema takes part in a match on Tuesday as the Babylon Bocce Club plays at Tanner Park in Copiague. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Long considered an “old Italian man” game, Crocco said, the demographic of bocce players has been changing. He said his club is 40% women, with players averaging in their early 50s.
While many people may be familiar with casual backyard bocce games, official games must be played on a court that typically consists of clay, Crocco said.
Two 10-year-old courts at Tanner had been “in bad shape,” according to town spokesman Ryan Bonner, who said renovation plans began after a meeting between Crocco and Babylon officials.
The town spent $236,160, adding two courts, increasing their size to meet regulation standards and adding lights, drainage and scoreboards.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Ann Fitzmaurice, 52, of South Setauket, as she waited to play Tuesday. “Growing up in an Italian family, that’s what we always used to do in the summer, play in the backyard at a barbecue.”
Tony Lovecchio, 79, of Lindenhurst, said he’s been playing since he was 6 years old back in Italy, where the game was played with rocks in the street.
“I love it. I could play it day and night,” he added.
The club has league games at 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and open sessions Sundays at 10 a.m., where anyone can give it a try.
Bill Seiman, 75, of Amityville, leaned against a fence and watched the games with fascination Tuesday.
“I think I’d like to try it,” he said. “I think it’s more difficult than it looks, but it seems like fun.”
Bocce Ball Facts
The first documentation of the sport is believed to be in a painting from 5200 B.C. found in an Egyptian tomb.
- In 600 B.C., the game passed from the Greeks to the Romans and became widely played in Italy.
- An estimated 1.3 million people play in the United States.
Source: World Bocce League
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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