DUBOIS, Pa. (EYT) – Student bocce players from around the region recently gathered at the PAW Center on the campus of Penn State DuBois to compete in the interscholastic unified sports bocce regional championship.
(Pictured above: Bocce team from Saint Marys gathered at the Lion Shrine on the campus of Penn State DuBois. Credit: Penn State)
Eight teams from several area schools competed for state qualification spots that were up for grabs for the top two teams.
The Olympic flame being brought into the PAW Center, under guard of a Pennsylvania state trooper, prior to the start of the tournament. Credit: Penn State
Organized by the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, the unified sports bocce championship is one of many unified sports that the Special Olympics offers today.
Unified sports combine approximately equal numbers of Special Olympics athletes and athletes without intellectual disabilities, who are called partners, on sports teams for training and competition. This creates an opportunity for people without intellectual disabilities to join in the sports experience by playing on a team with athletes with intellectual disabilities. Not only do the players all have fun, but attitudes change and transformation happens on the playing field and the experiences create lifelong friendships.
One of the athletes from North Penn-Mansfield watches as her throw rolls down the court at the PAW Center during the interscholastic unified sports bocce regional championship. Credit: Penn State
Bocce was first played in the 18th century in Italy and has developed into a global game since that time. The game is played on many different surfaces, including natural soil and asphalt courts, with the playing area defined by court walls, which were outlined by plastic piping at the PAW Center.
For this event, games were played between two teams and each game was started with a coin flip to determine the turn order and which team would be represented by which color bocce balls. Then, the first team starts by throwing a smaller ball, often called the jack, boccino or little bocce, to mark the point where both teams are going to attempt to get closest to. Each team is then given the opportunity to throw one bocce, attempting to get as close to the smaller ball as possible. After the two initial throws, the team that is further away continues to throw one ball at a time to try and get closer than their opponents have. This continues on until both teams have thrown their four balls in each round. Score is then calculated by the team that has the closest ball to the smaller ball, add one point for each extra ball they have inside of their opponent’s closest bocce ball.
For this regional championship tournament, a time limit and points limit were in place, with a team winning if they reached the points limit before time ran out, or the team that was ahead at the end of the time limit was declared the winner.
Coming to Penn State DuBois to take part in the event were teams from Bedford, Canton, Clearfield, Harbor Creek, North Penn-Mansfield, Penn Cambria, Saint Marys and Tussey Mountain.
Three courts were set up on the PAW Center floor for the eight teams that were in attendance. While the teams were competing for the spots in the state championship tournament, the ultimate goal was for everyone to have fun. That goal was achieved, not only by the players and coaches, but also by the officials, volunteers, and fans in attendance.
Fans filled the gym at the PAW Center to watch the interscholastic unified sports bocce regional championship, recently held at Penn State DuBois. Credit: Penn State
Speaking of fans, the PAW Center was packed with fans for all the teams, showing their support on every throw. This included a full student fan bus that came to the campus from Saint Marys. Students worked with the school administration to arrange for the fan bus so they could come and support their fellow student athletes at this championship event.
As the games and the tournament progressed, the teams vying for the regional championship and gold medals came down to Harbor Creek and Saint Marys. Both teams won their first two games of the day to not only secure their spot in the championship match, but also their spots in the upcoming state championship tournament.
The championship match that followed was one for the ages, as both teams went back and forth, capturing, losing and recapturing the lead. It was a highly competitive match that kept fans on the edge of their seats if they could bear to sit down at all from the excitement. When the final bocce had been rolled, Saint Marys came out victorious, winning the regional championship.
Fans and students from Saint Marys celebrate their team’s win in the championship match of the interscholastic unified sports bocce regional championship. Credit: Penn State
Each team in the tournament received prizes for the place they finished in. The team placements and team members were as follows:
The eighth-place team was Bedford consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Zoey Bottenfield
Conner Cornell
Jesse Johnson
Raegan May
Justin Mortimore
Kylie Predix
Caleb Shrout
Coach Kelly Becker
The seventh-place team was Tussey Mountain consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Courtney Aller
Kyler Coffman
Joslynn Jays
Landon Jays
Jabin McGraw
Jordyn Raycroft
Xavier Ricchiuti
Isaiah Sosak
Coach Melissa Madzy
Coach Jessica McCraw
The sixth-place team was Clearfield consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Seth Jordan
Scarlett LeBeau
Avelynn McKendrick
Lee Ogden
Faith Owens
Cody Taylor
Jaycee Wood
Coach Jessica Komonczi
Coach Barb Spila
The fifth-place team was Penn Cambria consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Douglas Brown
Kyle Conrad
Kayla Gallovich
Kayden McMullen
Kaylee Mento
Wyatt Moreland
Emme Myers
Sophia Rabatin
Coach Joshua Watt
Coach Natalie Watt
The fourth-place team was North Penn-Mansfield consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Jeanna Conrad
Ryane Day
Alexia Kshir
Saige Lehman
Rylie Smith
Megan Spohn
Nel Stubblefield
Rose Young
Coach Jason Dominic
Coach Mary Homan
The thrid-place team was Canton consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Tyson Bedford
Blake Jackson
Adriane Katona
Ellick Smith
Bailey Swartzlander
Searesha Ward
Morgan Wesneski
Reed Urban
Coach Caitlin Barr
Coach Maureen Martz
The second-place team was Harbor Creek consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Amelya Bretz
Owen Drabic
Octavia Garnic
Emanuella Grandinetti
Joseph Hulse
Ayden Miller
Anthony Nguyen
Abigail Vollant
Coach Dave Hess
Coach Katie Teed
The first-place team was Saint Marys consisting of team members (listed in alphabetical order):
Patrick Blessel
Jesse Greishaw
Kara Hanslovan
Vincent Lenze
Elijah Rippey
Wyatt Saline
Giovanni Saraceno
Gianna Surra
Coach Mollie Anzinger
Coach Jamie Caskey
Coach Harley Ramsey
Coach Samantha Zimmerman
With their first and second place finishes, Saint Marys and Harbor Creek will advance to the state championship tournament in Hershey.
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