Isaiah Palos just couldn’t help himself. After almost every bocce toss he’d bring his arms up and put on a gun show. For the 16-year-old Special Olympic athlete, it didn’t seem to matter where the ball actually went.
Isaiah is still learning the nuances of bocce, such as how rolling the ball softly often has better results than a hard throw.
The Dothan Leisure Services Therapeutic Recreation Program recently added bocce to its lineup of Special Olympic sports. The 11 Special Olympic athletes have had three practices since the team was formed in December.
“Right now we’re just practicing, learning the game,” said Lorena Guttowsky of Dothan Leisure Services. “We’re going to do a qualifying event to invite other counties to participate and so that our team, our unified team, can go ahead and compete in the State Games.”
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The Special Olympics Alabama Summer Games will be held in May with athletic venues in Troy, Dothan and Montgomery, and opening and closing ceremonies at Troy University in Troy.
The Dothan bocce team is intended to be a unified sports team where Special Olympic athletes with intellectual disabilities are paired with partners who don’t have intellectual disabilities. The idea behind unified teams is to promote social inclusion as well as offer more athletic opportunities for Special Olympic athletes.
Bocce, often called bocce ball, is an Italian game, although the game was played in some form by ancient Egyptians as well as Greeks and Romans. It’s similar to other games like the French game pétanque and the British lawn game bowls. Numerous bocce-related websites describe it as the third-most-played sport in the world.
You typically play bocce in teams of one, two and four players. Once you have the appropriate bocce balls, you can play on your lawn, at the beach or on an indoor bocce court. There are even portable courts with inflatable side walls, such as the one Guttowsky sets up early before each practice.
Bocce is played with eight weighted balls — four for each team — and a smaller “target” ball called a pallina. Balls are thrown underhand toward the center of a bocce court. The pallina is thrown first, and the objective is to throw or roll the balls as close as you can to the pallina. The team that gets a ball closest to the pallina scores.
While regulation bocce courts measure 91 feet long and 13 feet wide, the official courts for Special Olympics measure 60 feet long and 12 feet wide. A home court can be whatever dimensions best suit your site as long as foul lines and the center court line are clearly marked.
Bocce can be easily played by people with varying athletic abilities as well as people of all ages. Dothan’s unified bocce team has players who range in age from 16 to 56.
“It’s something that’s very popular and something that’s very enjoyable, because you could also do it outdoors,” Guttowsky said. “And they seem to really enjoy it.”
Many of the Special Olympic athletes on the bocce team also participate in other therapeutic recreation activities.
Some play basketball or bowl, while others are on Dothan’s Special Olympics swim team.
Joshua Adkins, 18, likes bowling over other sports, although he’s learning to master the soft bocce throw and likes being on the bocce team because of the people he meets.
“It’s like a family,” he said.
