Vance Special Olympics completes 1st bocce season


Rudy May
Special Olympics Vance County Bocce competitors and coaches

Special Olympics Vance County has just completed its first bocce season culminating in a Local Tournament at the Aycock Recreation Center on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

Bocce has been an official sport of Special Olympics North Carolina since 1991. It can be played in singles, doubles, or teams of four. Bocce is played with eight balls and one smaller target ball called the pallina. Each side has four of the eight bocce balls. One player tosses the pallina onto the court and then throws their bocce ball as close as possible to the pallina. Each team then takes turns tossing their bocce balls to get closer to the pallina, and the closest ball determines the winning team and points for that frame.

Vance athletes trained for the event beginning in September of this year with coaches Angela Feingold, Michelle King, and Jessica Lloyd. The tournament had three divisions: the first consisted of Rudy May finishing with gold, Larry Hawkins finishing with silver, and Estella Vacher finishing with bronze; the second division consisted of D.J. Johnson finishing with gold, and R.J. Saucier finishing with silver; and the third division consisted of Olivia Smith finishing with gold, and Clyde Peace finishing with silver.

Rudy May
Rudy May

Larry Hawkins
Larry Hawkins

Estella Vacher
Estella Vacher

D.J. Johnson
D.J. Johnson

R.J. Saucier
R.J. Saucier

Olivia Smith
Olivia Smith

Clyde Peace
Clyde Peace

Special Olympics Vance County is beginning its basketball season this fall. Please call Julie Beichner, Special Olympics Vance County Local Coordinator, for more information at 252.431.6091.