After a busy fall sports season with nine total sports offered, the winter season kicks off and also offers various sports, including a unified sport, bocce. For those who don’t know about the sport, bocce consists of underhand throwing weighted balls toward a target ball to score points and achieve a team victory.
Unified Bocce was first offered at the district in 2021, making it a relatively new addition to the variety of activities at UPHS. The team is coached by Mr. Thrush and Mrs. Bamford, who also teach in the special education department.
Although it might seem strange to students, when WSJ interviewed coach Thrush about the Bocce program itself, he confirmed that “Upper Perkiomen considers Bocce a Varsity sport. Not a club. Players participate in the sports banquet and are held to the same standards as any other sport.”
Last year, the Bocce team had similar numbers to this year, consisting of two teams with eight players on each team. Even though this is an average amount of people, the organization hopes to make new additions to the team to ensure they have enough players to continue if a large group of seniors graduate.
Both Thrush and Bamford agree that giving Bocce more publicity and recognition along with other school sports would help build up the team. “We want to make the Bocce experience feel like any other sport at UP” Thrush tells WSJ, emphasizing that gaining schoolwide recognition soon would allow the Bocce team to continue recruiting new players.
Just like any school sport, the Bocce club needs to raise money in addition to the resources given to them by the district to keep their program stable and thriving. Bocce has been funded by the Special Olympics and other charitable events held at school.
To join the Bocce team, you can visit the Upper Perk athletics page located on the UPSD website to register. Good luck to the Bocce team on the rest of their season, and for many seasons to come.
