Sport born 'in the shadows of antiquity'

BOCCE: Calling into the bocce arena in the RDS is like stumbling into a genteel country estate on a summer day.

There is a gentle tap as one bocce ball hits another. The officials in white shirts and trousers peer over their glasses to measure the distance between the balls. Sporadic polite clapping breaks out as a player wins a round. Straw hat and cucumber sandwiches would not look out of place in this setting.

Bocce is an ancient and elegant sport "its birth lost in the shadows of antiquity", according to bocce fans. Each player has four balls, and the aim to get as close as possible to the pallina - a little ball which is thrown into the middle of the long narrow court to start the game.

But while it may look like a gentle pursuit, it's far from leisurely for the players, their families and coaches. "I'm more nervous than she is," said Ann Hillen, sister of Pamela Mayes, one of five players representing Team Ireland. "She's taking it all in her stride."

The Armagh competitor had her sister and friends on the edges of their seats yesterday as she narrowly won round 2 of her event and went on to comprehensively beat her Barbados opponent, Sheron Hoyte, to win a place in today's final.

She even surprised herself as she came back from six points down to win round 2 against Monica Dominguez of Argentina. "I didn't think I was going to get it," she said afterwards. "I feel great now." Pamela took up bocce two years ago, after her friends started to play it. She likes it because she has met lots of new people since she started coming to regular training sessions in Dublin.

Like many people, Pamela's family did not know what bocce was when she starting enthusing about it. "I had never heard of it before," says her sister Ann. "But Pam thoroughly enjoys it. It gives her an interest. She doesn't really mind whether she wins or not. She just enjoys it."

Ann travelled to Dublin yesterday morning with two family friends, Maura Taggart and Jean Bell. They will return this morning to see Pamela compete in the final.

Pamela's fellow team member Joanne Donnell has also won a place in the final of her division, while the remaining team members are still in with a chance of a medal.

"Pam's great at it," says Ms Taggart. "She just seemed to get very good at it, very quickly after she took it up. We are delighted for her."

More than 200 athletes from over 40 countries are competing in the bocce events at the RDS. It's a far cry from the sport's origins, when soldiers played it for relaxation between battles in Rome's Punic Wars against Carthage. It is still very popular in centres where Italian immigrants have settled, particularly in the US, Australia and part of South America. Maybe Ireland will be soon added to that the list, if Pamela's coach Julie-Ann Kyle is correct.

She believes bocce will really take off in this country in the coming year, thanks to the host town programme. "A lot of host towns had to build bocce courts for the athletes so we are hoping that a league will soon start. I think the sport will really take off here within the next year."

While it is less physical than other sports, it's not just for people with learning disabilities, Ms Kyle says. "People of all ages can play it. It's the biggest growing sport in the US, you know."