Salisbury High School family and friends were invited recently to attend a special bocce tournament between faculty and SHS’s United Bocce team.

The latter is comprised of students with and without special needs.

According to special education teacher and coach Ashley Nagy, “Salisbury High School added the Unified Bocce team this year. It is run through Special Olympics and the team consists of team members with and without special needs.

“The overall goal of bocce is to promote social interaction and self-confidence. I have seen firsthand this occurring in just the short time we have been practicing and preparing for matches.”

Bocce is a relatively new Special Olympics sport, first introduced in 1995.

However, it is perhaps the oldest sport known to mankind. There are architectural finds of stone balls dating back to around 9000 B.C. in Turkey and carvings depicting Egyptians playing the game as far back as 5000 B.C.

Bocce grew in popularity under the Roman Empire, becoming especially popular in Italy.

In 1947, the Bocce World Championships started, the same year the first Italian league, with 15 teams, was formed.

Recently, the sport has been gaining popularity, with a twist.

“Bocce is allowing students who may not have had the opportunity to previously be part of a team sport, experience what it is like to be part of a team and earn a varsity letter. Our team consists of eight competitors and we have two student managers. The team has two head coaches (myself) and Maia Geiger,” Nagy told The Press.

Nagy added, “I have nothing but positive things to say about Salisbury adding Unified Bocce to the school. I have seen students grow in such positive ways in just the short time we have been a team. Their confidence is growing, the social interaction between students has been increasing, and the pure joy on their faces is an amazing thing to see.”