Pat Milich
The popularity of Bocce Ball in PebbleCreek continues to burgeon as the 2016-2017 season opens to a record number of new players and plans move forward to expand permanent seating at the Eagle’s Nest Bocce Complex.
A lot was happening over the summer hiatus, as leaders of both the PebbleCreek Bocce Association and the Homeowners Association worked out an agreement to add 16 new concrete benches to accommodate seating for team members. This will bring the total number of benches at the complex to 32, four at each of the eight courts and eliminate the need for players to carry in their own folding chairs.
At press time it was still uncertain if the benches would be installed in time for the season opening on Tuesday September 27. The cost of the benches and the installation are being paid for by the Bocce Association. The group’s Board of Directors also has agreed to pay for expanding the sidewalk at the entrance side of the courts.
Bocce Association Treasurer Mollie McErlean has been busy accepting early registrations for the new season since the 2015-2016 competition ended last spring and was still signing up new team members when the deadline came on September 7. She reports that a record-breaking total of 105 PebbleCreekers are taking to the courts for the first time this fall.
There are now a total of 31 teams competing for the Night League title, 15 on Tuesday and 16 on Thursday. In the Day League, 34 teams will be vying for the fall title, 18 teams on Wednesday and 16 teams on Friday. There is a grand total of 614 players registered for 2016 Fall Bocce.
Bocce Association President Cheryl Kasselmann expressed her appreciation to all the volunteers for helping to make Bocce Ball such a successful and fun sport in PebbleCreek.
“Our organization is made up entirely of volunteers who devote many hours of their time to assure that the fall, winter and spring seasons run smoothly,” she said, singling out the herculean contribution made by Mollie McErlean, who handles all player registrations and team scheduling and the association’s statistician Carol Gwilt, who records the wins and losses of each team throughout the three seasons of competition. Carol also organized the very successful Fall Bocce Clinic for new and returning members, which was held on Monday, September 26.
On behalf of all members of the Bocce Executive Committee, which includes board members and team captains and co-captains, President Kasselmann extends a warm welcome to all new and returning players while expressing a special thanks to the Robson Organization and the HOA for providing the PebbleCreek community with its beautiful, state of the art Bocce Complex.