Dudley Ferguson quickly learned strategic ways to win at bocce and dreams of unified bocce becoming a high school outdoor varsity sport in the fall.
“I’m having incredible fun,” said Ferguson, a junior. “It’s a nice social game. There is no intense competition. Bocce does not take athletic skills, but does take skill and strategy to win. You have to know the opponent’s next move and try to win using careful planning.”
Ferguson and several students met with club advisers Susannah Renzi and Kathy Giles for several weeks in February and March to learn the rules and strategy of the classic Italian lawn game by playing in the basement of the high school.
“The plan is to do it next year as a varsity sport,” said Renzi, who learned how to play bocce over the summer. “It’s an opportunity for kids who don’t play a fall sport to have another option. It gives kids, who do not see themselves as athletic, a sport to play and meet some people.
“It’s a sport that is so accessible to so many people who don’t think of themselves as being athletic. You still can come down, have fun and play.”
Unified bocce is one of three unified sports offered by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association in partnership with Special Olympics New York. There are more than 300 schools offering unified sports in the state.
The NYSPHSAA offers unified bocce in the fall, unified bowling in the winter and unified basketball in the spring. Bocce teams consist of two athletes, students with disabilities, and two partners, students without disabilities.
“I never played it before I came here,” said sophomore Mason Webb. “I’m having a lot of fun.”
With club bocce ending before spring break, students will be turning their focus after the break to unified basketball. Rhinebeck will begin its third season of unified basketball on April 23 at Wallkill and on April 30 at home versus Beacon.
Junior Vivian Eglinski, a varsity girls soccer player, never played bocce, but could not say no to the opportunity after her experience with unified basketball.
“It’s been so positive,” she said of unified basketball. “I don’t play a spring sport and I couldn’t think of a better way to use my time. It’s a very positive environment. All of the games are very uplifting. No matter what team, you’re cheering for everyone, which I love. Everyone is supporting each other.”