Kincardine Special Olympics group hosts first Bocce Ball tournament in Tiverton

Kincardine and Area Special Olympics welcomed almost 30 athletes to the regional Bocce Ball tournament, held Saturday in Tiverton.

The Tiverton Lions Club sponsored the games, supplying volunteers for referees and scorers, and providing a barbecue lunch.

Athletes attended from Kincardine, Wingham-Lucknow, South Saugeen, Central Bruce, Caledon and Burlington.

Similar to lawn-bowling, Bocce features two players on the field, and the object is to throw the Bocce balls closer to the Pallino (small white ball) than your opponent. The first team to reach 12 points wins the game. A match typically consists of three rounds.

At the regional tournament, there were 10 sessions of games, running from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Each player was guaranteed five games throughout the day, and each game was about 20 minutes long.

Winning gold medals, were Jackie McDonald of Kincardine, Barb Neirgarth of Wingham-Lucknow, and Marcus Messer, Wayne Morton, Terri Johnston, Raymond Tomlinson and Jeremy Kranenburg, all of Central Bruce. All had won four or five of their games.