Norwin’s Unified Bocce team came out with a 4-0 win in their most recent game on Thursday, January 22nd at Jeanette.

The team opened up their season on Friday, January 9th in a home game against Penn Trafford.

The Unified Bocce team has been at Norwin for 7 years, and Coaches Mrs. Tiffany Haraburda and Miss Kristen Sweeney have been running the Unified Sports Program for 5 years.

The Unified Bocce team has continued to grow since it was started. This year the team has a total of 24 athletes on the roster.

“We have a lot of new people that joined this year. We have the most we ever had,” said Coach Sweeney.

The bocce team practices hard at practice twice a week after school, practicing their rolls. However, the team does not only work hard, but play hard too. They have lots of fun at practice.

“I like to play the game because I like to spend time with friends,” said Christian.

“They are doing good working together in practice. Lots of laughs are had,” said Coach Haraburda.

The rules of bocce may seem difficult to a newcomer, but it is actually quite the opposite. In fact, bocce is a fun, simple game that many people can enjoy.

The rules of bocce are as Coach Sweeney explains: “There are two teams of 4. There is a coin flip to start the game. Whoever wins the coin toss, starts by rolling the tiny ball called the palina. The palina is kind of like the target for all of the other balls once it is placed. Once the palina is rolled, all of the players have one shot to roll their ball closest to the palina. Each team gets four tries to get closest. After all balls are rolled, the team with the balls closest to the palina gets the points. You can get up to four points per frame- one point for each ball that is closest to the palina. Each game is 30 minutes, and the teams rotate back and forth for the entirety of the game.”

However, playing bocce can sometimes be difficult. There are a lot of rules and skills that make the game a lot harder.

“The hardest part is trying not to go past the blue line,” said Lilah.

“The hardest part of bocce is the cookie roll,” said Erin. The cookie roll is the Bocce team’s nickname for a slow roll.

Bocce has a lot of rewarding moments too.

“My favorite part of bocce is when I roll the ball closest to the blue line,” said Lilah.

Unified bocce is one of the many Unified sports that bring people together to connect with others and make friends.

“Teamwork, kindness, acceptance, and inclusion are the core parts of Unified sports,” said Coach Haraburda and Coach Sweeney when asked about the importance of Unified sports, including Unified Bocce.

Unified Bocce celebrated their seniors: Erin, Autumn, Timmy, Gavin, Zaki, Kayden, Alivya, and Josh in a home game against East Allegheny on Wednesday, February 12th.