By CYNTHIA WOOLBRIGHT

Staff reporter

Don’t you hate it when you just can’t get close to your pallina?

If you’ve ever played bocce, the sport also referred to in parts of the world as lawn bowling, you’d know the frustration.

Bayview Senior Center manager Margaret Scehovic has another frustration with the game — her bocce court is empty. The center installed a bocce court just over six years ago. And while at times the court has been busy with pick-up matches and at times a mini-league, the balls remain still at the beginners bocce lessons at the center Wednesdays.

During the last couple of years, the center has struggled to find people to get some games going, but now with summer here, Scehovic is hoping to get the word out that bocce is fun.

People of all ages, not only seniors, are encouraged to come out and get a game started at the center.

“Kids can play and grandfathers can too. It’s good if they play together so the kids can be there to pick up the balls for the grandfathers,” Scehovic said.

Overall concept of bocce is simple. The object is to roll the bocce (ball) closest to the pallina, also referred to as the target, jack or object. Play can be two people, couples, or teams. It can be played on surfaces such as grass, dirt, sand or gravel. Eight large balls are used on a 12-by-60-foot court. Rules vary depending on style of bocce played and court on which it’s played. For instance, Bayview Senior Center has adjusted the standard rules for its own court.

Scehovic said that for a few years there was a core group of about 25 bocce players keeping the balls rolling on the court. They included friends Jon Hillberg and Isobel Marker who met regularly for matches.

“He still owes me about $5,000,” she jokes of the play bets the two players kept.

The first time Hillberg played it was a trial by fire.

“About three years ago I played with a bunch of Italians down at the Senior Olympics held in Arizona,” he said. “They taught me a lot in a real short time and didn’t really give you much slack not to because you really had to keep up.”

If a group gathers, complete with an audience to heckle, offer unwanted advice and chat, the spectacle around the game is sure to be entertaining.