Local Rules

These are the Rules for all leagues at Palisades Bocce Club.

We celebrate the great tradition of bocce as a sport played by ladies and gentleman, enjoyed with a dignity and respect deserving of this great game.

LEAGUE PLAY + STRUCTURE

• Top teams make the playoffs for the bucket-list absolute thrill of lifetime of kissing “The Bocce Cup.”
• League standings are determined by won/loss matches. In the event of a tie in the standings, we tally head-to-head matchups.  If it is style tied, it goes to a one-frame ‘playoff’ match!

GAMES + MATCHES

• Games are either ‘one game to ten,’ or ‘2 out of 3 games.’   If it’s ‘2 out of 3 games,’ the first and second game are to 6, the tie-breaker third game is to 5.  If you win the first two games, the match is over.  Time to celebrate.

TEAMS

• Each team must have at least 6 players on their roster (but the more, the merrier).
• A team must field 4 players for a match – yet, a team can play as many as 8 in a given game, and any number in a given match.
• Players on a team can substitute for other players on a team at any point in a new frame.  In the same game, players may not play from one side of the court, and then play on the other side of the court.
• If a team only has 4 players for a match, 2 players play on each end of the court.  6 or more players on a team for a match is the ‘preferred’ number of players.  If three players are on one end of the court, one of the three players can roll twice.  A player can never roll more than two balls in a frame.
• It is up to the team to decide who it chooses to play in a match, and the amount of balls any player rolls (maximum 2 per frame).

CAPTAINS

• Each team has a Captain.  The Captain is the primary contact with the heads of the league.
• A Captain’s responsibility is to share all league information with their players.
• Each week, the Captain is responsible to make sure that their team has at least 4 players that will be playing.

GUESTS AND SUBSTITUTES

• A team can have substitute players for a match, but substitute players can’t already play on another team in the team’s league.
• During Wildcard, Playoff or Championship matches, teams cannot have substitutes from the other Palisades Bocce Club leagues.
• A player can only be a substitute two times, for any team, during a given season.
• During the playoffs, you must have two players from your team present for a match.
• Regarding substitutes, teams cannot intentionally ‘stack’ their lineup with top-level bocce players.  

FORFEITS

• Matches start promptly at the designated times.
• In 2-out-of-3 matches, if a team doesn’t have at least 4 players 10 minutes after the start time, they forfeit Game 1 of the match.  A team forfeits Game 2 (and the match) 20 minutes after the start time.  In 1-Game-to-10, after 10 minutes, a team is awarded 5 points.  After 20 minutes, the match is forfeited.
• Rules apply for all matches unless a game starts late.  Start time is determined by an Official.

TIMING

• If a match isn’t finished at 50 minutes of play, once they complete the existing frame, it’s a 2-frame ‘sudden death.’  Team with the highest score wins the game (if it’s a tie at that point, one frame decides the winner of the game.)  When ‘overtime’ is declared, if a team is in its second game and requires a third game, the third game is decided in one frame.
• In Wildcard, Playoff and Championship matches, there is no ‘overtime’ — and all games are played out.

MEASUREMENTS

• Palisades Bocce Club measures with Laser measuring devices.
• Once specific balls are measured, or a team concedes a given measurement — you can’t ‘remeasure’ the same balls in question.

WINNING TEAM

• Winning team receives one of the highest honors in all of sports; getting their picture and name inscribed on the League’s “Bocce Cup.”
• What more do you want in life than that?

Please contact Commissioner Jimmy Dunne with your fantastic ideas.