This column is in response to Western Sector president Vernon Cooper‟s request for comments in the May Western sector Newsletter and is not specifically about rules except for a provision from the USBF bylaws noted below. Last month in his editorial in our newsletter, Vern asked us how we feel as USBF members about separating open and punto, raffa, volo (raffa) and have National Championships at two different locations at different times of the year. The sport of volo was not included in the request for our comments but it certainly should have been included.

 

Traditionally the Nationals have been held at one

venue in the country alternating each year between the

sectors, usually between the Midwest and Western Sec-

tors. In the early days of the federation only volo was

played. Open and raffa were added later and but for a few

exceptions, all three disciplines have been a mainstay at

the nationals. The three disciplines demonstrate the variety

of our sport and show the different skills that our members

have. In 2001 the USBF board voted that the Nationals are

also a venue to qualify raffa and volo teams to represent

the United States at the respective World Championships

and international competitions such as the North American

Championships. Prior to this vote teams were sometimes

hand picked or selected on a tryout basis.

One of the benefits of having all three events at the

same location is the ability to allow players to experience

competition in different styles of our sport. There is no add-

ed expense to fly to two or three locations to participate.

Also, open players and spectators can see raffa and volo

players in action and gain a better understanding of the

beauty and variety of our sport. If the three events were

separated the joy of watching some of the greats such as

Juanito Cuneo, Bruno Freschet, Bruno Moretti, Alberico

Leonardi, Jose Botto, and other greats would be missed by

participants in other disciplines of the sport. That would

truly be a shame.

We thought that the best way to get a handle on the

question of separate Nationals would be to see what our

USBF board members had to say on this subject. Even

though an attorney retained by the USBF Executive Com-

mittee rejected our request for the minutes, we were able to

obtain a copy of the 2012 board meeting minutes through

appropriate channels and found the discussion quite en-

lightening.

One phase of the discussion was about having a

qualification or ranking system to enter the nationals. This

idea has merit but not at the present time. When our feder-

ation grows to where we have thousands of members want-

ing to enter the nationals, yes, we will need a regional qual-

ification or ranking system to have a manageable compet

i-

tion. We are not at that stage at this time. It would be a

welcome problem and easily solvable by having sector

qualification tournaments as in other sports. This would

increase the cost for individuals because there would be an

added expense to travel to the qualifier and then the Na-

tional Tournament.

A great example of having our Nationals open to all

comers occurred in Las Vegas in 2001. A nice couple,

Kathy and Mike Lapcevich, arrived as “walk

–

ons” from Her-

mitage, Pennsylvania. Mike was an experienced player in

the style of play where there are four players with one ball

each and an always

–

live back wall. Someone referred to

Mike as “Pennsylvania Mike.” The name stuck like glue

and Mike went on to win the men‟s singles raffa competition

and represented the United States at the 2001 World Sin-

gles Championships in France! Mike discovered USBF

style of open play and his team won the silver medal in

open in 2002 at the Nationals held in Los Gatos.

. He might not have entered the open event if he had not

been exposed to it in 2001. He followed that by repeating

as men‟s singles champion in 2005 and winning club and

team gold medals in 2006 and 2007. Mike also represent-

ed the United States at the World Championships in 2005,

2006 and 2007. All the USBF bocce players from that era

know “Pennsylvania Mike.” Without an all

–

inclusive nation-

als we might never have met and discovered the talents of

“Pennsylvania Mike.”

One of the best parts about an all

–

inclusive National

Tournament are the lasting friendships that are made and

renewed each year. We have a large country and most of

us see our bocce friends from other parts of the country

only at the National Tournament. The banquet and awards

ceremony give us a chance to share the joy with our

friends, cheer for the medalists, say goodbye, and look for-

ward to seeing each other at a future National Tournament.

The USBF bylaws (Article VII, Section 7) state that:

Annually, in conjunction with the national championship

tournament, the board of directors shall meet for the pur-

pose of selecting the sites for future national tournaments,

election of officers and the transaction of other business.

Such meeting shall not conflict with national tournament

play.

If there were two or three National Tournaments

would this important meeting take place during the volo

competition, open competition, or raffa competition? This

question almost answers itself because any choice of one

discipline over the other two would discriminate against the

two not chosen!

Almost all other sports include all the disciplines at

their national championships. Swimming has different

strokes and distances but the competition is at one venue.

Track and Field does not have multiple venues for field

events and track events. Even funny cars and top fuel

dragsters compete at the same event. There are many

other examples but space here is limited! In some cases,

however, exceptions might be made from time to time for

the sport of volo if a host club cannot provide acceptable

courts.

In conclusion, it would be a real shame and a bad

idea to have two or three separate venues in lieu of an all

–

inclusive National Tournament. The Nationals as they have

existed for over thirty years would cease to exist and our

federation would become a fragmented organization. We

need to continue having all

–

inclusive National Tourna-

ments! As one very wise person once said: “If it ain‟t

broke, don‟t fix it.”

Please let your directors on the National Board and

Western Sector President Vern Cooper know how you feel

about this important issue so they can address this at the