Naples Lakes Country Club

NLCC Bocce League Rules and Notes 2025

The intent of the NLCC Bocce Rules is to provide a guideline for playing a game of Bocce. These rules are used in all scheduled league play and are strongly recommended for all games, scrimmages, or at any level from social to competitive.

Casual observers, fans, friends, and family members watching, rooting, or just hanging out need to remain off all courts and at the end of the courts. Observers may only be on the sidelines of the courts.

Schedules for each session, league, and team roster for NLCC bocce are all posted on the TopDog Website. There is a link to the TopDog website on the Bocce page of the NLCC website.

There are no referees for any league matches. Any decisions that would have been made by a referee or an official must be decided by agreement between the two captains. If neither team agrees both Captains can email a deion of the dispute to Bocce@napleslakesfl.com. Teams are not guaranteed a resolution or desired outcome.

Rainouts will be determined by the NLCC Management and will not be rescheduled. The Management will notify team captains via email and/or closed court signage in the event of inclement weather. The Thor Guard Lightning Prediction System sounds an alarm, requiring everyone to seek shelter and clear the Bocce Courts. The Bocce courts will close immediately, and you may resume playing when the system has sounded an alert for all clear and the courts have drained. If your scheduled reserved time slot ends before the weather clears, then points for each team will be entered at the time the courts closed. You may only continue the match for any remaining time left if a court is available after your reserved time slot. Please check court reservations for availability. Teams are not permitted to take another team's reserved time slot or push back the schedule due to weather delays.

In the event weather is inclement and the Thor Guard Lightning Prediction System sounds an alarm and you have not started the match, then each team can claim 11 points. This rule applies to all bocce leagues.

Captains can make the decision to play in rain, permitting that the lanes do not have any standing water showing, or they may reschedule the match if both teams agree upon a new date and time. In the event a team cannot resume play past the reserved court time, then both teams will enter points based on the time the match ended. If a team chooses to not show up due to weather then that team will forfeit the match. If both teams, choose not to play due to weather and do not reschedule then neither team will score points for that match. Captains must not enter any points for either team for that match. Leave the score posted at zero.

Regardless of the weather delays, the Bocce courts will be closing at 9:15 pm nightly.

Please note, all scheduled league times are randomly assigned by TopDog. We cannot make modifications to the master schedule or redo any league or session once completed by TopDog, it is set for that session. We can add a reservation that teams request to reschedule a match if both captains agree, but the scores get entered into the original match date and time on the website. Both Captains are required to email Bocce@napleslakesfl.com with their rescheduled match date and time. Your court reservation will be confirmned via email. Therefore, if teams agree to a new time change, that request only goes on the club reservations and not on TopDog profiles or the session schedule. Only a reservation will be added and no "modifying" of the original schedule will occur after session is released at the captain's meetings. To eliminate confusion amongst players, we recommend the captains directlty contact their team members to notify players of any change.

Teams:

· Team rosters must be registered through the TopDog website.

· The Team Captain must register the team name to the club at Bocce@napleslakesfl.com for approval for use of their name.

· Team rosters may consist of a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 10 people. Recommended to fill 8 players plus 2 alternates.

· Teams are not allowed to have players participate who are not on their rosters.

· If a team member needs to be eliminated from a roster due to relocation, medical issues, or family emergency, they may be removed from the roster by the League Administrator.

· Recreational and Competitive Leagues require at least one team member of the opposite sex to play in the game. These teams can be any combination of genders. ONLY Recreational League can modify the gender requirements if both teams agree to play with whom ever is present.

Game Notes:

• Our leagues play foursomes. Games can be played one-on-one (singles), pairs (doubles), triples, or foursomes. In USBF format, singles are played with each person throwing 4 balls and alternating use of each end of the court. In doubles (pairs), each team member throws 2 balls and again alternates the use of each end of the court. Triples have become the newest format and 12 balls are used instead of 8. Play is the same as Doubles with each team member throwing 2 balls and alternating use of each end of the court. Foursomes should be played with 2 members of a team stationed at opposite ends of the court and playing 2 balls each.

• The maximum time for a match is 75 minutes. If a game is in process when the time expires, the team that is ahead is d the winner. If the game is tied there is a one-toss roll-off to determine the winner.

• Players must stay at one end of the court for an entire game but may be repositioned or replaced by another team member for any subsequent games.

• Consecutive or alternating throws by teammates shall be at the option of the players.

• Any time a player is in action, opposing players should be off the court or as far behind the player as possible.

• If a player plays the wrong color ball, simply replace it with the correct color when it comes to rest. Play continues.

Start the Game:

· Teams must be at their assigned court within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, with all four players ready to play. If they are not present, the match is forfeited and both games are awarded to the team who showed with the minimum number of players ready to play.

· The Home team will determine the end of the court in which play will start and has control of the Pallino. The Home team tosses the Pallino to start the game. The Away team chooses the ball color.

· The Home Team will always play the first ball.

· Toss is valid if the Pallino passes the center line and does not touch the back wall on the opposite end.

· If the Home team fails to place the Pallino in a valid area, the Away team will gain control of the Pallino and now starts play. If both players fail, the Pallino returns to the Home team for an additional attempt. The alternating process continues until Pallino is in a valid position.

· Competitive League ONLY Rule- The Pallino must be thrown 12” from the sideboard and past the center line and must not touch the back wall on the opposite end of court. All other leagues play ball from anywhere it lands past center line without hitting backboard.

The Game:

• The first ball may be rolled by ANY member of the Team that originally threw the Pallino.

• Should the rolled ball hit the backboard without touching the Pallino, it is a dead ball and removed from the court. The same Team must throw again and continue rolling until a valid point is established.

• Once the point is established, the opposing Team must point or shoot until they make a new (closer) point.

• Players may use side boards at any time.

· Balls can be measured at any time, and in case of doubt, both captains must agree. In the event a tie is determined, the last Team to roll a ball must roll again until the tie is broken.

· Repeated “conferences” during a frame causing delays in the game are discouraged.

• If after all balls are played there is still a tie, no points are awarded, and play resumes with the Team last scoring tossing the Pallino from the opposite end of the court.

• In the event a ball/balls are moved during a measurement the balls are returned to approximate positions.

· Captains can cross the centerline to measure balls. Other players need to remain at their respective ends of the court. Only Captains or designated alternatesfrom each team can be on the court to measure.

· If a player rolls/shoots out of turn or plays more balls than allowed, the opposing team has two (2) options. Leave all balls as they rest or remove the illegally thrown ball from play and return all other ball/s to the previous position.

Shooting and Pointing:

• No Volo or Raffa throws are permitted for the safety of the participants, the protection of the court surfaces, and the difficulties in officiating those styles of play.

• Volo: the act of lofting the ball in the air and attempting to hit the target.

• Raffa: the act of shooting at a target either by releasing the ball at ground level, slightly lofting the ball, or rolling the ball in a forceful manner.

• We use the 4’ line for pointing (shooting) since our courts are 27’ shorter than standard.

• Bocce balls must be rolled from behind the 4’ line. Players must be on the court when rolling a ball, except for wheelchair players who may throw from beside the court but not in front of the 4’ line.

• Pointing is done with either foot or both feet before and on the pointing line. A throw is valid if any part of the foot/feet is on the line. Players may step on but not have their foot completely over the foul line before releasing the Pallino or the bocce ball. If even the heel is on the line, it is a valid shot.

• Foot Line should be clearly marked both on the court surface and side boards. There should only be one line for pointing and shooting.

• Once a player has released the ball, he/she is allowed to continue steps up to the center line. Momentum may carry the player across the line after the ball is released.

• If a player commits a foot foul while in the act of shooting a warning is issued for the first offense. Should the same player foul again, the thrown ball is removed from play and all struck balls are returned to their approximate original positions. That teammate forfeits their turn and yields turn to another teammate.

Backboard:

• If a ball hits the backboard without first touching another ball or Pallino, it is a dead ball and removed.

• If a ball is shot, hits the backboard illegally, and then strikes a stationary ball/s, the shot ball is removed, and the stationary ball/s are placed in their original position.

• The Pallino is always a valid target and remains in play even if it strikes the back wall after being struck by any valid ball during a frame.

• In the event ball/s resting against a backboard are moved because of a valid shot, they remain in their new position. If, however, they move because of an invalid shot, they are returned to their approximate original positions.

Illegal Movement of Balls or the Pallino:

• Players should never touch or move any ball or the Pallino until the frame has ended. If a player moves a ball prior to the end of a frame (thinking play is over) and the balls cannot be accurately relocated to their positions, all remaining non-thrown balls of the nonoffending team are counted as points. If the offense is committed by the playing team, all non-thrown balls of that team are voided, and the frame is over.

• ALL players should be off the court when a ball is in play. Players should be positioned in front of the play area when a player at the opposite end is shooting.

• If a player is in the court standing BEHIND the point balls and Pallino (In harm’s way or “downstream”) and is struck by a ball or Pallino, the options are to leave all balls and Pallino in the new configuration or remove the ball or Pallino that struck their opponent from the court and shoot again. (Pallino stays in place if only a ball hits a player.)

• If the Pallino is knocked out, removed, or bounces back in front of the center line the Pallino is considered void and the Team that rolled will begin again.

Scoring:

• Games are played to 11 points. Games end when one team reaches 11 points. The scoring devices in the center of our courts go to 10 and the game is won when the next point is scored.

• Wins and Losses will be determined by games won. So, in each match, a team can win 0, 1 or 2 games.

• Only 1 team scores in a frame (unless there is a tie).

• Teams can score up to a maximum of 4 points per frame.

• Matches are decided by the number of games won.

• Captains must enter both the number of games won by each team and the score results for each game on the TopDog website within 5 days of completing the match.

• In the event there are an odd number of teams in a league, the Bye team can contact teams in their league for a pick-up match. The date and time of the match must be agreed upon by both captains.If your team volunteers for a match, only the Bye team will get to record their match standings. and the volunteer team will not record any points. If a Bye team plays another Bye team then both teams can record their scores. This way all teams will be able to enter scores for all the weeks in that session.

In the event of inclement weather preventing the start of a match, each Team will be permitted to claim the maxium 11 points. This scoring is ONLY for the match that has not begun and cannot resume due to the weather conditions in the scheduled time slot.