Howdy from Waterside Club in Phoenix, NY 👋
Welcome to the 13 new subscribers.
Last time, Gina wrote about NFL/Zebra technology that created the dataset she used for her Masters thesis:
If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to dive in. We can’t share the details yet, but there’s more to the story in the works. In short, we’ll be revisiting Zebra RFID technology soon.
This time, let’s discuss BocceMap.com
Where to play bocce
Two years ago on a rainy spring day, Peyton, Lolo, and I took four bocce courts to UIC College Prep high school where Kat is a gym teacher.
Using American Bocce Co / Packaworld inflatable courts, we brought bocce to high schoolers right inside their gym — a sport unlike the sports they were playing all year long in gym class.
At the end of one of the class periods, one student that was clearly eager for more asked what I considered to be an alarming question: Where do we play bocce?
Kat looked to Peyton, Lolo, and me. We didn’t give a straightforward answer to the students. We probably said, anywhere, a park, a camp site, the beach. We didn’t dare say a bar which represents a lot of where the Chicago bocce scene plays.
We didn’t have an answer about where there is an actual court near the school that they can safely play at.
Where do we play bocce?
Dave, Kat, Peyton, Lolo @ UIC College Prep High School
A couple years went by and one day I had the idea for BocceMap.com. I immediately bought the domain and got to work in the middle of the night soon to bring on a small team of interested folks (Dino, Gina, Matt).
🧭 What is BocceMap
BocceMap is a community sourced project by BocceLabs with a goal of connecting bocce communities across the USA and across the globe.
It’s as simple as that. It’s a Google Map to help you find your way to a court near you or maybe when you’re on a road trip like I am.
How to contribute to BocceMap
If you have a court you’d like to contribute, simply fill out the form (click the button) on BocceMap.com and we’ll have the location added within the week.
Thanks to contributors, we currently have 157 bocce locations (428 courts) in the system and growing.
Project goals
A number of short and sweet goals come to mind:
Make bocce more accessible
Help the underground bocce community create lasting connections with people they meet at various bocce sites
Create a tournament roadmap highlighting Unified Bocce participating tournaments
Who is behind BocceMap?
The current team consists of:
Dino Franceschi - Waterside Club
Gina Champion - American Bocce Co
Matt Zdano - American Bocce Co / Southside Bocce
Dave Hoffman - American Bocce Co
We’re working on adding profiles to our About page.
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you in your inbox or on a court soon!
~ Digital Dave