Ice Bocce Tournament

A unique twist on an ancient game

A crowd playing ice bocce ball.

photo by Amy Johnson


Ice Bocce Tournament 2/3

Modern bocce dates back to the Roman Empire: croquet-size balls tossed underhand into a small field. Ice bocce is that, but on ice. Stump-like pucks replace balls. And instead of underhand tossing, players use a shuffleboard-style sliding technique. Contenders at the Ice Bocce Tournament on Longville’s Girl Lake—dressed as pigs, sharks, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—get on their bellies to send their pucks slipping along to the other end of a lake-surface lane. Winners earn a trophy-topped log, and participants afterward adjourn to Patrick’s Fine Dining for lunch specials and Bloody Marys, because when in Rome…