Hollister Earthquakes bocce ball team takes home medals
The Hollister Earthquakes used to practice in a barn with a dirt
floor. They used to practice on the dirt infield of a baseball
field. They used to practice on the grass at a local park.
The Hollister Earthquakes, the local Special Olympics bocce
team, can’t seem to find a proper playing surface locally. They
currently travel to Morgan Hill Bowl and practice on a carpeted
bocce court.
Hollister Earthquakes bocce ball team takes home medals
The Hollister Earthquakes used to practice in a barn with a dirt floor. They used to practice on the dirt infield of a baseball field. They used to practice on the grass at a local park.
The Hollister Earthquakes, the local Special Olympics bocce team, can’t seem to find a proper playing surface locally. They currently travel to Morgan Hill Bowl and practice on a carpeted bocce court.
“We’d like to have a bocce ball court around here somewhere,” said Earthquake Gayle Smith. “Then we wouldn’t have to drive to Morgan Hill.”
Although they are certainly grateful for the bowling alley’s donation, it too can’t match the playing surface of a regulation bocce court, which is usually made of cracked oyster shells, and usually plays faster than other surfaces.
With the stark contrasts in playing surfaces – from carpet to cracked shell – it’s probably best for the Earthquakes not to play like they practice.
“When you take it outside, the bocce ball could be a lot faster,” said Curtis Smith, who coaches the Earthquakes with his wife, Anna. “That’s when it becomes a challenge for these guys, to regulate their arm speed to the speed of the ball.
“When we took it to the competitions, they were used to muscling the ball.”
And that’s what makes the Earthquakes’ recent accomplishments all the more impressive.
Although they were unable to mimic a game-like surface in practice, the Earthquakes traveled to the Martinez Waterfront Park in May for the regional games and pocketed a pair of medals, nonetheless.
With eight players making up two teams, Team 1 took home the silver and Team 2 earned the gold, and each team qualified for the Northern California Special Olympics Summer Games at the University of California, Berkeley in June.
“Oh, it’s really awesome,” said coach Anna Smith. “You have to really think how to adjust.”
While Team 2 was unable to compete at the Summer Games when two of its members could not attend, Team 1 certainly made up the difference when they took home the gold in both the two-man and four-man team events.
“We’re doing much better this year,” said Guy Smith of the Earthquakes. “We owe it to our coaches.”
Paul Stanfield, the area manager for the Special Olympics, says last year Hollister took home one gold and a fourth-place ribbon, “So you can see how much they’ve improved.”
“They did incredible this year,” Stanfield said. “Before Morgan Hill, they were stuck in a field or in a parking lot, even … They were practicing on either compact, hard dirt or thick grass.”
Learning to play bocce on an array of different surfaces, Stanfield said, teaches one to either throw too hard or too lightly.
“It doesn’t roll too good on the grass,” said Earthquakes player Gayle Smith.
“And we can’t find the pallino when it gets stuck in the pot holes,” added teammate Becky Vaca.
Developed in Italy, the game involves a pallino, or jack, thrown to the end of a playing surface, usually stretching approximately 90 feet in length. After the pallino has been established, players on both teams roll or toss their bocce balls, with the goal to come as close as possible to the pallino.
Points are awarded after each frame to the team or players that come the closest to the pallino. Playing on a different surface than what you’re used to practicing on simply adds to the challenge.
“It’s kind of hard to make those little adjustments if the terrain is not the same,” Stanfield said.
It makes it even more difficult when it’s forbidden to coach during a match, meaning the players must make those necessary adjustments on the fly, and take what they were taught in training and put it into practice.
“In practice, they definitely learned how the sport works, but for the most part it was challenging,” Stanfield said. “This year, they definitely improved by having a better facility.”
Perhaps indebted to what Morgan Hill Bowl has supplied, the Earthquakes would still like to find a bocce court closer to home, especially considering the entire team lives in Hollister and gas prices are not declining.
“We are trying to make a bigger presence in the area,” Stanfield said. “It’s definitely something we’re working on.”
Hollister Earthquakes
Team 1
Debbie Alvarez
Gayle Smith
Guy Smith
Becky Vaca
Team 2
Robert Aranda
Karen De Rosa
Argelia Cervantes
Pancho Sandoval
