The Bellefonte Area High School Bocce Ball team took the court this season and would have some pretty successful results throughout the season, finishing with a 6-4 record.
The team’s next match was supposed to be at the PIAA District Championships on February 20, but unfortunately, due to being short on players, they would not be able to compete at District championships. However, in place of this competition, they held their own tournament at the high school. Staff and students also competed with the athletes at this tournament.
Bellefonte would only have four losses to Bald Eagle, Philipsburg, and Clearfield twice. They would still have an overall successful and enjoyable season.
“We started the season strong. We only had two losses to Bald Eagle and Philipsburg. We would also lose twice to Clearfield, which was disappointing. However our regular season is over and we finished 6-4,” Head Coach Mrs. Jennifer Butterworth said, who is also the district’s Director of Special Education.
The student athletes, along with their partners, really enjoyed the season and are pretty happy with how it went as a whole.
Sophomore Evan Guebara enjoyed being a part of the team and helping the athletes.
“I loved every moment of spending time with these great people; they are so kind. I don’t know what my role is right now, I come to their games and support all the players and coaches. I’m looking forward to seeing us keep coming back and keep on giving it our all,” Evan said.
Assistant Coach Michelle Simpson, the Director of Human Resources for BASD, loves the bocce ball season and always looks forward to being as helpful as possible to all of the student-athletes who compete, as well as watching them grow and understand the sport.
“My favorite memory this year is seeing our partners understanding the game and coaching our athletes during matches,” Mrs. Simpson said.
On top of many of the coaches enjoying and loving this sport, nothing compares to the student-athletes’ love for the game, as they all get very excited for the seasons and matches.
“My favorite part of bocce is working together to try and get the balls close to the Palina and trying our best,” Amber Keith said.
There is a great showing of camaraderie and teamwork shown from all teams involved in the matches and everyone is very respectful of one another.
“I like working as a team,” Nathan Jewell said.
These coaches and athletes will remember many of these moments they share throughout the season for a very long time.
