One Week Later: American Bocce
This organization has one simple mission: get people to play more bocce.
Who are the brains behind your organization?
Alex Gara, Alicia Harvey and Matt David.
Where are you located?
We are headquartered in an event space that we also run called Bridge 410. It’s located in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago. But we have leagues and communities across the country.
What’s your mission?
Our mission is to grow participation and opportunities for the sport of bocce ball by modernizing the game and its approach.
Tell us your origin story.
We built a bocce ball park as part of a creative placemaking endeavor in 2013. The community that came out to support the project inspired us to take a hard look at bocce and see how we could grow it. We decided that by taking a thoughtful, inclusive and modern approach to the sport, we could make a real impact. Our process has been to build communities through bocce and bocce through communities and it’s lead us on a pretty incredible journey.
Three words to describe your team?
Ambitious, passionate and community-oriented
Workplace/workspace/office essentials?
We spend entirely too much time ‘curating’ playlists. But that music keeps us going day and night. Semi-normal workplace essentials include cold brew and chargers literally everywhere. Abnormal essentials include air pumps, tape measures, clipboards and pliers.
Best source of creative inspiration?
Some of our best ideas have come from post-league beers with players and staff members.
What would people be surprised to know about your organization?
People who are experiencing American Bocce firsthand would be surprised to see how much office work has to be done in order to create, manage and maintain all of our leagues and events. And that it’s the same core group doing both.
What are your favorite features of your WOTW site?
The Play page is easy to edit and update, and it feels like a fully unique way for players/customers to browse opportunities.
What was your favorite part of working with the WOTW team?
WOTW wasn’t afraid to take some initiative when we felt stuck on design or layout, and the entire process seemed collaborative, excitable and thoughtful.
Where can people find you?
Americanbocceco.com, @americanbocceco on Instagram, and on Facebook.
What are you hoping for in the second half of 2021?
We’ve been growing bocce on an immediate and social level for several years. We are now dedicated to connecting dots between these communities and creating larger opportunities for the sport. We are hosting our first truly national tournament in September 2021 and we view that as the apex of this year. We are also really excited to roll out a development and mentorship program, as well as welcome hundreds of new faces to our social bocce leagues.
