The balls on the ends were set. The ‘jack’ (ball) was tossed. The long green playing bordered 90′ regulated lanes were green. The 24 competing ball bowling teams all widened their eyes for the start of the 1st Annual Krewe of Italia Bocce Ball Tournament.

    Bocce ball has grown in activity over the years in Ybor City. The ball game has a pretty constant set of rules to follow. There are a couple of big annual community sponsored Bocce tournaments in the area and especially at Ybor City Italian Festivals. The newly created Krewe of Italia Bocce tournament hopes to increase the game resurgence to younger audiences. This is a game that was known to have started back in the Roman Empire days. A very popular outside bowling competitive game that is played in many European countries and our own Ybor City!

    This years 1st celebrity winning annual Bocce event team was the Outpost Tap House.