Members of the Catholic Bocce League pose for a photograph Monday night at St. John Church in Jamestown. P-J photo by Cody Crandall

It’s interesting how a sport can provide a platform for its participants to build and maintain friendships or relationships that can last for years on end.

Case in point is a Catholic Bocce League in Jamestown.

Since 2010, the courts behind St. John Church on Newton Avenue have been a spot where area residents compete on Monday and Wednesday. The league was also in existence prior to that, including at the old St. James School building, which was torn down to make room for Walgreens in 2006.

With help, league spokesman Joe Lisciandro built the bocce courts at St. John and the league has continued to thrive and prosper since then.

In essence, the goal of bocce is for one team to get as many of their balls closer to the pallino, also known as the “jack” or “target ball,” than any of the opponent’s balls.

Court bocce is a game of skill and strategy for anyone to play regardless of age. The sport can be played socially with friends, groups and organizations.

“Bocce is an old Italian sport,” Lisciandro explained. “I’ve never researched it, it’s probably centuries old. … I was born in Sicily so I remember as a kid playing over there and I thought it’d be nice to rejuvenate it and start again here, since we lost the first sets of courts that we had (at St. James). And, actually, we have a good turnout. We have four courts with four people at each end so we have 32 people playing on Monday and Wednesday. There’s eight teams.”

According to Lisciandro, there are several benefits of playing bocce.

“It gets you out of the house, it gets you moving,” he said. “I’m 82 (years old)…and it’s good exercise. It gets you out, you socialize with the people. Sometimes you argue over the points, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s an outdoor sport and we have a good time.”

Lisciandro said that the league starts around mid-May and it last for roughly 14 or 15 weeks. Each team plays each other twice.

“Everybody here knows everybody,” Lisciandro said. “We’re just like brothers and sisters. A lot of husbands and wives and it’s called a Catholic Bocce League, but … we have non-Catholics (as well) and we love them just as much. It’s not restricted to just Catholics.”

Newcomers are welcome to the league. Signup announcements appear in The Post-Journal prior to the beginning of each season.

“(It’s about) be(ing) a good sport,” Lisciandro stated. “This is not a game of skill, it’s game of some skill, but also it’s a game of luck. You never know which way the ball is going to roll. … But we have a lot of fun. … I’ve enjoyed myself every year … for probably about 15, 16 years. … All of the bocce players are very thankful to Father (Dennis) Mende for allowing us to play here at Holy Apostles Parish at St. John campus. We love to play bocce.”