TONTITOWN, Ark. — Families gathered at Tontitown's Harry Sbanotto Park on Sept. 14 to compete in the traditional game of Bocce, also called bocce ball.
The 8th annual tournament was part of the city's Fall Family Funday. Also part of Saturday's festivities was a kid market, pickleball tournament, and vintage motorcycle show.
The tournament took place at the center of the city park, at the bocce ball court that competitors say was built long ago.
"I grew up watching I was playing around the playground here, and while he would play growing up with all his friends," Zack Pianalto said.
Pianalto and his father, Kenny, frequent the court to play bocce ball. Though Zack says it took a while for him to warm up to the game.
"I kind of got infatuated with the game, and there was a time where I was playing four times a week," Zack said.
Zack explains the rule of the game as "a little ball, kind of looks like a cue ball in pool, you throw that out, and then two teams have four balls a piece, red set, green set, and you try to get closest."
From generation to generation, this game has been passed down for centuries with ties to the Roman Empire.
"I think this court was built in 1978. But even before then, there were courts in and around Springdale that people would congregate at and play at," Zack said.
"It's really big in the community. They've been playing it since they came over from Italy," Misty Piazza said.
Piazza is the organizer of the event. This year teams of two joined with a $30 entry fee.
"We do have some new [people] that have come into the community, and they have joined in, but most of them are families competing against each other. So that makes it even more fun. It's a family feud, yeah, yeah. It's like an Italian family feud," Piazza said.
The Pianalto's have won the tournament many times. They say the sport may seem old but claim it's getting a resurgence.
"It's an older the young crowd maybe isn't aware of it, but you know, when they do get aware of it, it's a great social game to come out and play with friends," Zack said.
"There's always competition. It's like playing golf. You got your good days, and you got your bad days, and sometimes we have bad days," Kenny said.
"It's very competitive. Some of these guys play all year, waiting for the getting ready for the tournament," Piazza said.
"It's just a game of focus. I mean, you got to concentrate on it. And sometimes I get wound up over here, and I don't concentrate on throwing a ball," Kenny added.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.