Southampton boccie league springs forth

Even Steve Marciw, 82, admits that boccie isn't the first sport his friends and neighbors think of when they talk about summer in the Hamptons.

In a place that boasts some of the world's best beaches and golf courses and hosts polo matches and the Hampton Classic horse show, boccie would seem to be a very minor sport, indeed.

For the ex-Marine, who lives with his wife just behind the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, it's a sport that was too good to forget.

But, he did.

Marciw learned about boccie half a century ago. "I first played it at Camp Lejeune . . . that was 50 years ago," he said of the Marine Corps Base in North Carolina. "I was stationed there."

After leaving the service in 1953, he stopped playing. For decades.

"When I came home I forgot about it," Marciw said. "But we moved out to Southampton 11 years ago, and I met some new friends. I invited them to a Fourth of July party, and we just played in the backyard."

In boccie, a small ball called the pallino -- also sometimes called a jack, or a boccino -- is thrown down a court. Then players for two teams toss or roll larger balls, trying to get close to the pallino while attempting to knock their opponent's ball away.

Boccie rules vary widely. The Southampton league has set 12 points to win a round, and a team can score up to five points each time it's up: one point for each ball that lands closer to the pallino than their opponent's does, and an extra point if all four balls are closer and one touches it. That is called "a kiss."

The 75-foot clay court has a white line across the halfway point, and the pallino must be thrown past that line.

Time-limit rules vary. The Southampton league allows 90 minutes to play two games, and -- if the second game is not finished -- the team with the most points when time is up is declared the winner.

In what Marciw admits is a jarring technological intrusion in an ancient game, the time is kept by cellphone. "They seem to be more accurate," he said.

There is a lot of strategy in the game, but during the season winning games counts only for the honor.

"We were beaten in the playoffs by the worst team in the league. Sometimes you just get hot," Marciw said.

Four years ago Marciw went to Southampton's town board and asked for help forming a league. Two courts were built, and Marciw recruited several friends to form teams for men, women and youths.

They started a year later with eight teams, five players on each. Since then the number of teams has grown to 24 -- the most that can use the courts at North Sea Park.

"The only rule is you have to be at least 18 to play," Marciw said. "We have people who come from Sag Harbor and Shelter Island, Quogue and Remsenburg. I have one lady who is 94. She plays all winter long in Florida."

The league starts its season in June, with games every Tuesday and Thursday. Playoffs are in August, the championship game Sept. 2. There are also nonleague games on Sundays against other local clubs or community service groups.

On Tuesday the league's all-stars will officially begin the season, against the Southampton Town Board. "I'm looking forward to the game . . . I played before. It was fun," said town Councilwoman Bridget Fleming.

The not-for-profit league charges $20 to join. Any money left over after the end-of-season barbecue is donated to Hamptons charities. The league usually has $1,000 to $1,200 left for charities, Marciw said. Last year it gave $250 each to food pantries in Southampton and Hampton Bays, and $500 to Southampton Youth Services, which will use the money this year for summer camp scholarships.

In addition, every team in the league makes the playoffs, and every member of the winning team gets a bottle of red wine.

Marciw says many of the league's members are retirees, but the big division in players is between the year-round Long Island residents and the snowbirds who go south in winter.

"Our players think young and act young," he said. "They play hard. They want to knock the other guy's ball out of the way."