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Kenston teacher wants bocce to be club sport
(by Sue Hoffman - September 14, 2011)
Kenston teacher wants bocce to be club sport
By SUE HOFFMAN
All eyes in Kenston last week were on the groundbreaking for the new wind turbine just east of the tennis courts. Kenston is among the first three school districts in Ohio, and the first in Northeast Ohio, to start construction on a wind turbine.
However, what was constructed on the other side of the tennis courts was also groundbreaking -- a brand new regulation-size bocce court, built by students and teachers just a few weeks ago.
"I believe this is one of the first bocce courts ever built at a public high school in Ohio," said Rob Segulin, an Advanced Placement and honors chemistry teacher who brought bocce to Kenston a decade ago.
Mr. Segulin has high hopes for the sport, which attracts about 50 students each spring, including 15 who play weekly. "I'd eventually like it to be a club sport. That's my goal." He would also like the school to have four courts under a pavilion roof, he said. "We could add a new one every year."
Dating back to the days of the Roman Empire, bocce was developed in Italy into a game that resembles lawn bowling and requires considerable skill.
Mr. Segulin started the Underground Bocce Ball League after mentioning bocce in a chemistry lesson on precision. "I had four to six kids coming out, and it blossomed each spring, adding a few more players each year," he said.
"After years of playing on the grass, we took it to the next level," he said. The league raised $2,500 in donations from fundraisers, student council and the math club. After submitting their proposal, Mr. Segulin and the students received the approval of school administrators to go ahead with the project.
Working with others in the school community, they installed the bocce court, which is 80 feet by 12 feet, framed with 6-by-6-inch lumber and filled with crushed limestone.
Kenston's bocce players have been competing with four other schools the last two years in a local tournament at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club. Last spring, the competition included students from Solon, West Geauga, Hudson, Wickliffe and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin high schools.
Mr. Segulin said, with bocce, "you don't need to be a great athlete." However, the game requires skill, he said. "Everyone can play, but not everyone can play well."
Kenston 2011 graduate Weston Kondik, who was on the football, wrestling and track teams, said he liked the variety of players in the league. "It drew from all the niches. You had football players playing members of the band, art club and National Honor Society. There were some not involved in anything else.
"We were a close group and our friendship grew," said Mr. Kondik, who will study biochemistry at the Ohio State University.
Mr. Segulin's experience with bocce goes back to childhood. "We've played it for years in family outings on the grass. I didn't know the skill behind it until later."
The chemistry teacher recently brought another activity from his childhood to Kenston. Last spring, he started a unicycle club, which meets every Thursday after school and draws about a dozen students. Students focus on balance and endurance at first, and then learn to do tricks and ride on grass and trails.
Bocce is growing in popularity among high school students and others, said Mr. Segulin, whose wife, Tammy, a math teacher, started a league at Chardon High School. "A lot more restaurants have added bocce courts. Freeway Lanes in Wickliffe has taken out some of their bowling lanes to add bocce."
The Wickliffe Italian-American Club hosts an annual bocce tournament that attracts more than 100 teams and 10,000 spectators. Kenston students watched eagerly, Mr. Segulin said. "They saw the top players play."
Students involved in the bocce court project included Mr. Kondik, Adam Dawson, Sean Gilday, Matt Meyer, Cody Spisak and club President Mario Manacci.
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