During a recent holiday in New York, I was amazed at the number of bocce courts around New York on public grounds – but all out in the open (this was January and all were well and truly covered by snow)!  Visited on 14th January 2010. I did however, manage to track down members of an indoors complex, at the Yonkers Club outside New York, where I was warmly met and welcomed by Guy Desantis the Club President and Peter Rabito United States Bocce Federation Vice-President and joined them for one of their open forms of the game. It was very interesting to learn how popular the sport is in the USA, especially in centres where there are commercially run private bocce clubs and various forms of the game are encouraged including, bocce volo, the more visual raffa form and their unique American Open game. It was amazing to be told how in the States the commercial enterprises were opening up across the country and successfully marketing bocce for profit, whilst we here in Australia who already have these facilities, are not cashing in on the ever growing recreational market. Maybe we need to use some of the US’s marketing tools in the promotion of the sport. It was a great experience meeting up with Guy and Peter and club players who came from many different backgrounds . My sincere thanks for their warm hospitality, which I hope to repay one day in Australia. Raymond Cher, President