WORLD JUNIOR (U18 and U23) BOCCE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 - RIJEKA, CROATIA

The two championships, WORLD JUNIOR (U18 and U23) BOCCE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010, were held concurrently in Croatia this year. The Juniors (U18) played the three traditional forms of the bowls sport, Singles, Doubles and the Bowl Throw, while the young adults (U23) contested the three throwing competitions, Precision Throw, Progressive Throw and Rapid Relay events.  

The event from 20 to 25 September, 2010 was hosted in Rijeka, Croatia, a major shipping and industrial city, and the second largest city of Croatia. The city of Rijeka prides itself as a major sporting city of Croatia with many world class sporting facilities including the Podvežica Bocce drome and hence it was fitting that the Junior Bocce World titles were hosted, this year in Rijeka. Fourteen nations competed in a marvelous demonstration of the sport of Bocce, with television and live Internet streaming available for enthusiasts both locally and globally so that they could watch the action live.

The under 18 – 23 Australian team was headed by Team Coach, Gino (Luigi) Montuoro and Team Manager Frank Funari. This year,  Australia fielded a full complement of six players with Nicholas Penney as team Captain, an experienced World Titles competitor. Nicholas competed in his favorite event, the Bowl Throw, an event that draws on all facets of the sport. For the other five players it was their first time at a World Titles championship. From South Australian, Declan Fedele and Alec Ganeo contested the Doubles event. Relatively new to the sport, this was a steep learning curve for them both at this international level.  From New South Wales, Daniel Samsa the youngest player competed in the two, combined throw and running events. Firstly, in the five minute Singles Progressive Throw event and then teaming with Ivan Pepe in the Rapid Relay event. Both athletes were fit, a necessary pre-requisite for these challenging five minute events. The competition consists of running back and forth along the court, covering 1,000 metres, while throwing some 40, (one Kg.) bowls at target bowls 15 metres distant. Victorian, Ivan Pepe also competed in the Precision Throw event.  Kelly Sperne, the sole female member of the team was a great competitor. As the Australian Singles title holder, she made her debut on the international stage in the Singles competition.

TEAM SELECTION

The process followed the standard criteria for selection adopted by the BFA in its document ‘Policy for Team selection for International Events’

TRAINING

The training comprised of training sessions in the three months leading up to the championships. These camps were co-ordinated by the National Coaching Director Anthony Biancacci with assistance from coaches Frank Fava, Gino Montuoro, Louis Magajna and Ross DeIeso. All players were given specific training programs. Player analysis was conducted at various camps to identify skills and fitness. Additional weekly training was conducted in each player’s home State. This was undertaken by Anthony DeLeonadis and Ross DeIeso in South Australia, Frank Fava in Morwell, Louis Magajna in Sydney and Gino Montuoro in Melbourne.

TEAM performance

Overall the team performed soundly with the highest result achieved being  9th in three disciplines - in the Bowl Throw event by Nicholas Penney, Singles by Kelly Sperne and Doubles by Declan Fedele and Alec Ganeo. In the other events the team was less fortunate,  as the Australian team was young in age and inexperienced in comparison to their competitors. Even though Australia failed to qualify in the top eight in all categories, chances were had, especially in the Bowl/Throw (Penney) and in the Singles (Sperne), but regrettably they both did not manage to capitalise on the opportunities.

Nevertheless, the team demonstrated plenty of resilience and determination, and were always competitive against a superior opponent. It was obvious that the Australian team lacked regular elite competition, for which the European teams have the advantage. In Europe the top teams meet and compete regularly in a team competition. The benefit of a regular elite competition was evident from the other team’s skill and competitive knowledge.  These teams fielded experienced and more mature aged players than the Australian team and although this made it difficult on this accession, being a younger team this should reap benefits in the next two to three years as the Australian players develop and experience more high level competition.