FAQs

General FAQ

Major League Bocce operates in several cities nationwide. Select your city from the "Where To Play" menu at the top of the page. Once you've landed on your city of choice, you'll find a detailed list of playing locations within your city's metro area.

Please note: Much has changed since the bocce program went off-line in 2020. Some of your favorite venues may not return to the line up, so we encourage you to look at all options in your location. Stay tuned as we continue our work to bring back a location near you!

Our leagues run by season: winter, spring, summer & fall. Each season is typically comprised of 5 weeks of regular season games followed by 1-2 weeks of playoffs. Several factors may affect your season schedule, such as weather delays or rain cancellations. Double-headers or make-up weeks may occasionally need to be scheduled in order to finish the season in a timely fashion.

The basics of bocce are easy: throw the ball as close as possible to the target ball or "pallina". The team who has the closest ball(s) to the pallina wins the frame! For a more comprehensive overview of the game, head to our rules page and watch a video that will teach you how to play. From there, you can also download a set of our official league rules. Please note that the rules vary by location and type of bocce played.

We think so. We hope you will too! Bocce is easy to learn and we welcome players at every experience level, even if that includes no experience at all. You'll find bocce is a very social sport. Teams throw from the same end of the court, and opposing players find it easy to chat with each other during play. Plus the game strategy is challenging. While bocce is not hard to pick up, you'll quickly learn that no shot is guaranteed, which makes for a fun & friendly competitive experience!

Get more out of your social sports experience when you sign up to play Major League Bocce! All players get:

  • 5 weeks of regularly scheduled games followed by a single-elimination playoff tournament
  • ALL TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. The bracket is seeded based on the team standings (wins/losses & point differentials are factored into the standings)
  • Entry into Major League Bocce's famous ticket contest with the chance to win weekly prizes
  • Food and/or drink specials at your neighborhood sponsor bar
  • A seasonal t-shirt
  • End-of-season prizing & specials

You can learn a lot by reading this FAQ page. If you still have any questions or feedback regarding Major League Bocce, please reach out to us using our contact form or send us an email to mail@majorleaguebocce.com. Please make sure to include your city & state for a speedy response. And don't forget to sign up on our email mailing list to stay up-to-date about playing opportunities in your city.

Registration FAQ

Everyone can play Major League Bocce as long as they are 21 years of age or older! No prior bocce experience is necessary and all skill levels are welcome to join. 

In order to participate:

  • All players must be 21 years of age or older
  • All players must have health insurance
  • All players must agree to and sign a liability waiver upon registering
  • All players must pay the registration fee

Registering for bocce is easy! Just follow these simple steps to join:

  1. Find your city from the "Where to Play" menu at the top of the page 
  2. Select your preferred playing location and click the button to register
  3. Create an account with a valid email address, username & password. If you have an existing account, log into your account
  4. Next you will have the option of creating a team, joining a team, or signing up as an individual (to be placed on team later).
  5. Finally, fill out the registration form along with your payment information and hit submit. It's that easy!

Teams must have a minimum of 5 players to be considered a complete team.  If your team does not reach the 5 player minimum by the close of the registration period, players will be added to your team.

Please note that we require a minimum of 5 players per team in order to avoid forfeits during the season. We know there are some people who aren't going make every single game, so your roster is slightly padded to make sure you have enough people to field a team at games every week.

We do not set a maximum number of players for teams. While teams average around 6-7 players per team, some people want all their friends to play and end up with as many as 10 or 12 players! However, those are extreme examples. We recommend teams top off at around 8 people, but we're not going to stop you if you want more than that!

If you don't have enough people to form your own team, don't worry! We are very accommodating for all our free agent players. You can sign up solo or with a small group of friends. Whatever you choose, we will place you on a team before the season begins (after registration closes).

To sign up by yourself or with a friend or two, choose the "Individual" option when registering. If you are signing up with friends, there is a box labeled "Teammate Request" where you should write your friends' names. We'll make sure to place you with the friends' you requested!

The registration fee varies by location. You'll find detailed pricing on the page of your preferred playing location.

We have a new pricing model since returning to play since COVID. Leagues will be offered at 1 price during the registration period (no more early-bird or late-registration pricing).

The official registration deadline is listed on each location page. Players may be allowed to register after the posted deadline at the discretion of Major League Bocce. If you wish to register after the deadline, please contact us.

 

You may cancel your registration and collect a full refund up until we close registration. After registration closes, you may still cancel your registration but no refunds will be available.

Please keep this policy in mind, particularly if you create a team. Teams with less than 5 players will have players added to their team. If you fail to get to 5 players and are subsequently unhappy that players have been added to your team, you may withdraw from the season but you will not be granted a refund. (players will only be added to teams with less than 5 people after registration closes.)

MORE details FAQ

NEW in 2023:
We're excited to offer players a t-shirt starting in 2023. However, this will be slighly different than in years past. 

Each season, we'll provide t-shirts in 1 or 2 colors to players in the League. Players can pick-up their t-shirt at their first night of games from the various sizes available (S-XXL). We also plan on updating the shirt design in each season, so players can collect fun, new bocce shirts each season that they play.

To answer your question, NO you cannot pick your team's shirt color. But we hope you'll like the shirt colors & designs we have planned for you in 2023.

Unfortunately Major League Bocce cannot accept schedule requests. We do our best to rotate teams through various time slots throughout the season in order to keep things fair for all players.

If you cannot make a game, please do your best to rally the team to have at least 2 players present at games to avoid a forfeit (3 players are required during playoffs). If your team knows in advance that they are unable to field a team, please contact us so that we can let your opponent know of your forfeit in advance (as a courtesy).

We spend a lot of time watching the weather in order to make the best decisions regarding any weather delays or cancellations. Our standard policy is to let all players know by 4:00 pm on game day if their game is cancelled or delayed due to rain. We will email you and post to your league's Facebook page with any changes to the schedule. If you don't hear from us, you can assume games are on as scheduled.

Please note that sometimes bad weather can sneak up on us and we occasionally have to cancel games after our 4:00 pm deadline. If the weather is looking suspect, continue to check your league's Facebook page or email for any updates.  

You may have noticed the folks running around your division in black t-shirts. These awesome people are our Black Shirts - outgoing volunteers who run our divisions and make sure your bocce night is a memorable one. If you're interested in helping out, click here to learn more about the program. All black shirts get FREE bocce, a weekly bar tab, and more!