A Fresh Take on an Ancient Favorite

For centuries, the ancient game of bocce has been played much the same way. But Tony Bour created a variation that expands the outdoor sport’s appeal and accessibility by making it possible to play indoors. 

The part-time Naples resident is the inventor and maker of a tabletop bocce court that is scaled down and sized to be transportable. “This is Bocce Reimagined” is the tagline for the company he founded to manufacture and market his invention, dubbed Tabletop Bocce 2.0. 

Constructed from lightweight but sturdy, commercial-grade aluminum, the playing surface is a chloroplast base covered in liquid-resistant artificial turf. Additional weather-resistant materials make limited outdoor play possible. There are two sizes: the Championship Court, which is four feet wide by 15 feet long, and the Family Court, which is three feet wide by 12 feet long. Both versions are 27 inches high to make the game accessible for younger players and people with limited mobility. 

A retired mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, Bour fell in love with bocce after being introduced to it decades ago. Eventually, that passion grew to become what he described as “an addiction.”

Bocce became a regular source of enjoyment for the Bour family, even when away from home.

“My wife and I, for years, had motor homes and every summer, we would go camping and we’d take the bocce balls with us,” he said. “At campgrounds, we would find other people or have friends, and we would play bocce. But it was never really a structured game.”

Those games were played the traditional way, on a natural surface like grass and not on a formalized “court.” That setting was all Bour knew until he and his wife, Lorraine, decided to split time between their home in Yankton, South Dakota, and Collier County, where he first encountered “structured” bocce. 

“We decided that we wanted to spend our winters in Naples,” said Bour, “and it was when we bought a house in Mediterra in 2011 that I became exposed to bocce being played on a structured court.” Bour defines that as having a center line, foul lines and walls on each side that can be used to bounce bocce balls off. 

Bocce is thought to be one of the world's oldest games, one that grew from games of the Roman Empire. The sport’s modern version was developed in Italy, and over time, the game has spread internationally. Lawn bowling, nine pins, skittles and petanque are but a few of the alternate names for bocce internationally. 

Bocce enjoys worldwide popularity, and participation has been growing in the U.S., with Southwest Florida being no exception. Bour cited the fact that Mediterra now has four courts, doubling the number it had six years ago. During Season, those courts are used by more than 800 residents in men’s, women's and couples’ leagues, Bour said.

Mediterra is one of the 24 residential communities in the Naples – Fort Myers area to field traveling teams in the Southwest Florida Bocce League. The communities host round-robin matches during the tourist season, with playoffs and end-of-season awards for top teams in the league, which Bour estimates is about 15 years old.   

Other communities are clamoring to join the league, he added.

Bocce’s burgeoning popularity helped motivate Bour to create the tabletop version, as did the potential for making the sport more accessible for the physically challenged. 

“I got to thinking about the fact that, particularly in the Naples and in the Bonita Springs areas, there are retirement communities and people are, of course, getting older and a lot of them are handicapped,” he said. “A lot of people have walkers, canes, some are even in wheelchairs. And I got to thinking bocce is such a fun game and it could easily be played as a table game.” 

The first prototype was built three years ago, based on a design crafted by Bour, one of his sons and a grandson. The heaviest is approximately 130 pounds. Tables can be assembled in about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. The artificial turf can be rolled up, much like a carpet.

COVID epidemic put the brakes on initial plans to hit the market. But as Bour put it recently, “We’re back again.” 

Bour has been selling them through his website, contacts in the Yankton area and word of mouth. He’s also building awareness and helping others by donating them to nonprofits, educational institutions and charitable causes, such as the 14th annual Shoot Down Kids Cancer fundraiser held in March at Gulf Coast Clays in Port of the Islands. Bour donated a Tabletop Bocce 2.0 unit to the event’s live auction as well as to Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples.

He sees the market potential as being substantial. He plans to add trade shows to broaden awareness. He’s also going to intensify pitching the tables as a sure-to-be-popular, fun-time activity at motels and hotels that have indoor pools. 

“I’m going to get mailing lists. I'm going to work up advertising brochures, hotels and motels that have swimming pools,” he said enthusiastically. “Up in our area, we have long winters. Winter can start in late October and we can still get blizzards in April. People, particularly people with families, begin to get cabin fever. You’re indoors. You don't do a lot. You watch TV and just sit. So families get to thinking, ‘Gee, let's do a weekend at a hotel or motel that has a swimming pool.’ Well, I've got two of my tables at two different hotels and they love them.” 

For more information about the Tabletop Bocce 2.0 game, visit www.newbocce.com/.