SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Paul Colabufo grew up playing bocce ball. His friends saw him playing at his law school graduation party and they fell in love with the game. They convinced Colabufo to start a league. A decade later they are still playing every Tuesday.
“The longer it goes the more I think I kind of appreciate it. We did something that you don’t see all that often, which is just kind of invent something,” Colabufo said. “As you get older you have kids, get married and it’s easy to drift apart. This is something where we can count on you every Tuesday night. We are going to come back together, we’re going have a couple drinks, we’re going to play a game.”
The rules are simple in the turbo bocce league, show up and play bocce. If you can’t make a week that’s totally okay. It’s a free-spirted yet competitive league that goes beyond just winning and losing.
Greg Griffo has been a part of the turbo bocce league since 2009. He calls it a great community.
“To be with your friends or people that aren’t your friends, it’s friendly competition,” Griffo said.
The sense of community goes beyond just playing every Tuesday night. In 2016, two members of the club tragically passed away in a boating accident. The club honored the members by playing a 30-hour bocce ball game. The game also broke a Guinness World Record.
“It meant a ton for everybody,” Griffo said.
“I feel a little extra bond to all of them that we went through all that and there’s that memory together,” Colabufo said.
While the Guinness World Record will carry on, so will the memory of the two who don’t get to show up every Tuesday.
