Move over, pickleball: bocce reigns supreme in this posh area of Los Angeles

Jimmy Dunne hopped off his electric bike, hung his helmet on the handlebars and rushed to the three bocce courts at Veterans Gardens just in time to offer his customary tip of the day.

“Think strategically,” the commissioner of the Palisades Bocce Club told the 50 amateur players who had gathered at the park on that cold, gray morning. At 68, he was relatively young compared to most of the attendees. “If you’re playing a master like Bill Skinner and you’re down in the fourth quarter, go all out.”

Everyone laughed. Skinner, who is 90 and plays for the OBG (Old But Great) Rollers, beamed. And the tournament began.

Player name tags are stored in individual equipment packages in a container for the Pacific Palisades Bocce League.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pickleball may have exploded in the wake of the pandemic, but in Pacific Palisades, bocce is king. More than 900 people have joined the Palisades Bocce Club since it began in June 2021. In the spring season, which ended this month, 542 people played regular matches. Games are held three times a week, and while winning is nice, it’s never been the goal. The league values community over competition, bringing neighbors of all generations together to connect outdoors.

“None of this had to do with bocce ball,” said Dunne, a longtime Palisades resident and songwriter who has written for Whitney Houston and Kenny Rogers. “It's about celebrating the wonder of our backyard and the simple pleasure of having friends in the city.”

On Tuesday in May, the winning team would participate in the championship, but the mood was decidedly relaxed. Roger Stewart, who is in his 90s, rolled the ball while sitting on a bench. The La Bocce Vita girls, wearing matching black caps with their team name in bright pink letters, were more interested in planning a weekend getaway together than in beating their opponents. And Skinner, a member of the local Optimist Club for 40 years, made her way through the crowd cracking jokes until someone told her it was her turn to roll.

Dunne, dressed in navy blue pants and a navy sweater, cheered them all on, his blue eyes sparkling beneath a pale pink baseball cap.

“Great shot! Simply spectacular,” he shouted. “Beautiful! Just a little more!

Bocce ball dates back to at least the Roman Empire and has long been popular in Italy, but interest in the game appears to be increasing in the United States.

A man uses a digital device to measure the distance between two bocce balls.

A man watching a game of bocce, surrounded by other bocce players.

“Our explosion hasn't reached the level of pickleball, but there has been a significant uptick since COVID,” said Alex Gara, co-founder of the American Bocce Company, which runs a league with 3,000 players in Chicago as well as national tournaments. “There is often a magical moment when everything comes together and a sport grows exponentially very quickly. “A lot of people feel like that’s what’s happening with bowling right now.”

According to Dunne, there are several reasons why bocce has become a sensation in the wealthy coastal community of Pacific Palisades. It is less physically demanding than tennis or pickleball, making it an accessible social activity for the Palisades' growing senior population. It is easy to learn, and because it relies more on skill and strategy than strength or speed, it is one of the few sports in which a 90-year-old can easily beat a 30-year-old.

“It’s a time of rest from life, and God, we need it.”

— Jimmy Dunne, commissioner of the Palisades Bocce Club

The neighborhood's relatively mild climate allows seniors to play outdoors year-round. It's also an excuse for older players to get out of the house and for younger players to take a break from the relentless load of work and parenting. It costs only $75 per person to register for a season.

“No one has a credit card in their pocket and, other than taking pictures, no one looks at their phones,” Dunne said. “It's time away from life and, God, we need it.”

Dunne’s love affair with pétanque began in the summer of 2010, when she stumbled upon a park in the French countryside where people of all ages were gathered around what looked like a bocce ball court (since we were in France, they were probably playing a similar game, pétanque). As she took in the scene, a bridal party emerged from a local church and joined in the game.

“I had never played petanque and had no idea what it was, but the magical thing about it was that it attracted all these people from the community to come out at sunset,” he said. He vowed to create something similar in Los Angeles.

Dunne, who was a writer and producer on “Happy Days” and counts former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso among his closest friends, is the kind of guy who gets things done. Shortly after returning from his trip, he convinced the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades, of which he is a member, to install two bocce ball courts. Within months, 250 people had joined his league. Word spread and Dunne helped the game spread to Hillcrest Country Club in Beverly Hills, Griffin Club in Cheviot Hills and California Club in downtown Los Angeles.

“I took on this strange role of being the pétanque piper,” he said. “But my interest was not in pétanque, but in whether this could create belonging.”

A group of women cheering while sitting on a bench.

After a string of successes with country clubs, Dunne decided to experiment with building a community bocce ball park open to the public. In 2016, he and a group of friends began fundraising to build three courts on a dirt lot near the Palisades Recreation Center. Bill McGregor, a longtime friend, architect and real estate developer, drew up the plans for what became Veterans Gardens. Today it is a beautifully landscaped park with several picnic tables and barbecue pits in addition to the bocce ball courts, all paid for and maintained by private donations, including those from the local American Legion post. The park opened in 2021 at the height of the pandemic.

“I knew bocce existed, but this exceeded our expectations,” said McGregor, who oversaw the construction of the IM Pei-designed former Sony Music headquarters, among other local developments. “Many people haven't used their public park since their children were little. Now they are using it again.”

A man walking between bocce courts, counting scores while a crowd watches.

Dunne is a tireless optimist, but even he was surprised by the league's success. “At country clubs people eat and drink all the time,” he said. “What I find incredible is that people go out here without cocktails or food.”

Despite the Palisades Bocce Club’s family-friendly, all-American atmosphere, a lot of time, effort and energy has gone into making it the community center it has become. To keep players engaged off the court, Dunne sends out a weekly newsletter with photos from recent games and announcements about who is celebrating the birth of a new grandchild or recovering from surgery.

She hired another friend, Carlyn Peterson, to handle the league's logistics, placing people on teams, scheduling games and organizing end-of-season dinners where awards like “The Snappies (Best)” are handed out. Dressed in the World)” and “Happiest Campers (A Team So Full of Life).” A handful of certified bocce professionals are paid to referee the games.

“The secret is in the combination of providing the fields and the professional programming,” said Dunne, who volunteers most of the time but is compensated for running and managing the league. “That's what makes it work really well.”

A close-up of a woman's hands holding two medals.

A man holds a microphone and reads a piece of paper.

Dunne would like to see the success of the Palisade Bocce Club replicated throughout Los Angeles, especially in less affluent neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades, where the median home price is more than $3.5 million according to Zillow.

“For me, there is a path to carry out those projects, not through the city, but through donations from people who have the ability to finance them from other communities,” he said.

You have already contacted the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Meanwhile, the league is gearing up for the summer and fall seasons, and because there are more players and teams than ever before, there will be an additional spot for Sunday afternoon games.

Skinner will be there. The ladies of La Bocce Vita have already registered.

“When people complain about this and that and say everything is wrong with the world, all I want to say is, 'Come to the park and see,'” Dunne said. “Wonderful things are happening.”

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