| An Olympic Dream
In 1896, a bocce Olympiad competition was
held in Athens but it would be the middle
of the 20th Century before any type of official
organization grew up around the game. The
first international bocce organization was
formed in 1946. The Federation International
de Boules (FIB) started with four member
countries: Italy, France, Switzerland and
Monaco. Today, 39 nations belong to the
FIB.
Formal local clubs were
first organized around the town of Rivoli,
Italy and the first official Italian league
was formed in 1947. The first world championships
were held that same year in Geneva.
Two competing international
organizations were stared in the 1980s.
The Confédération Bouliste
Internationale (CBI) was started in 1982
to promote bocce among European clubs that
did not use metal balls. The FIB, CBI and
a third organization formed to promote the
French version of the bocce called petanque
were all trying to gain Olympic recognition.
The Olympic Committee balked
at working with three separate groups, so
an umbrella organization was formed in 1985.
The Confédération Mondiale
Sports Boules (are you keeping all of these
names straight?) works solely toward the
goal of getting bocce and its related games
into the Olympics. |
