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By Daniel Curtin
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Elite hand eye coordination.
A fierce, competitive nature.
Grace under pressure.
These are just three of the important qualities possessed by the group of ladies that meets for its Friday morning game of bocce at the Center at Medfield from April to October.
Most of those playing the game are women who are part of the Dover Council on Aging. In the hot summer months, the group visits the Center in Medfield, where a bocce court lies in the shade of the surrounding trees. In the spring and the fall, when the weather gets a bit cooler, the ladies move their operation to the bocce court at the Dover Legion.
The group has been playing bocce together for more than 10 years now. Barbara Murphy is one of the ladies that is a regular member of the group that enjoys the weekly bocce excursion.
With her game face on, one of Dover’s bocce players readies her next shot.
“We jab at each other, but it is all good natured and no one ever gets mad or anything,” said another of the participants.
The women playing usually have a consistent group, but also have played with members of the community from Medfield - and are open to playing with others interested in the game.
Even though the games are not taken too seriously, the years of playing together has helped many of the regulars become very skilled at the game. Their skill was particularly apparent as they judged the right amount of force to knock their opponents’ balls away from the pallino, or banked their ball off the side wall to navigate around those of their opponent.
The group has a fun time playing the game together, but an even better time enjoying each other’s company. The result is a tight-knit friend group - albeit one that can give challengers a run for their money on the bocce court.
