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Before each match, the eight members of the Schuylkill Haven High School bocce team circle up, put their hands in a pile, and yell out the same cheer – “Family!”
It sums up how those team members — a mix of regular education and special education students all competing together — feel about each other.
That mutual support and the close friendships the players have developed have also been the key to their remarkable run of success, they said.
For three straight seasons, the team has won the Schuylkill League title, and it recently won its second regional championship in the last three years.
That Greater Lehigh Valley Pocono Region crown meant Schuylkill Haven had topped teams from 63 other school districts, and earned the team a spot in this Thursday’s state tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey, where it will try to bring home the gold.
Not bad for a team whose members barely knew what bocce when they joined the team, they said.
But they learned the sport quickly, and more importantly learned about each other, developing the chemistry and communication so crucial in a game that hinges on teamwork and strategy.
Pennsylvania high school Unified Bocce is supported by Special Olympics Pennsylvania and the PIAA, and brings together students with and without intellectual or physical disabilities to compete in teams. The sport has grown quickly, now having more than 400 teams statewide, and the state championship is the culmination of each season.
Each team must include an equal number of special education students, and who each have equal roles.
The idea is for participants to develop social skills, self-confidence, and lasting friendships, while also having fun.
“I think it’s the most wholesome sport out there,” said special education teacher Stacey McCluskey, one of the team’s coaches, who also coaches track and cross country. “And I think that it’s neat that each member brings something different to the team, and how they support each other. It’s been really fun.”
The matches are played indoors on basketball courts. Players roll soft, gel-filled balls that are a little bigger than softballs while aiming to get them as close as they can to a small, target ball called a pallino. While the rules seem simple, the strategy changes on each roll, with both teams aiming for better position. Judging how the ball will travel across the wooden floorboards can also be very tricky, the players said.
While bocce is both challenging and exciting, it is the unified aspect of the team that makes it so special, the players agreed. They spoke of the close bonds they’ve formed with teammates they otherwise probably wouldn’t know other than passing each other by in hallways, but now root for on and off the court.
They take “bocce walks” together before practice, an opportunity to warm up, but more importantly to hang out, talk, and get to know each other better.
“I like how we’re all connecting,” said team member Haidyn Neifert, whose teammates credit her as the most accurate roller on the team.
Other team members include Jayden Brossman, T.J. Adams, Grayson Fessler, Bryce Delpais, Faith Krammes, Reaghen McCulloch, and Cooper McCartney. Physics and computers teacher Ed Andruscavage serves as the other coach.
Winter sports athletes and teams all strive to get to the PIAA state championship in the Giant Center, and bocce is no different, which is why the team’s title run has been so thrilling, said Andruscavage, who also coaches track, cross country and basketball.
What is different about bocce, though, is that the coaches cannot communicate with players during matches, other than during the single time out that they have. That means the coaches count on the players to know and execute the strategies they’ve worked on together, which the Schuylkill Haven team has thrived at, Andruscavage said. That’s a credit to Krammes and Adams, both seniors and veterans of the team who not only play, but serve as coaches on the floor, he said.
“Those two seniors are amazing,” he said.
Three team members and their coaches appeared on the most recent podcast of Dr. Shawn Fitzpatrick, the district’s superintendent, titled “Deep Dive with Dr. Fitz,” and they talked about how much they’ve enjoyed being part of the squad.
“I’ve loved it,” said Krammes, who has gone to state championships in track and cross-country, but said that bocce stands out. “I’ll look back on bocce as my favorite memories from Schuylkill Haven High School.”
Fitzpatrick spoke about how there have been three previous times when Schuylkill Haven High School teams have won state championships — the 1985 girls basketball team, the 1991 football team, and the baseball team in 2021 — all teams that have been immortalized on a sign that sits above Route 61 in town.
Fitzpatrick talked about how cool it would be for the bocce team to be the district’s fourth state champ.
“We’re going to have to update that sign on (Route) 61,” Krammes said.
While a state championship in Hershey is the goal, the players said that no matter how the tournament goes, they will treasure their time on the team.
“Win or lose,” Adams said, “whatever happens, we’ll always look back on this and think ‘yeah, we were a family. We really loved each other. We really bonded with each other. And we did amazing things.’”
Another way that bocce is unique is that while the matches are highly competitive, the teams and athletes also cheer for their opponents, the team said.
Everyone wants everyone else to succeed, Adams said.
And Krammes hopes that seeing Schuylkill Haven’s success will encourage more school districts in Schuylkill County to add bocce teams.
The local districts that currently comprise the Schuylkill League in bocce are Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Pine Grove, North Schuylkill, Pottsville, Panther Valley and Hazleton.
While Andruscavage and McCluskey have been successful in their first year of coaching the team, they praised former coaches Wayne Smith and Elayne Hinderliter, who built the program into what it is.
“It was like they handed us the keys to a Porsche,” Andruscavage said.
The first match of this season, they realized that they had the potential to go all the way, and it’s just gotten better since, Krammes said.
When the team went to Hershey two seasons ago, Schuylkill Haven sent two buses of students there to cheer them on, the result of a bet between Neifert and high school principal Ty Wartman, who told Neifert that the district would do so if they advanced that far, but not really expecting it to happen, she joked.
The district is again planning to run two buses to Hershey on Thursday morning so fellow students, families, staff and people from the community can cheer the team on in person.
But Fitzpatrick wanted the team to know that even those who cannot make it to Hershey on Thursday are sending along their full support.
“There isn’t a person in this school who isn’t cheering for you guys,” he said.
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It sums up how those team members — a mix of regular education and special education students all competing together — feel about each other.
That mutual support and the close friendships the players have developed have also been the key to their remarkable run of success, they said.
For three straight seasons, the team has won the Schuylkill League title, and it recently won its second regional championship in the last three years.
That Greater Lehigh Valley Pocono Region crown meant Schuylkill Haven had topped teams from 63 other school districts, and earned the team a spot in this Thursday’s state tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey, where it will try to bring home the gold.
Not bad for a team whose members barely knew what bocce when they joined the team, they said.
But they learned the sport quickly, and more importantly learned about each other, developing the chemistry and communication so crucial in a game that hinges on teamwork and strategy.
Pennsylvania high school Unified Bocce is supported by Special Olympics Pennsylvania and the PIAA, and brings together students with and without intellectual or physical disabilities to compete in teams. The sport has grown quickly, now having more than 400 teams statewide, and the state championship is the culmination of each season.
Each team must include an equal number of special education students, and who each have equal roles.
The idea is for participants to develop social skills, self-confidence, and lasting friendships, while also having fun.
“I think it’s the most wholesome sport out there,” said special education teacher Stacey McCluskey, one of the team’s coaches, who also coaches track and cross country. “And I think that it’s neat that each member brings something different to the team, and how they support each other. It’s been really fun.”
The matches are played indoors on basketball courts. Players roll soft, gel-filled balls that are a little bigger than softballs while aiming to get them as close as they can to a small, target ball called a pallino. While the rules seem simple, the strategy changes on each roll, with both teams aiming for better position. Judging how the ball will travel across the wooden floorboards can also be very tricky, the players said.
While bocce is both challenging and exciting, it is the unified aspect of the team that makes it so special, the players agreed. They spoke of the close bonds they’ve formed with teammates they otherwise probably wouldn’t know other than passing each other by in hallways, but now root for on and off the court.
They take “bocce walks” together before practice, an opportunity to warm up, but more importantly to hang out, talk, and get to know each other better.
“I like how we’re all connecting,” said team member Haidyn Neifert, whose teammates credit her as the most accurate roller on the team.
Other team members include Jayden Brossman, T.J. Adams, Grayson Fessler, Bryce Delpais, Faith Krammes, Reaghen McCulloch, and Cooper McCartney. Physics and computers teacher Ed Andruscavage serves as the other coach.
Winter sports athletes and teams all strive to get to the PIAA state championship in the Giant Center, and bocce is no different, which is why the team’s title run has been so thrilling, said Andruscavage, who also coaches track, cross country and basketball.
What is different about bocce, though, is that the coaches cannot communicate with players during matches, other than during the single time out that they have. That means the coaches count on the players to know and execute the strategies they’ve worked on together, which the Schuylkill Haven team has thrived at, Andruscavage said. That’s a credit to Krammes and Adams, both seniors and veterans of the team who not only play, but serve as coaches on the floor, he said.
“Those two seniors are amazing,” he said.
Three team members and their coaches appeared on the most recent podcast of Dr. Shawn Fitzpatrick, the district’s superintendent, titled “Deep Dive with Dr. Fitz,” and they talked about how much they’ve enjoyed being part of the squad.
“I’ve loved it,” said Krammes, who has gone to state championships in track and cross-country, but said that bocce stands out. “I’ll look back on bocce as my favorite memories from Schuylkill Haven High School.”
Fitzpatrick spoke about how there have been three previous times when Schuylkill Haven High School teams have won state championships — the 1985 girls basketball team, the 1991 football team, and the baseball team in 2021 — all teams that have been immortalized on a sign that sits above Route 61 in town.
Fitzpatrick talked about how cool it would be for the bocce team to be the district’s fourth state champ.
“We’re going to have to update that sign on (Route) 61,” Krammes said.
While a state championship in Hershey is the goal, the players said that no matter how the tournament goes, they will treasure their time on the team.
“Win or lose,” Adams said, “whatever happens, we’ll always look back on this and think ‘yeah, we were a family. We really loved each other. We really bonded with each other. And we did amazing things.’”
Another way that bocce is unique is that while the matches are highly competitive, the teams and athletes also cheer for their opponents, the team said.
Everyone wants everyone else to succeed, Adams said.
And Krammes hopes that seeing Schuylkill Haven’s success will encourage more school districts in Schuylkill County to add bocce teams.
The local districts that currently comprise the Schuylkill League in bocce are Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Pine Grove, North Schuylkill, Pottsville, Panther Valley and Hazleton.
While Andruscavage and McCluskey have been successful in their first year of coaching the team, they praised former coaches Wayne Smith and Elayne Hinderliter, who built the program into what it is.
“It was like they handed us the keys to a Porsche,” Andruscavage said.
The first match of this season, they realized that they had the potential to go all the way, and it’s just gotten better since, Krammes said.
When the team went to Hershey two seasons ago, Schuylkill Haven sent two buses of students there to cheer them on, the result of a bet between Neifert and high school principal Ty Wartman, who told Neifert that the district would do so if they advanced that far, but not really expecting it to happen, she joked.
The district is again planning to run two buses to Hershey on Thursday morning so fellow students, families, staff and people from the community can cheer the team on in person.
But Fitzpatrick wanted the team to know that even those who cannot make it to Hershey on Thursday are sending along their full support.
“There isn’t a person in this school who isn’t cheering for you guys,” he said.
Continue reading...
