Bocce brings in scholarship dollars for students

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Robert Zitelli has managed to find a way to combine a favorite sport with a good cause.

Last weekend, the organization he started — Athletes of Action — held its fourth bocce tournament in McKees Rocks to raise money to provide scholarships for graduating seniors from Montour and Sto-Rox high schools. Over the past six years, the group has awarded $26,000 to 23 scholar athletes from the two high schools, Mr. Zitelli said.

Some 16 teams participated in this year’s tournament, with four players each. The bocce courts at Fairhaven Park were constantly busy: players shouting at each other and measuring the distance between the balls, their relatives cheering for them from the shade.

“I never played bocce in my life, but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” Alexa Smara, a 19-year-old college student from Robinson, said after the first round.

Italian immigrants brought bocce to the U.S. in the early 20th century. One of the world’s oldest sports, the game served as a social forum for immigrants and helped first-generation Italian-Americans stay connected with their traditions.

Now it also helps to send kids to college, said Alfred Tarquinio, an adjunct professor at California University and a former athlete who joined Athletes of Action a couple of years ago.

Bocce is played by opponents tossing balls onto an outdoor court in an effort to see who can get a ball closest to a smaller ball that serves as a target.

The game looks “simple” but involves plenty of strategizing, said Nataliya Smara, 22, who just graduated the California University of Pennsylvania.

“We are the youngest team here,” she said of the tournament players, who ranged from college-age students to people in their 80s.

Mr. Tarquinio helps identify students who are eligible for a scholarship from Athletes of Action — they must have a stellar academic ranking but also have economic needs. He said it’s “heartwrenching” to choose which students will receive a scholarship but also a joy “when you see them graduating and starting good careers.”

Mr. Zitelli agreed. “It’s nice to watch [the students] mature and blossom and move on,” he said.

The selection process involves having the organization’s executive board analyze the students’ transcripts and check the essays they are required to write.

Cecilia Esposito, an 18year-old graduate of Montour High School, is one of the six scholarship winners this year and is ready to enroll at St. Francis University in Cambria County, where she plans to study occupational therapy.

Ms. Esposito’s family is involved in sports. Her older brother plays football at Wake Forest University and her four sisters play volleyball. She regularly plays basketball but her favorite sport is volleyball.

“It was kind of a surprise,” she said of her upcoming plans. “But at the same time, I knew I was capable of it.”

The other Montour scholarship winners this year are Adam Celidonia and Skyler Kokocinski. The Sto-Rox scholarship winners are Justin Kappert, Destini Murray and Jessie Woods.