The Sedona Posse Ground Bocce League completed its inaugural season on the evening of Friday, July 12. The league is currently made up of four teams: Kachina, The Kids, The Wild Bunch and The Sedona Bocce Club, the last of which won the postseason championship game. The winning team included Milton Crewse, J.B. Meurrens, Elijah Crewse and Randy Crewse.

“The goal in creating this league was so that we’d have this intergenerational community sport and it spanned a wide range of ages, which is super cool,” league organizer Danusia Szumowski said, pointing out how the Crewses are a trio of grandparents with their grandson. “For example, The Kids team is made up of several people [who] do a lot of the search and rescue or have in the past in town.”

Szumowski said the Sedona Bocce Club’s daily practice sessions were key to the group’s success in their finals matchup against The Wild Bunch.

“People were so gracious to both the winners and losers,” Szumowski said “It ended up being not so much about being ultra-competitive as it was about just enjoying the game. And I saw that across the board. Maybe one or two teams got a little competitive, which is fine. But it was about just being together and that’s important for all of us here.” 

Randy Crewse said that he found the game to be more cerebral than physical and stressed the importance  of tactics in bocce ball.

“There’s a lot of strategy involved in the sport in trying to figure out the best angle to attack the ball and whether or not to attack your opponent’s balls,” Crewse said.

The Posse Grounds Bocce Ball Courts are accessible to the public for play during daylight hours when not in use by the league.

Bocce balls can be borrowed from the orange storage box near the tennis courts by using the lockbox code 1985.

The group has organized on Facebook as the “Sedona Posse Ground Bocce League” to discuss the game, which combines elements of lawn bowling with a shuffleboard-style scoring system. The league aims to continue its growth, although Szumowski said adding any more teams will require an extra night for play.

Park visitors can anticipate additional signage being added to the bocce court in time for the start of the league’s next session in September. Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Frewin said the city is also looking for sponsors to install additional benches around the bocce ball courts.

“It’s $900 for the bench, and it’s one of those green and black benches that we have all throughout all the parks, and then it has the plaque on it as well … the majority that we get are in memory of [someone],” Frewin said.

“I encourage community members to really consider [the sport],” Szumowski said. “It doesn’t require any kind of athletic ability, pretty much anybody can play, and we have [equipment], so if somebody is in a wheelchair they can play, too. It’s about as inclusive as any sport could be.”

For those interested in registering for the league or seeking further information, online  registration will be available at sedonaaz.gov/sports.

Those with questions can contact Brashier at (928) 282-7098 or cbrashier@sedonaaz.gov.