Bocce Tournament in Mayfield Heights Begins Friday

Mayfield Heights' tradition-rich International Bocce Tournament returns to the city park this weekend.

Play begins at 6 p.m. Friday and continues through the weekend until champions are crowned.

"We always get good competition," organizer Wayne Farinacci said. "We know how to run a quality tournament. I've got good help from a strong committee."

The tournament has been around for decades, but this is the seventh year Club Molisani de Cleveland is operating the tournament in conjunction with the city's Community Unity Days. This year's tournament, sponsored by Marshall's, has 64 teams, with players coming in town from states like Connecticut and Georgia.

About $12,000 in rewards, trophies and plaques will be given to high ranking teams.

Play goes from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Farinacci said he is pleased to see the tournament gain popularity at the same as bocce picked up steam in the United States.

"We all love the game and popularized it," he said. "People have gotten so good as players in the last 10 to 15 years, there used to not be this many tournaments, but now there's one every weekend."

He says the the city park and its eight courts has become a gathering place for the community.

"If you go up to Mayfield Heights park, the lights go out at 11 p.m., but that's the only reason people leave. "It's where people come to meet and talk and play and it happens every single night.

"We're using the bocce court as the piazza in Mayfield Heights."