At Einstein, Bocce Is Bringing Students Together

When Gloria Makosy told her husband Dan, a three-time state champion high school football coach, about her new role as the coach of  bocce team, he laughed.

Most people she told did the same thing.

But at Einstein, bocce -the bowling-like game in which players attempt to roll a ball closest to a smaller ball or "pallino" - is a serious undertaking.

It's a varisty sport. Players must get physicals, fill out paper work and attend practices. After winter break, Makosy will put together a roster for upcoming games against six other Montgomery County schools.

As part of the school system's corollary sports program, it also serves a more significant purpose: Allowing special needs students an opportunity to participate in high school athletics and a chance to be teammates with students from the general education program.

The Titan bocce team is no joke.

"We're showing people that the special needs students and the general population students are able to do something together," Einstein senior Josh Weil said. "We're able to talk and interact with each other. In life, you're gonna deal with people who aren't neccessarily like you. It's really important that we recognize those differences and actually work with them."

The team, which at this point consists of about 12 members, will eventually be made up of half special needs students and half general education students. Makosy, a special education teacher at the school, is still looking for interested participants.

"That's been the hardest obstacle so far, is getting the students to take me serious," Makosy said. "They're like, 'Oh, it's bocce ball. What do you mean there are practices and there are games?' So it's trying to just get the mentality that yes this is bocce ball, but this is a real sport. We're competing and we want to win."

Makosy teaches in Einstein's LFI, or "Learning for Independence" program, which focuses on students with learning disabilities, autism or other physical disabilities.

For those kids, traditional varsity sports aren't an option.

"It's a way for kids who wouldn't normally get involved with varsity sports to have an activity to do," Einstein Athletic Director Patrick Belott said. "And they get a different cross-section with some of the student population than you would with other varsity sports."

The interaction between the players is key, according to Weil, a member of the team who also participates in the school's Best Buddies program, an initiative that matches up general education students with special needs students.

"These students see their buddy in the hall or some place else, we'll say Hi and give each other a hug," Weil said. "Then, they really recognize that these students are exactly like us, except for the fact that they have a couple differences."

That small interchange means a lot to the students and helps erase some of the stigma attached to their disabilities, Makosy said, who also talked about the process of special needs students and general education students working together on the same team.

"It's an opportunity that a lot of these kids wouldn't normally have," Makosy said. "It's the parents as well. They get to see their kids participate in activities after school that they wouldn't normally be able to."

Still, Makosy makes no secret of her competitive desire.

On Wednesday, she had players practice by rolling a bocce ball toward a target in Einstein's gym. They discussed three different ways to roll the ball, how to score the game and proper technique.

Soon, Makosy hopes to delve into strategy. In bocce, each team rolls four balls. The team that gets the ball closest to the pallino gets a point. If that team rolls the next closest ball, they get an additional point.

"We want to compete. We're very competitive," Makosy said. "We want to bring home the county championship."

Dan Makosy even got into the act.

The longtime Damascus High School football coach, now at Hammond High School in Columbia, won the 2003, 2005 and 2007 state titles with the Swarmin' Hornets. Recently, he imparted some bocce-related coaching advice of his own.

Gloria Makosy was reading about the four-count stance, a technique some bocce players use when they roll a ball.

"He said, 'Counting is too hard for kids. It's too choppy and not smooth.'" Gloria Makosy said. "When he teaches a quarterback to throw a ball, he wants it to be smooth. You tell kids to say words instead of numbers. So he is giving me pointers.

"Now, he's into it too."

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