A unique sport that Shaler Area takes part in every winter is bocce, which is a sport designed to help kids with special needs compete with other schools in an activity that fully relies on skill.
Each player takes turns rolling the bocce ball to try and get as close to the target ball known as the pallino, which is rolled before the match starts. The team that wins a point is the team that has the most bocce balls the closest to the target ball. School teams are separated into two smaller teams with their own records.
Shaler’s bocce team has four coaches to help keep both teams on track. Coach Austin Zillweger and Nevaeh Bartsch, both volunteer coaches, Ms. Marissa Kealey, the assistant coach, and head coach Mrs. Christin Pintar all provide assistance in coaching the Shaler Area bocce teams.
The Shaler Titans’ division is made up of Hampton, Pine Richland, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, and North Hills. This makes Shaler the one of the smallest schools in its division making them an underdog in many of their matches.
This year the Blue Team actually tied with the White Team finishing the season off in 8th place in their section with a record of (6-6). This was huge for the Titans because going into the last four matches they were in 11th place and managed to turn the tide a little late in the season.
“A lot of time was spent learning and reinforcing basic skills,” Mrs. Pintar said.
One of the biggest matches of the year was the rivalry match on Senior Night February 5 against the North Allegheny Tigers who the Titans beat, 3-1. Some players who stood out in that game were Blue Team member Jimmy Spagnolo and White Team Junior Captain Sam Kattan.
Last year Shaler graduated nine seniors making it a lot harder for them to move forward at a fast rate this season.
The seniors came back earlier in the season to check on the newer group of members and see how they were coming along.
“We hosted our 2nd annual Alumni Recognition Match on January 8 and more than 20 alumni members returned to reunite with each other and meet current team members at a pizza party following the match,” Mrs. Pintar said.
The big picture of bocce is to include everyone equally no matter what title someone has. Whether they are a coach, player, or captain, everyone gets the same respect in participating in the sport they love.
Players from both teams had their own individual things that they liked about the team as a whole.
“My favorite part of being on the bocce team was that I could hit the Griddy,” Junior Blue Team player John Brandon said.
“My favorite part of playing on the team was meeting my partner Alex Gaetano. Alex is nice and he always gave me high fives,” Freshman White Team member Brandon Rice said.
“My favorite thing of the season is seeing everyone work so well together on good and not so good days. Always staying positive and having a smile on their face at the end of the day,” coach Zillweger said.
“When I look back on the season, my favorite part is always seeing how the students grow together and learn how to work with each other. I was so proud of seeing the students keep a positive attitude even when there were challenges,” Mrs. Pintar said.
Mrs. Pintar does her best to influence this idea into her players with encouraging words, and is excited to help coach and train the upcoming years of bocce athletes.
“Team success is defined differently in unified sports. Of course winning matters, but connection, respect and mutual support become the bigger victory. And that’s where Shaler Area Unified Bocce is the number one seed,” she said.
