Bocce ball and beer - the perfect combination in Omaha

From ancient Italy to the city of Omaha, Nebraska, the sport of bocce ball has brought people together in an age-old sporting ritual. Add quality craft beer to the mix and you will find the ideal recipe for new friends and good times.

Jeff Larson and his team of social sport enthusiasts at All in Sports brought portable Packabocce courts to Omaha, founding new bocce leagues in fall 2019. Now the sport is taking off, with new leagues springing up across the city.

Mr Larson says bocce and beer is “undeniably a match made in heaven”. This enlightened understanding led to a partnership with the Nebraska Brewing Company to host the Game on Omaha! brewery league, based on the dreams of backyard bocce enthusiasts.

“What’s better than bocce and beer! The two go hand-in-hand."

“We played ‘backyard’ bocce for years and decided to pursue our dream of building bocce leagues in our area. Our goal is to help spread the love of this sport throughout the Omaha metro area and beyond.”
 
The Nebraska Brewing Company is known for its barrel-aged brews and reserve series beers, and acts as something of a social hub for the nearby suburbs of La Vista, Ralston and Papillion. The brewery location is also big enough to accommodate three and four court bocce sessions, with up to 96 people playing per night.

Word spreads quickly, and in the past five months, Game on Omaha! has established five indoor and outdoor bocce leagues in the Omaha area.

While the sport of bocce originated in Italy in ancient Roman times and has spread to the USA mainly in areas with large Italian communities, it is not usually easy to bring to new places as it is played on a walled court traditionally made of wood or stone.

The key to unlocking the popularity of bocce in an area where the sport was largely unknown lay in the portable Packabocce courts – inflatable bocce courts from Packaworld International that are easy to set up and take down, Mr Larson says. The professional-quality courts can then be easily transported between different indoor and outdoor leagues and venues.

In addition to the popular brewery league, the company has also started community leagues for adaptive sport and 55+ social clubs in the neighbouring suburb of Papillion, as well as drop-in games, Bocce 101 sessions and corporate team building sessions.

Mr Larson says Game on Omaha! was founded as a sports and social club that champions a fun social setting while meeting new people. To help grow their love of social sports in Omaha, the team struck a deal with Packaworld International to help them grow the fledgling sport of bocce into a movement in the Midwestern state.

For every sale made through a special coupon code at Packaworld’s online store, Game on Omaha! will get a contribution towards growing sports leagues and opportunities for people to enjoy the sports they love in the Omaha area.

This also involves a discount on Packabocce courts, portable lacrosse goals, inflatable football goals, water polo goals, and even Packaworld’s unique goalball goals, which are nine metres wide and made especially for the blind sport of goalball.

This special offer can only be found at the Game on Omaha page of our US Packaworld store.