It was always going to be a challenge bringing bocce ball to a place like Texas, where the sport is not widely known, admits local entrepreneur and restaurant owner John Dante.

But “jumping in heavy”, as he puts it, is the way Mr Dante likes to do things. He has recently purchased four portable Packabocce courts and has been holding bocce-themed events at his recently completed Bella on the Vine event centre in the city of Converse.

The 8,500-square-foot venue is right next door to Papa Dante’s Restaurant; an Italian-American eatery his family opened in 1979. The restaurant specialises in Italian comfort food like spaghetti and meatballs, lasagne, pizza and submarine sandwiches. John, brother Lanny and the entire Dante family are rightfully proud of its 40-year history.

New full-sized portable rugby posts that can be transported in the trunk of a car and set up in minutes could help grow the sport of rugby across North America.

That’s according to Fort Lauderdale Ruckus Rugby Club President Matthew Wells, who introduced world-first inflatable Rugby Packaposts at the club’s first home U19 10-a-side women’s tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last month.

Mr Wells said the club had initially planned to use conventional steel rugby posts for the tournament but discovered at the last minute that some of the components they required were missing.

“Fortunately, I had gotten hold of a pair of full-sized Rugby Packaposts after seeing them at the USA National Rugby Development Summit in Denver last year. I brought them to the field in the back of my jeep, set them up in 10 minutes each, and they performed perfectly.”

When it comes to playing bocce ball, not all courts are created equal.

There’s a wide variety of courts available, from fixed set ups at community facilities through to highly portable inflatable courts that can be taken with you and pumped up in minutes.

This bocce ball court guide answers common questions about bocce court dimensions, construction materials and surfaces, and how to find a court or league near you.

Read on to take your bocce game and knowledge to the next level.

The ancient sport of bocce has undergone a resurgence in some parts of the world, helped in part by the invention of a new portable court that lets players take the game with them wherever they go.

Traditional bocce courts are made of wood or stone and can be 8-14 feet wide and 60-100 feet long. These are the kinds of courts that were used in town squares and courtyards during the days of the Ancient Roman empire.

They look good and work fine, but they are far from portable. They certainly can’t be packed up and taken to communities and locations crying out for new and accessible recreational opportunities.

Bocce courts featuring a revolutionary inflatable design were centre stage at the USA’s largest Special Olympics state games in Florida over the weekend.

Developed by Packaworld International, the inflatable Packabocce courts feature a lightweight but highly durable design that makes them far more portable than traditional bocce ball courts made out of wood or stone.

More than 5,000 athletes, coaches, volunteers and family members took part in the Special Olympics Florida State Summer Games, hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, Orlando.

Hundreds more American Special Olympics athletes will soon be bowling their way to bocce bliss following a decision by Special Olympics Florida to purchase 28 new portable playing courts to help grow the game across the state.

Special Olympics Florida Vice President – Operations Akin Joseph said the courts, which arrived last month, had been impressive at their debut at the Area 8 Summer Games in Tampa.

Inflatable ‘Packabocce’ courts, first developed in 2013 by Packaworld International, feature a lightweight but highly durable design that makes them far more portable than traditional bocce courts made out of wood or stone.

The nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines may be home to just 100,000 people, but that isn’t stopping it from sending a bocce team to the United Arab Emirates to compete at the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi.

In 2015, the tiny Caribbean nation returned to the World Summer Games in Los Angeles after a 10-year absence to win silver in the sport of bocce. This time, they are out for gold with the support of portable bocce courts from Packaworld International.

Special Olympics Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has purchased competition and recreation-sized ‘Packabocce’ courts to aid their bocce team’s training efforts for the World Summer Games and help them increase participation in the sport of bocce across the nation’s nine inhabited islands.

Full-size inflatable rugby ‘Packaposts’ from Packaworld International stole the show at the USA Rugby National Development Summit, drawing attention from conference delegates and many top US coaches, including newly appointed USA Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold.

The Summit was held in Denver, Colorado from 19-21 January, with Packaworld CEO Peter Roberts attending to discuss the development of rugby in the USA and introduce the unique portable rugby posts to delegates.

“Rugby is growing quickly across the USA. But it’s a tricky sport to deliver to new regions and communities due to a lack of suitable arenas where people can play,” Mr Roberts said.