News

In light of general guidance around COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), we are going to cancel the Capo Meeting this year. At this time we are still planning to hold the season as scheduled, particularly because we are still many weeks out from Opening Day (April 26th). But, please keep an eye out for further news as that date approaches.

Instead of holding a Capo Meeting, we're putting all the information online. We ask for all team capo and co-capos to review the following information.

In the event that the season will be held as planned, we are looking into measures to provide a safe environment down on the courts. In the event that the season needs to be cancelled, we will develop a policy to refund registration fees. Though, we will look into potential middle ground, such as a shortened schedule. We don’t want to wait all the way until 2021 to roll! ;)

Thank you for your understanding. And as usual, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to to send us an email at info@beniciabocce.org.

Board

This year, we had just a few changes on the board. Matt DeClaire continues as President for 2020. Zac Van Blake decided to step down as Vice President, however, he remains a member of the board.Greg Richey is holding the VP position in interim, until we can find someone to take it on permanently. John Van Blake continues on as Treasurer. Gale Sequeira decided to retire. We thank Gale so much for her help, particularly in helping to revamp the shed organization. We have a new member, Lynn Hannafin. That brings the board to the following:

1. Matt DeClaire - President, Secretary
2. Greg Richey - Interim Vice President
3. John Van Blake - Treasurer
4. Ron Kane
5. Scott Reep
6. Zac Van Blake
7. Steve Pieroni
8. Beth Szabo
9. Lynn Hannafin

We are on the hunt (as usual) for more board members. We've got some folks that have given more than their share of service, and are looking to retire. We could particularly use members with expertise in any of of the following:

• legal
• banking and accounting
• web development
• social media
• communications

Financials

We continue to operate in a surplus, allowing us to accelerate payments on the loans for the new courts. More info on that to come. It also allows us to save for much desired improvements, such as shade, better lighting, and court surface improvements.

Schedule

Most of the dates have been posted, but we have now finalized the date for this year’s tournament. Below are all the important dates for review.

• Opening Day: Sunday, April 26
• Tournament: July 11-12
• Year End Celebration: Aug. 29
• Playoffs: Sept. 9-19

If you are interested in the tournament, find out more information here:

beniciabocce.org/tournament

Schedules for each division, as well as individual teams are available online. Simply find your division in the nav under Schedule. From the division schedule, use the team selector to find individual team schedules.

Announcements

We’ve got a few standard announcements. Typically, the shed code is given out to capos during the Capo Meeting. We’ve now put it online, but are still only making it available to capos and co-capos at this time. Capos can get the shed online at beniciabocce.org/shed-code

We’ve made adjustments to the website such that capos and co-capos can see contact information for players on other teams. Just be sure to remember to log in, and then navigate to any team to see player email addresses and phone numbers.

This year we are introducing some alternative ball colors. We’re going to have one or two sets of yellow and black bocce balls. The idea is that these balls will particularly help with color blind players. They might also help when players are having a hard time distinguishing balls during twilight hours. Give them a try and let us know how it goes. Please give priority to color blind players.

Last year we introduced telescoping measuring devices. While we had mixed reviews, the biggest issue is that we no longer know where they are… So, if you can find one, and the other team capo agrees, you can still use these devices.

We will not be posting scores and standings in the shed this year. It was simply too much overhead, and it was always out of date compared to the online standings.

Reminders

And finally, we have some reminders.

We had some confusion around rainouts in the beginning of last season. We’re going to adhere more closely to the City guidance on rainouts. The City of Benicia makes the call if matches are rained out. And that call is not made until the day of, typically in the afternoon. If we receive a call cancelling play we will post that information on the website and send an email to the Capos and Co-Capos. If your match is cancelled, you should go online to begin the process of rescheduling, https://www.beniciabocce.org/reschedule. So, unless an email goes out notifying teams of a rain out, matches are still as scheduled.

Rescheduling is done online by capos and co-capos only. Find your match in the schedule and hit the Reschedule button. You’ll see a calendar of alternative dates. Pick ALL the dates that your team can play, not just the one you want. The capos on the other team will be emailed and will see a list of dates you’ve given them. If one of those dates works for them, they will select it, the match will be rescheduled, and both teams will be notified. As you can see, providing as many dates as possible makes it more likely the opposing team will be able to find one that works for them.

A reminder about Disputes. If you believe the rules to have been broken during a match, and you can’t work it out with the opposing team capo, it’s important to continue playing the match under protest. You can then bring your dispute to the board, where the Rules Committee will evaluate. Please do not abandon the match, or your team will forfeit.

Shed cleanliness is important. It’s fairly easy to just throw all the equipment into the shed at the end of the match. But, we’ve had equipment get damaged this way, particularly the brooms and chairs. We’ve organized and labeled where equipment belongs in the shed. Please take the extra few minutes to replace equipment where it belongs.

A copy of the rules will be posted in the shed. But, they are also conveniently available online at beniciabocce.org/rules.

And some final, but simple reminders. Home teams need to prep the courts, and need to arrive early enough to do so and include practice time. 45 minutes early is a good idea. Don’t drop the hose nozzles on the court. The concrete is very unforgiving, and we had a lot of issues with it last season. And… hey everybody. Don’t be jerks.

Questions

That’s quite a lot to sit down and read. And I don’t have you all as a captive audience this year, so I’m trusting you all to read through it.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to send them to info@beniciabocce.org