Per L'Amore di Bellissimo, Bello Bocce!

Bocce is Los Gatos' official sport.

So declared Los Gatos Mayor Joe Pirzysnki during opening ceremonies Monday morning at Campo di Bocce of Los Gatos, where 199 bocce players from around the country gathered to participate in the 2011 Peroni U.S. Bocce Championships.

A total of 39 teams competed in the opening day of the Division A and B tournaments, each averaging between four and six players, said Thomas Martino, director of marketing and corporate sales for Campo di Bocce of Los Gatos and Livermore.

The teams are playing for gold, silver and bronze medals.

Beginning Wednesday, both facilities will play in the modality of punto, raffa, volo—a more European style of playing the sport, which requires measuring the distance between the two balls.

"This is very serious. This is the number-one event of the year for the federation and for the players," said Danny Passaglia, president of the U.S. Bocce Federation.

The Players

On hand were celebrity bocce players such as Jorge Moreno, from New Jersey, a member of the famed Club Corvo. 

Moreno plays with Passaglia. He’s originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, where bocce is second to soccer in popularity.

Moreno has been playing bocce for 35 years. He began playing "bochas," the Spanish word for bocce, when he was 16 years old.

The 51-year-old Moreno is one of the favorites during the championships, Passaglia said, adding that he's also the reigning singles champion in the country, participating in Rome last August finishing No. 8 in the world.

"I love bocce," said the father of two. "I'm happy to be here playing."

Moreno has already won the singles' volo competition during the championships, which started June 25 and will continue until July 2.

Also playing and getting attention were several ladies. Two in particular were 16-year-old Navina Bernardi and Teresa Passaglia.

Bernardi won the women's double punto, raffa, volo tournament on Sunday in Livermore.

In 1993, Teresa Passaglia earned a fourth-place medal for competing in the first women's bocce championship in Montreal, Canada.

In 2005, she participated in the world championships in Michigan and finished in eighth place.

The championships

The event is expected to have an attendance of more than 5,000 people, according to Martino.

On Monday, Campo di Bocce of Los Gatos' eight outdoor and indoor bocce courts were full of players being admired by a friendly crowd that enjoyed food and drinks while the competition took place.

Bocce's popularity

In Italy, bocce is second to soccer in popularity. A total of 140 countries play some form of bocce and its four modalities: punto, raffa, volo, lawn bowling, petanque and volo with brass balls, Passaglia said.

"We're talking millions of people ... In this country we don't know how popular it is, but everywhere I go I'm constantly getting phone calls and most are from people asking about open rules bocce, a more relaxed and recreational form of playing," Passaglia noted.

In May of 2012, there will be 24 countries coming to Livermore to participate in the world championships, he added.