Shorthanded Kent competes in state bocce tourney

CHESTERTOWN - A scheduling conflict jammed up some of Kent County's athletes May 18, who couldn't be in two places at once. That was the day that the Kent Association of Riding Therapy was holding its annual end-of-year show and Special Olympics Maryland was staging the annual unified outdoor bocce state high school championship at Washington College.

Kent County High School had to forfeit both games at the state bocce tournament because of a roster change, even though Kent had defeated Rising Sun, 8-7, in its tournament opener.

Minus a total of five students - one was attending a car show, one was taken off the team by a parent due to grades and three were competing at the KART horse show at Worthmore Equestrian Center near Still Pond ? "I had to bring other students that weren't on the team roster to make a team," Christa Collison wrote in an email June 5.

A registered nurse and health occupations instructor at the high school, Colliosn has been the Trojans' coach since she helped to start the program in 2011,

Roster changes are not permitted in the state tournament.

A fluid roster is allowed in regular-season contests, Collison said, "but Special Olympics wants the team that was submitted because of scores throughout the season."

While the Trojans were unable to score points for the team standings, they were recognized for participating.

About 300 Special Olympics athletes and unified partners advanced from district tournaments to the state championship.

Kent County moved on after placing first in its division of a district tournament May 1 at North Caroline High School; Colonel Richardson, Easton and Kent Island also were there.

During the season, Kent County competed in matches at North Caroline and Queen Anne's.

Collison said Caroline and Queen Anne's have an advantage because they have "real bocce courts with the smooth surface and no poles defining the court."

"They will always have an advantage over us because we have to set up the court, hope they cut the grass and the ground is extremely lumpy," she wrote in an email May 22. "We don't have any other options at this point."

She said an Eagle Scout offered to build a court for his capstone project, "but no one ever followed through with an acceptable place to put it."

As it is played now, bocce is part bowling and part croquet. The idea is to roll or throw your ball closest to the jack, called a boccino or pal-lino in some areas, and/or knock your opponent's ball away.

In Maryland, bocce is a unified sport; some of the athletes on a team have intellectual disabilities or other types of disabilities. Special Olympics of Maryland provides most of the funding for Kent County.

Practice started in March, but like most spring athletes this year at KCHS, bocce players were at the mercy of Mother Nature. It seemed to be wet and windy and cold on many of the practice dates; bocce practiced only twice a week, 90 minutes each day.

"We didn't get a lot of practice outside due to the weather," Collison said. "When we practiced inside, we had to practice down my hallway. It wasn't ideal, but we still practiced," she said.

Kent's team consisted of athletes Briasia Anderson, Tyler Gregg, Francesca "Frannie" Milan, Nymaine Moore, Cory Penn, Tom Rickloff, Ann Torres and Aaliyah Warner and partners Dominque Davis, Ethan Mackenzie and Morgan Morris.

Tina Johnson, who is a special education teacher at the high school, signed up again as Collison's assistant coach. She accompanied some of her students to the KART horse show on May 18 and was not able to attend the bocce state championship at Washington College.