Bowling

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The History of Bowling
Bowling’s Ancient History
Bowling is one of the oldest and most widely played of the world’s games. Its history has been traced back to the Stone Age, to the Egyptians, Romans, and right up to today’s modern bowling centers. An ancient version of a ball and pins has been found in an Egyptian child’s grave dating back approximately to 5200 B.C. It is also known that ancient Polynesians played a game called “Ula Maika” with stone disks and balls. These balls were rolled at targets 60 feet away, the same distance of our present lanes.
Modern Day Bowling
Bowling came to England in the 14th century and was known as skittles. Henry VIII of England had bowling alleys in his palaces but forbid his people from playing it for fear it would distract them from their archery practice. Bowling evolved into many different forms. The three main categories are: thrown bowls played in the Latin European tradition; rolled bowls from the British and skittle/pin adopted by the North Americans.
Bowling in Italy
The Italian version is called “Bocce” which is said to date back to classical Rome and where Emperor Augustus was an avid player. The original game was played on a rough outdoor space. A small target ball, the pallino, is tossed within 5 feet beyond the peg; each player must toss his bowl as close as possible to the target. The bowls were originally stone but are now mostly synthetic.
The Unione Bocciofila Italiana (UBI) was founded in 1919 in Turin and reorganized in 1956. They claim to have 4,000 clubs with over 165,000 members. The UBI membership is divided into three groups; La Sezione Rafa whose members play with synthetic bowls; La Sezione Valo who use only metal bowls and La Sezione Petanca, which follows variations of the French model bowls. Bocce is male-dominated and a sport largely local and for recreational purposes.
Bowling in France
In France, the game is called “Petanque” o...