ON THE BOCCE COURT (JOG, ZJOG, ĐOG…)
As is the case with the bocce ball, there were several names for the place where bocce was played. The terms jog, đog, zog, zjog, žnog are all variants of the same word derived from the Venetian iogo, which is related to Italian gioco, both meaning ‘game’.[1]
The size of the traditional jog was not determined in advance, i.e., as older records suggest, the rule was that there were no rules. This is clear from the following, somewhat lengthy, quote: “The ground on which bocce was played was a meadow, and the playing field (the track) itself had no boundaries, so that the game could be played on the track that was as long as the meadow. Also, when played on a road, the track was as long as the road, and the players would sometimes arrive to the next town and then return to their own town, playing the game all the way. Workers and day labourers from Grobnik would go to Rijeka to work, playing bocce during the entire journey. When taverns opened in a town, especially along a main road, enclosed courts – jogi – started to be built. In the beginning, the court used to be enclosed by boards[2]; later, courts with concrete walls were constructed. The dimensions of a court were determined in every specific situation depending on the terrain. (…) Along the edge of the court, benches or low stone walls were placed, from where many spectators could watch the game and enjoy the tricks of individual players. At the far end of the court, a wooden board was placed so that the ball would not hit the wall when it was tossed, and thus sustain damage. Fine sand covered the track.”[3] The author of the preceding lines, Josip Čargonja, states that, for instance, in the village of Milaši in the Grobnik area there was a jog made of concrete blocks.[4] Many bocce courts in Gorski Kotar, however, are enclosed by railway rails, which demonstrates the locals’ ingenuity and tendency to improvise. The ground was flattened, levelled out, with a roller, and our informants say that sand for some bocce courts, for instance the one in Praputnjak, is still obtained in Gorski Kotar, as it used to be in the past. Often, local bocce courts were built through voluntary work. Therefore, all the sadder is the fact that today there is an increasing number of abandoned, “dead” bocce courts, which have become a poignant reminder of the way life once was.
It has been emphasised many times that both the young and the old played bocce; however, older generations took precedence, the young would wait for their turn. Most towns and villages had more than one bocce court, but, almost as a rule, they were at the hub of local activity. Information on Crikvenica, for instance, say that, in 1930, two bocce lanes were built near the main market, where the Hotel International is located today, and that the same dirt tracks were used for bowling.
As in other aspects, a sports bocce court has clear rules: it is a dirt field with a surface of fine sand, 27.5 m in length and 2.5 to 4 m wide. Lateral and transverse lines mark the boundaries of the playing field. Behind the short-end boundary line a fence is usually placed to stop the balls. Other transverse lines are also marked on the court, which have certain meaning depending on the rules of the game played.[5]
[2] The term mantinela was recorded in Dražice.
[3] Čargonja, pp 456–457.
[4] Čargonja, p 461.
[5] Horvat, p 177.