BALTIMORE -- At Western High School, few students had heard of bocce when coach Mary Hain was putting together a team of players, with and without disabilities, in anticipation of Maryland's first Unified Indoor Bocce State High School Invitational.
Senior Thea Chase said she came out for the team thinking that "it was hibachi, some kind of eating contest." In fact, bocce is a sport that resembles bowling.
Ultimately, three freshmen and several seniors, including Chase, joined the team and trained for the interscholastic competition, which pairs students with intellectual and other disabilities with their high school peers.