Knoxville's bocce club finds new home at Sevier Avenue bar after Hops and Hollers closes

Ali James
·4 min read

The first rule of bocce is not to call it "Bocce Ball," according to local player Jeff Siglow. “It’s like calling it ‘ball ball’, it just doesn’t make sense,” he said, while testing out the recently constructed bocce courts at South Knox Bocce Club’s new home.

Southside Garage owners James Tourville and David Yousif were first approached about installing bocce courts at their Sevier Avenue business last December.

“The bocce club used to play at Hops and Hollers and since that closed, they were looking for a new spot,” said Tourville. “They had done some research and thought of the areas where it might work.

"I had to do some research of my own and learn more about bocce myself. We looked at the space and thought it would be a good fit.”

Thankfully the space was pretty level and only one small tree had to be removed to make room for two 10x60-foot courts behind Southside Garage. “We built a perimeter with rail ties, laid gravel and then topped it with 24x50-pound bags of crushed oyster shell; that’s slightly under six tons,” said Tourville, who admits to learning a lot in the process. “There was fundraising on the bocce club’s side of it, but it was almost a joint 50/50 venture in terms of investment.”

Jeff Siglow demonstrates a Volo shot, an aerial shot where the player attempts to hit other bocce balls or the pallino before it touches the ground, at Southside Garage.
Jeff Siglow demonstrates a Volo shot, an aerial shot where the player attempts to hit other bocce balls or the pallino before it touches the ground, at Southside Garage.

Siglow used to play in the original league at Hops and Hollers. “The courts were installed about six years ago and were much smaller, but it was still a lot of fun and hooked a lot of people,” said Siglow, who jokingly refers to himself as a bocce aficionado. “In comparison these are real courts, we have more space and we get to play on a bona fide surface that real bocce is played on.”

Siglow and Tourville said that the South Knoxville location of the bocce courts brings higher visibility to the game, and will hopefully attract more players. Both warn it can be both addictive and highly competitive.

Historians have managed to trace the game of bocce back to 5200 B.C. with an Egyptian tomb painting that appears to show two boys playing bocce. The game has spread throughout the Middle East and Asia, was adopted by the Greeks and passed to the Romans.

Traditionally played with two teams, the game begins with a coin toss. The winner tosses the "pallino," which is also known as a jack. Each player has two balls and the objective is to knock the opponents’ balls away from the pallino and end up with the ball closest to the jack.

The spring league starts March 9 at Southside Garage and depending on weather will run through to the middle of May. The Tuesday night league is already full, but the South Knox Bocce Club is still looking for players/teams for the Thursday night recreational league.

Southside Garage co-owners James Tourville (pictured here) and David Yousif were approached about installing two bocce courts late last year and they are now ready for the spring league season this March.
Southside Garage co-owners James Tourville (pictured here) and David Yousif were approached about installing two bocce courts late last year and they are now ready for the spring league season this March.

“Thursdays will be more recreational and fun, but still can get pretty competitive,” said Tourville. “Sierra Nevada is our sponsor and there is a grand prize that includes a tour of their brewery outside of Asheville.” Teams can be made up of two, four or six players; it is flexible, but team size will determine whether players get more shots or have to sub in or out.

“There will be spring, summer and fall leagues,” said Tourville. Outside of the league times on Tuesdays and Thursdays, use of the court is on a first-come, first-served basis. Southside Garage has a set of balls behind the bar that can be checked out for free, while they hold onto the player’s ID.

“We are just getting it going and excited about people learning how to play. Jeff was here for about six hours teaching people how to play last weekend,” said Tourville.

Scan the QR codes on the bocce court signs to see the rules, tips for playing and to sign up for a league. Score boards have been installed and an existing outdoor bar top was already conveniently located to watch the games. Tourville said they are planning to add more outdoor lighting, more tabletop space and even some awnings and heaters to encourage longer game play.

“2023 is becoming a super important year for us,” said Tourville, who opened Southside Garage with his business partner in the summer of 2019. “We have been able to reinvest and do projects, we are now finally feeling like we have settled in and getting closer to the final product and experience we envisioned.”

The Southside Garage will continue to sell to-go beer, merchandise, ice cream, snack items when new resident food truck Dia De Foods isn’t operating and plants by Painted Lady Plant Co.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Southside Garage in Knoxville adds bocce courts for friendly recreation