This winter season, WJ’s most successful team in terms of record is not one of the basketball teams or the wrestling team but rather the newest team at the school, bocce ball.

Coached by physical education teacher Butch Worden, the bocce ball team offers a unique component in that athletes who have not  gotten a shot at high school sports are finally given the opportunity to prove their athletic abilities and fulfill their competitive urges. Montgomery County bocce ball rules require that at least 50 percent of the roster should be players with intellectual and other types of disabilities.

“In the past, these players have been kind of ostracized and now they actually have something where they can feel they’re part of the school community when it comes to athletics,” said Worden.

Last year, the county began requiring each school to have a bocce ball team, and WJ created one but lacked the organized makeup of a legitimate varsity sport. Worden noticed the team didn’t have a coach and so he decided to volunteer.

“There wasn’t a coach last year, which is why I said, ‘That’s a travesty and I’ll do it,’” said Worden. “It’s very rewarding because you get a lot of kids who haven’t played other sports and for them this is like the greatest thing.”

There are still four schools (Damascus, Einstein, Poolesville and Wootton) who haven’t been able to put together a team and therefore don’t offer bocce ball, but every other school in the county does.

Senior Cody Chatham and freshman Peter Caggiano both assist Worden with the team. After being around the players, Chatham has noticed their happiness.

“They enjoy it. It gives them the same competitive edge as players in other sports. At first I didn’t think it would be that competitive, but they really get into it,” said Chatham. “Also, it’s definitely been important [to their social lives]. They always say hi to me in the hallway and I say hi back.”

Senior Sean Ratnasinghe has especially relished his time playing on the Bocce ball team.

“I look forward to [bocce ball] every single day,” said Ratnasinghe.

Ratnasinghe first found out about Bocce ball when his English teacher passed out forms and he decided to join despite not knowing all the rules. He now attends all the practices he can and feels he has improved throughout the season. His favorite part of being on the team is that he finds it to be very sociable.

Similar to Ratnasinghe, freshman Kevin Christensen feels a strong bond with his teammates.

“Everyone on the team is really nice,” said Christensen.”I think everyone on the team is basically friends. It’s cool.”

Christensen likes that he can compete despite not being extremely athletic. The team is something that will stick out in his mind when reflecting back on high school in the far future.

“[My favorite thing about being on the team is that] it’s a fun game and you don’t have to be real athletic,” said Christensen. “I think I’ll always remember it, just like people who play football will always remember playing football.”

Junior Lora Jones has enjoyed playing this season so much so that she’s trying to put together a team with her dad at their church.

In preparation for games, the team holds practices during every lunch, in addition to Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. The players have benefited from their dedication, dominating throughout the regular season. They cruised through the first six games but had the undefeated record snatched away at the hands of a controversial ruling in a game against Northwood.

With 58 seconds left and WJ within reaching distance of a one point deficit, the referee stopped the game for no apparent reason. Despite strong protest from the WJ team, Northwood was awarded the win.

“I didn’t like what [the refs] did to us,” said Christensen. “They changed the rules up on us.”

Worden was particularly unhappy with the outcome and sent out multiple complaints. All he got in response were apology emails, including one from the head of Montgomery County athletics William Beattie.

“I’m still bothered by what I felt was an unfair decision by the officials,” said Worden. “We work so hard, we accomplish so much and they’re just going to take it away from us unfairly. So that’s kind of unsettling.”

Worden describes himself as always having been a competitive guy, but at the same time he’s made sure to maximize participation. Unlike some other teams, Worden cycles through every player so that everyone gets a chance in the game.

“I took the approach that everyone is going to participate so it made it fun for everybody and it’s just worked out for us,” said Worden.

With state championships coming up, the bocce ball team looks to finish up strong. Ratnasinghe, Christensen and Jones, alongside seniors Stephen Eure, Nicole Mercer and Brooks Sabotano, juniors Bijan Fardoust and Ashley Murphy, sophomores Rebecca Gillman, Madeleine Goldberg, Yurielis Rodriquez and Talia Skolnik, and freshmen Michael Greenan, Jose Pablo Casasola, Wuseok Choi and Mirsab Shams, will try to get the first of possibly many banners in years to come.