The Pieve a Nievole bowling club is a sports association that has been in the area for over 50 years.
It was founded in the late 1950s by a group of local bowling enthusiasts (the brothers Piero and Rizieri Stefanelli, to whom the current Bocciodromo Comunale is also dedicated, Ilio Botrini, Mazzino Iacopini, Lino Ciampi, Giancarlo Donnini, Ivo Paci, Dario Mori and Lauro Borracchini) and hosted at the Casa del Popolo in via Bonamici.
The playing lanes were created from a space between the railway tracks and the Recreational Club. The construction was carried out thanks to the voluntary work of these inhabitants of Pieve a Nievole in a short time. Thus began the participation in the first competitions with the other bowling clubs and the first coordinator was the accountant Lauro Borracchini who with his organizational skills managed to masterfully pilot the newborn Pieve bowling club.
In the 1980s, Bocciofila was strengthened by the arrival in the society of a large number of enthusiasts from Via Nova, who had practiced this sport at the level of village game. The transition from the almost total absence of game rules to those foreseen for the Italian specialty (today identified with the name RAFFA) was difficult, but the majority integrated with the first members and a beautiful and large group of friends was formed.
From this period began years of significant successes with some teams that asserted themselves at regional and national level: the couples Barbini Renzo – Bonaccorsi Piero, Rizieri Stefanelli – Giancarlo Donnini, Fabrizio Galli – Roberto Brancolini, Aldo Aghetti – Paride Conforti. Many other important athletes were there, some unfortunately passed away, such as Roberto Brancolini (known as Mandrake for the skill he was able to put into the approach) and Lauro Borracchini.
At the end of the 80s, the current World Champion and winner of the last 2014 Mediterranean Games, Pasquale D'Alterio, a complete player and very strong bowler (among the best in Italy and in the world), was registered with the bowling club.
Given the participation, interest and results obtained, the Bocciofila insisted with the Municipality to obtain a new facility more suited to the new needs and new rules foreseen for the sport. Thus in 1999 the new bowling alley was completed, located in the sports area of the Municipality in the Palagina area, via Leonardo da Vinci, with four synthetic turf lanes, various services, a bar, a TV room and everything else to be able to spend hours of leisure for bowling players, enthusiasts and members as a meeting point.
In the new millennium the company has made a leap in quality, thanks also to the new structure and the foresight of the Administration and the Educational Management of Pieve who have made available to have local schoolchildren practice introductory courses in this sport. Sport that teaches the values of aggregation, coexistence and healthy competition.
To this day, Bocciofila and all its members care a lot about the social aspect, in addition to the competitive one. Courses are held for the disabled, events are held whose profits are donated to help situations of hardship (for example, donations have been made to the municipality of Camposanto di Modena, to the Associazione Tutti Insieme di Pieve a Nievole, to the Mayer hospital, to the schools of Sassari, to the Annalise Galligani Foundation) and some initiatives with foreign subjects, to improve integration, and other forms of solidarity.
