Loyal Bocce Enthusiasts and all concerned:

This message comes with much regret and concern for those who have spent countless hours securing and organizing the2012 World Bocce Championship in the hopes of making the event a true success in the eyes of the International community, the State of California, the Tri Valley, and the City of Livermore.

The desire to host the World Games started years ago primarily with the hard work and insistence of Ben Musolf. His efforts came to fruition late last summer with the awarding of the 2012 World Bocce Championship to Campo di Bocce of Livermore. Of course we were elated that we were finally selected; then the organizing process began. Immediately, Ben grabbed the challenge and effectively put together the best group of individuals and volunteers. The core volunteers being second to none embraced the challenge to carry out the huge task of bringing people and communities together, under one roof to organize, schedule, and solicit sponsorships to facilitate what we envisioned would be the ultimate World Bocce Championship to be held in May 2012 at Campo di Bocce of Livermore.

As the excitement of the planning process grew, the cost that is the sole responsibility of Campo di Bocce of Livermore grew as well. As the host of the tournament, Campo di Bocce of Livermore is solely responsible for the housing, feeding, and transportation of all players, coaches, Head of Delegation, and head officials of the respective 30 countries that would be attending. In addition to these costs there are a myriad of other expenses such as providing medical assistance if needed, security, international live feed on the internet, tenting, apparel, etc. that would further add to the expense. The total estimated budget rose to approximately $350,000-$400,000 USD.

During the last 5-6 months Ben and his team has been actively attending various Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Business Bureau, and City Council meetings as well as approaching targeted large potential sponsors to help underwrite this colossal expense. It was at this junction that we started to see tremendous enthusiasm but very few commitments that would help defray our cost.

I believe that due to current economic conditions, corporate advertising budgets for large sponsors are not what they used to be, and we will not see an improvement for some time. In the event that we proceeded with our plans to host the tournament and then not raise sufficient funds, the shortfall of funds would have to be paid by Campo di Bocce of Livermore. This would be disastrous to our business as we could not absorb a loss of any kind. Because of the magnitude of the expense and the lack of funds due to economic conditions, I regretfully withdraw our commitment to host the 2012 World Bocce Championship.

I would hope that all of the new relationships, contacts, and enthusiasm that have been generated over the past few months can be rechanneled into some local community venues so as to not lose the “sport of Bocce” momentum. I especially want to acknowledge Ben for his tireless efforts to make the 2012 World Bocce Championship come to fruition and would hope that he and his team’s efforts don’t go unnoticed; and that the great strides made in exposing the potential of this great sport can be utilized in the future.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Tom Albanese- Campo di Bocce