To start the game
The balls are placed in the Dead Zone (the area in the middle between the teams) at the start of a game. We will normally use 3 for a game, but in lessons you can use as many as you wish.
Please bring a squad of 10 children. 6 children will start each game.
All players will be on their side of the court touching the back line or wall. The game begins with a whistle or signal from the umpire in the middle.
Players can then run towards the middle to gain possession of the balls. They must be taken to or passed to the back of the court before the first throws across are made.
How to play
Players are divided into two teams and can only go on ‘their’ side of the court. They throw the balls across to the other side attempting to hit players from the other team to get them out. Whilst in your area you can move around, move with the ball, pass it to others on your team, drop it, bounce it… anything you like really apart from kicking it.
You win a game by putting out all the opposing team, or by having more players left on court at the end of the game if it is timed.
You are out when…
A ball thrown by the other team hits you directly. It can’t bounce off anything first – the wall, the floor, another player etc or roll.
For our festival, the ball can hit you anywhere on your body apart from your head and you’re out (If it hits you in the head you’re not out!)
Deliberate shots at someone’s head are not allowed. A player will initially be warned; if the same player aims at the head again they are OUT.
You can use a ball in your possession to ‘block’ a ball thrown at you, but you are OUT if your ball is knocked from your hands when you try to block the incoming ball.
A player in the other team catches your throw cleanly. Players are allowed to fumble the ball while catching but they must retain possession at the end of the catching action and the ball cannot have touched any other player or any other ball, object or surface in between.
The ball must be caught on the full (eg before it bounces / touches a wall / touches another player)
The catcher needs to be on the court when they catch the ball.
You step into the Dead Zone (the bit in the middle separating the two teams) or into the other teams area.
You go outside the court in order to dodge or hide from the ball. Going off the court to get a ball is ok - you need to be back on court before you throw it again though.
When you are out…
You need to leave the court immediately and sit on the bench at the side of your court. The first person out sits closest to the umpire, and the others sit in a line in the order they were out in.
Finally…
A clean catch not only means the player from the opposite team who threw it to you is out, but you also get to bring one player from your team who is out, back onto court. This happens in rotation – FOFI (first out – first in) so sitting in the way explained earlier, helps the umpire and players to know who is in next.