Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 83

RUSSIAN HOLE BALL

_3 to 10 players._

_Out of doors; seash.o.r.e; snow._

_Ball; bean bag; stone._

This game is played with one small ball, in size anywhere from that of a golf to a tennis ball. If played in the snow, a hard frozen s...o...b..ll may be used, or a stone will do.

A series of holes is made in the ground, sand, or snow, large enough to contain the ball. These holes are placed in a straight line, one beyond the other, about three feet apart, there being as many holes as there are players. All holes are numbered, corresponding to the numbers of the players, from one to ten, or whatever the maximum may be. About ten feet from the first hole, and at right angles to the row, a straight line is drawn on the ground, behind which the players stand to throw. The first player stands directly in line with the row of holes and throws for one of them. This is a toss of the ball. The ball scores for the player according to the number of the hole in which it falls, and this number also designates the next player. For instance, if the ball falls in the third hole, it scores three for the first player, who at once gives place to Number Three, who in turn has one throw. Should this ball fall in hole number five, it scores five for this player, and the fifth player will have the next turn. The game may be played according to score, the one first scoring twenty-five or fifty winning; or it may be played according to time, the one having the highest score at the end of fifteen or twenty minutes being the winner.

[Ill.u.s.tration diagram: RUSSIAN HOLE BALL]

This is one of the few games that may be adapted to the snow or to the damp sand of the seash.o.r.e, though it may be played anywhere out of doors where holes can be dug.

This game comes from the Russian province of Bessarabia, which formerly belonged to Turkey.

SCHOOLROOM DODGEBALL

(See _Dodgeball_.)

SCHOOLROOM VOLLEY BALL

_10 to 60 players._

_Gas ball._

The players are divided into two teams, and the players in each team number consecutively. A net or string is placed across the schoolroom, dividing it into two equal parts. The top should be six feet from the floor. The game consists in batting the ball with the hand back and forth over the string, a point being scored by either team whenever its opponents allow the ball to touch the floor. The ball may be batted (not thrown) in any way, but by only one hand at a time.

The players stand in the aisles, each having a required place in which to stand.

The game starts by No. 1 on either side serving the ball, that is, tossing it up with the left hand, and batting it with the right, trying to get the ball over the net or string to the opposing side.

Two fouls in succession (failing to bat the ball over the net) changes the serve to the other side; otherwise, the server continues until the ball is returned by the opposite side and not returned by the server's side. When this happens, the serve changes to No. 1 of team 2, then to No. 2 of team 1, then to No. 2 of 2, etc.

[Ill.u.s.tration diagram: SCHOOLROOM VOLLEY BALL]

The game continues until all players have served; or the game may be played with time limits; that is, the team wins which has the highest score at the end of a ten-or fifteen-minute period.

Every time that the ball touches the floor (not a desk) it scores against that side on which it falls, counting one point for the opposing team, irrespective of which team served the ball.

This schoolroom adaptation of Volley Ball was made by Miss Mabel L. Pray of Toledo, Ohio, and received honorable mention in a compet.i.tion for schoolroom games conducted by the Girls'

Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of New York City in 1906. The game is here published by kind permission of the author, and of the Girls' Branch, and of Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Brothers, publishers of the handbook in which the game first appeared.

SPUD

_10 to 100 players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

_Any soft ball or bean bag._

This is a combination of Call Ball and Ball Tag, with scoring and penalties added. It is very popular with boys of almost any age.

The players stand in a group, with one in the center holding the ball.

The center player drops the ball, at the same time calling the name of one of the other players. All but the one called immediately scatter, as they are liable to be tagged with the ball. The player called secures the ball as quickly as possible, and tries to hit one of the other players with it. He may not run to do this, but must stand where he secured the ball. If he misses, he secures the ball, stands where he gets it, and tries again, the other players fleeing from him as before. If he hits a player, that one immediately secures the ball, tries to hit some one else with it, the second one hit tries to hit a third, and so on.

Whenever a player misses. .h.i.tting another with the ball, it is called a "spud," and counts one against him. When any player has three spuds against him, he must stand twenty feet from the other players, with his back to them, and they each have one shot at him with the ball.

The victim then starts the play again from the center of the ground.

SQUARE BALL

_8 to 32 players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

_Basket ball._

GROUND.--The ground is marked out in one large square with a base at each corner, and, should there be enough players, with bases at intervening points along the line of the square.

PLAYERS.--The players are divided into two equal parties, one of which takes places on the bases at the corners or other points outlining the square; the other party a.s.sembles in the center of the square and is on the defensive.

OBJECT.--The ball is thrown from one to another of the party on the bases, always, however, following the lines of the square and not its diagonals. The chief object of the game, however, is for this outer party to interrupt this circuit of the ball by suddenly throwing it so as to hit one of the center players. The object of any center player who is. .h.i.t is, in his turn, to hit with the ball any member of the outer party, who all turn and flee as soon as a center man is. .h.i.t.

POINTS OF PLAY.--The ball is started at any point among the outer party or bas.e.m.e.n. This party will use considerable finesse in throwing, such as apparent attempts to throw the ball around the square, thus misleading the center players as to their intention and taking them unaware when aiming for the center. The more rapidly the ball is kept in motion the better. The center party, in their turn, will find it advisable to scatter considerably, which will diminish the chances of being hit. They will also avoid proximity to any player in the outer party who happens to have the ball. The center party will thus have to be very alert and keep moving considerably, even when the ball is not directed at them. The ball may be avoided by dodging, jumping, stooping, or any other maneuver except by leaving the square.

[Ill.u.s.tration diagram: SQUARE BALL]

Whenever a center player is. .h.i.t by the ball, the outer party are in danger of being hit in turn, and must all run immediately in any direction to avoid this. A center player who is. .h.i.t picks up the ball as quickly as he can and calls "Halt!" When this call is heard the fleeing runners must stand still, and the center player, who now holds the ball, tries to hit one of them with it.

SCORE.--The scoring of the game is done entirely according to whether the center player hits or misses his opponent in this throw of the ball after he has called a halt. Every player thus. .h.i.t scores one for the center party. Every throw made and missed under these circ.u.mstances scores one for the opponents or outside party. The party wins which first scores twenty-five.

This game is also played without score, any member of the outer party hit by a center man being obliged to join the center party. In this form the game ends when all of the outer players have been so recruited.