Pärk (or Paerk)
Pärk is an outdoor team sport that originated in the Baltic region and has been played for several centuries. The sport has similarities to baseball.
The sport is played between two team with seven players on each side. The playing field is rectangular in shape, that is 30m wide and an open ended length. There is a rectangular box of size 210 X 70 cm assembled using wooden sticks that serve as the service box. The ball is made of a tight ball of yarn that has been dressed in sheepskin.
A play starts with a serve. One team serves about 10m away from the service box, while players from the other team wait around the service box to hit the ball. All serves have to be hit underarm after tossing the ball. The serve has to fall within the service box for it to be valid.
One player from the receiving team, who stands right behind the service box, strikes the ball as hard as possible after a maximum of one bounce. The ball can be struck with the palm underarm or can be kicked.
The play continues with a back and forth strike from both the teams. Each team can strike the ball only once. The objective of the back and forth returns is a fight to gain field position. The team with the better field position wins that play.
Similar Sports
- Baseball — a bat and ball game in which the aim is to hit the ball and score runs by running around four bases.
- Pesäpallo — a Finnish variation of baseball, the major difference is that the ball is pitched vertically.
- Brännboll — a Scandinavian game that has similarities to rounders, but with no pitcher.
- Lapta — a Russian traditional bat and ball game.
- Oină — a Romanian traditional sport, similar in many ways to Baseball and Lapta played outdoors by two teams of 11 players, taking turns either batting or catching.
Related Pages
- Sport in Sweden
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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