Straightball
Straightball is a new fast-paced sport created by Steven Rashkin, from Bellmawr, NJ USA in 2017. This is an indoor sport, played in a facility very similar to a basketball court. The uniqueness of this game is not knowing which goal a player is attempting to shoot at or if the player is tossing the ball to another player. There is the potential to be a lot of unpredictability in the game.
This is a team sport consisting of 6 players on a team. The ball in play is about the weight and dimensions of a volleyball (8"). All the players would be maneuvering the ball with the use of 4' long scoop sticks, similar to the ones used in lacrosse. The scoop would be large enough to house the ball and the stiff netting would allow for the ball to be thrown or catapulted out of the scoop. There is not body contact in this game or body parts to throw the ball. All ball gameplay will require the use of the stick (and contained scoop). This is a point based game.
Equipment
- In an effort to keep this game as injury free as possible, there should be knee pads, elbow pads and helmets.
- A ball equivalent to a volley ball to be able travel a far distance.
- The scoop stick should be about a total in 4 feet in length and with the right chemistry of a scoop to allow for this type of gameplay. The stick should be comfortable to hold.
- The goal for this game does not exist in the real world yet and would require rigging. The goal on each side of the court contains of two locations (goals to choose from). The lower goal is a suspended hockey style goal, which is 4' tall, 7' wide and about 4' deep. so as not to confuse, the entire goal structure is suspended from the gym ceiling. The bottom of the goal floats about 2 feet off the ground. above the bottom goal will rest a giant backboard which would be about 7 feet by 7 feet. It would rest vertical flush with the mouth of the lower goal. In the center of the backboard, about 3 feet from the top would be where a basketball style hoop rim would be anchored. The net would droop below the hoop. The rim would be a lot larger than a basketball hoop. It would have diameter of 30 inches ( a little shy of twice the diameter of a basketball rim).
Sport Description
This sport is an indoor sport played on a wooden floor in a room with at least a 20 high ceiling. The playable area of the court is 100 feet by 51 feet. The goal structures would lay flush with boarder of the playable area. The elevated hoop net will extend into the playable area of the court whereas the lower goal, would lay flush with the court border. The goal structure would be centered on the 51' side of the rectangle. Again it is suspended 2 feet off the ground. The bottom part of the goal is an open hockey style goal with a 4' by 7' perimeter and the 7 x 7 backboard would rest above it.
The court would have 5 crease lines. There would be the center crease line at the 50 foot mark. Moving away from the 50 foot midline would be a crease line at the 46' mark. Hence there would be buffer of 8 feet between the two teams at beginning of play. There is one more crease line at the 23' mark. There would also be 2 lengthwise crease lines which would be 17 feet apart (however those lines would not be drawn out in the buffer area). There is a 4 foot by 4 foot square that the players will stand in at the onset of the game. This is very similar to the initial start up of volleyball.
The decision for the initial serving team is done through a quarter toss. The team who won the toss will have their server stand in the rear left square in the center. The ball will be sitting in the scoop/basket. The server must then toss the ball at least beyond the 23' line to put the ball in play. The idea is to toss the ball to the front line players who will then attempt to score a goal. From that point onwards all players can travel to any point in the playing area. Remember the ball can only be handled in the scoop, the ball cannot be kicked or thrown by hand.
Any score made into the lower goal is 1 point regardless of where the shot was made. Now regarding the elevated basket. If a shot was made from the quarter that the basket resides it is worth 3 points. Now if the shot is made from between the midcrease line and the 23 foot line into the basket it is 5 points. Now going even farther back from between the midline and the 23'mark on the home side is 7 points. And finally between your home goal and the 23' line would be 10 points. Now since this is a new creation, the point count could be modified at a later time.
If the ball is dropped on the floor it is still in play and can be scooped up by the scoop stick.
There is no goalie in this game. You can block someones shot with your stick only. It the ball is flying over everybody's reach, then - oh well :)
Now if the ball is tossed to the area under the goal (a 2' by 7' area), or to the side of the goal beyond the end lines or way over the backboard it is out of bounds and the ball is relinquished to the other team. The servers just like volleyball will rotate.
The game is set for 4 twenty minute periods. Again this could be modified at a later date
There should not be any intentional body contact through out the game. If body contact happens by accidentally that is fine, but if intentionally, there would be a penalty
There are 5 (2 minute) timeouts available for each team to go over strategy as the game develops
Now just to rehash, when the serving team makes the first goal attempt, the ball will obviously be on the other teams side -whether a goal is made or not and will be in play. Hence the serving team can rush into the other teams territory to try to recapture the ball.
Now a scored basket will allow the ball to drop onto a live playing area and hence the game continues. When the ball is has been scored through the lower hockey style goal, the referee will remove the ball, and toss it to the middle of the court as much as possible. The clock will not stop for that sequence. However if the referee takes longer than 15 seconds to get that accomplished then the clock will stop and 15 seconds will be added to the clock.
Note
Related Pages
- Other New Sports
- Complete list of unusual sports
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