The All New Games

As kids when we played on the neighborhood roads, there was a unique game that we had devised. It was called cycle chor-police. In this desi-game we divided ourselves into two teams where one team was the ‘chor’ and the other team was the ‘police’. What was different in this usual childhood game was that instead of running and chasing on foot, everything was done by riding our bicycles. The complete neighborhood turned into our playground as the ‘chor’ team circled the maze of lanes and the police team rode on their respective bicycles to nab them. What good it did was, we played and also rode our bikes simultaneously combining both the funs.

Childhood is indeed the best time to discover sports activities, innovate, invent and enjoy. Even today, kids who do play outside (and not sit glued to the Xbox, video games or cartoons) are trying new ways to play. It is not just racing, cricket, football anymore but different kind of games that have all the drama and action only in a different avatar.

Here are few new games that you too can try in your neighborhood. And these can be played by kids of any age 6-16 or 60.

Ultimate Frisbee

It is a simple twist to the same old Frisbee and the same old football. What you need is a Frisbee, a garden, park or a beach and a bunch of enthusiastic friends. The game has 14 players divided into a team of 7 usually, but you can do with 4, 6, 8 or 10 players as well. There are two goal posts and just like football, the aim is to throw the Frisbee into the opponent’s goal. Whichever team makes the higher disc goal wins.

World over Ultimate Frisbee is played very seriously with annual tournaments too. In India too there are several in the age group of 22-30 who are taking the sports seriously and can be seen practicing their spectacular arcing throws and Jonty Rhodes style leaps to pinch the disc from the sky.

It can be a better alternative to football as the sport is non-contact form of the game. It can also be played with a mixed crowd of girls and boys just like beach volleyball.

If you do think this is interesting, all you need to begin is a Frisbee.

Snow Rugby

That Indians can enjoy this game was not known till the first snow Rugby tournament was held in Gulmarg in March 2009. And from then on, Kashmir State Tourism officials have seriously begun thinking of popularizing the game. It is a game that has tremendous potential because like skiing it can be another thing to do when you visit the cold state of India like Kashmir.

The game is played in snow and therefore you need to be fully covered from head to toe to grab and dash and jump and chase the rugby. It is because of this reason too that many Kashmiri parents are allowing their girls too to take part in the game enthusiastically without worrying about the short lengths or bleeding knees.

While it seems like the game can be played in cold states alone, Snow Rugby is getting its fans in other states too like Delhi and Maharashtra. There are professional classes and coaching available for this sport and if you would like to enroll…do it now.

Floorball

This game was invented in the 1970s in Europe and is fast getting known as the T20 of hockey. In India many are getting fascinated by this sport because it can be played indoors and it is not as rough and messy like hockey.

In floorball, the objective is to get a plastic whiffle ball  into a net with the aid of the stick past. There are 6 players in both teams with one of each being the goal keeper. The game is fast, furious and can be played in any indoor hall like a community centre or a gym.

If you want to know more, here is the official Indian site. http://www.floorballindia.org/index.htm

Korfball

What is interesting about this game is that it is compulsory played by mixed teams consisting of men and women. Actually the game was invented by a school teacher in Amsterdam who thought of a game that could involve both boys and girls of his class. He thought of basketball and football and finally mixed the goodness of the two to give korfball.

The game is played in a rectangular area which is divided into two squares. Each team gets one square to guard. The team consists of four players two girls and two boys. The goal is a basket, like basketball but it does not have a back board. The ball is like football but it is usually a heavier version. Players pass the ball to reach the basket and score. What is an interesting element of the game is that a girl can only defend or attack a girl of the opposite team and the same case with boys. So though the team is mixed, the attack is not.

In India Korfball has been around for almost 30 years though not many know about it. In neighborhoods and schools it is an easy game to introduce and can surely become a good competitive sport activity that both genders can equally enjoy.

So these are some of the interesting inventions of the sports world. Choose any or all of them and make games a part of your life.