Profile of Dan Ball on Famous Like Me

Danball is an invented sport played in the street by two teams of opposing players. The object of the game is to have fun. Players attempt to advance a ball, hitting it with implements called Dansticks, across one of two goal lines to score points. Danball quickly spread around the world after the World Wide Web became widely used in the mid-1990s.

History

Danball was invented January 31, 1992, in the United States, just outside Anniston, Alabama, by a group of teenagers who attended Saks High School. The sport began as a chaotic exercise vaguely resembling road hockey. It was named in honor of Dan, a delivery driver for the Custom Pizza company, who'd brought pizza to the players a few hours before the invention of the game.

Much of Danball's early allure was the ironic and subtly self-mocking tone in which the players declared themselves "world champions" in the World Danball League (WDL), which consisted of only one team, the Anniston Cavaliers. Danball was at that time talked about far more often then it was played.

After most of the Saks group had left high school and gone on to various universities, some continued to play the game and shared it with new friends they met in college. In 1995, with the growing popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web, former Saks students at Jacksonville State University and Auburn University created a Web page for the WDL. The page contained the first set of codified rules for Danball, and contact information for some of the game's creators.

To the players' surprise, the then-fledgling Web directory Yahoo! included a Danball section in its sports category, and listed the WDL's home page. Soon, the players had been contacted by people from across the United States and around the world who'd seen the WDL Web page and decided to ty the game. Teams and leagues reportedly were formed in several towns in the U.S., as well as Belgium and New Zealand.

Through 1996 and 1997, most Danball activity remained centered in Jacksonville, Alabama, a few miles from the game's birthplace. A 7-team league of Jacksonville State students staged several tournaments. After one of the game's inventors and major proponents left Jacksonville, interest waned and Danball's presence on the Web began to decline.

In November, 2001, Andrew Ferguson of Melbourne, Australia, found the rules for Danball on the Web and formed several teams in that city. After modifying the rules, Ferguson's group changed the name of their game to Suburbanball, and dubbed their league the World Suburbanball League.

Known teams in the history of Danball

The following teams and sub-leagues are known to have organized and played under the World Danball League. Most have since ceased playing. Suburbanball teams are not included.

• Anniston Cavaliers, Anniston, Alabama
• Ohatchee Blades, Ohatchee, Alabama
• Auburn Sawbones, Auburn, Alabama
• MadScanners, Madison, Wisconsin
• SUNY-Cortland Danball Alliance, Cortland, New York
• Lilburn Lightning, Lilburn, Georgia
• Jacksonville State University Danball Alliance:
  • Jacksonville Dragons, Jacksonville, Alabama
  • Alexandria Argonauts, Alexandria, Alabama
  • Wellington Warpigs, Wellington, Alabama
  • Dalton Diamondbacks, Dalton, Georgia
  • Trion Titans, Trion, Georgia
  • Calhoun County Phishsticks, Jacksonville, Alabama
  • Saks Blue Devils, Anniston, Alabama
• Belgian Danball League:
  • Heavy BP’s
  • Always Forever
  • De Spelers
  • Helli’s
  • Flanders

How to play

Teams and players

Danball is usually played by two teams, each with three players on the field at a time. Free substitution is allowed, but only when play has been stopped.

The Street

The game is played on a 100-foot stretch of street, normally asphalt- or concrete-paved. The 20-foot area in the center of the street is called “no man’s land.” Goal lines are at both ends of the 100-foot section of street. The goal lines and the edges of no man’s land are usually marked with sidewalk chalk.

Equipment

Players use Dansticks to hit the Danball. Any object that can be easily carried by a player and used in the game without great risk to other players can be used as a Danstick. The Danball is normally made of plastic or rubber, and is spherical, from 12 inches to 18 inches in diameter. Kicking and handling of the Danball are not allowed.

Beginning play and scoring

Play begins with teams facing each other, standing on opposite sides of the field outside no man’s land. One team serves the ball to the other by hitting it across no man’s land. None of the players may enter no man’s land until the ball has passed through to the other side. After that, all players may roam freely about the field.

Each team attempts to advance the ball past the opposing team and across the goal line by striking the ball and passing it among teammates. When one team scores a point, play is halted and the ball is served again, at the discretion of the scoring team. Play continues until one team has scored at least 10 points and holds a lead of at least 2 points.

More detailed instructions are available from the Belgian Danball League's rules page.

Related Links

1. Belgian Danball League
2. World Suburban Ball League
3. The Danball category at Yahoo!

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Dan Ball