Gaalball

GaalBall is a sport played between two teams of around 5 players with a rubber spherical ball. The game was created by Mr. Gaal, a PE teacher at Fort Street High School to be played during his lessons. The game is usually played on an indoor basketball court, due to the surrounding walls in which the ball may bounce off, with two indoor soccer goals at each end of the court. All players may touch the ball with any part of their body at any time. The objective of the game is to score as many points within the time limit by passing the ball over the goal line in any way you can, however it is recommened that you should either kick or throw the ball to score a goal. Gaalball is fast paced, competitive and extremely fun to player. It is also considered by many to be the best sport.
Gameplay
The first rule of Gaalball is that there are no rules, except rules that prevent unfair or unsporting play. Doing any one of the following will result in an instant turn over and a free throw from the balls current position:
* Striking any other player
* tripping any other player
* tackling any other player above the shoulders
* spitting on any other player
* tackling a player in the back
* attacking the genitals deliberately
* preventing the goalkeeper from restarting play as soon as possible
* kicking the ball in danger aka. when another player has bent down to pick up the ball
* Although it is not against the rules to tackle a player, it is considered bad sportsmanship to do so unecessarily. Since the game is played almost exclusively at school however, tackling is also usually against the rules.

Gaalball is started in the same manner as Basketball and Aussie Rules, the ball is thrown up in the air and two players of each team may try to hit the ball to a player on their team.
To turn over the ball, players may intercept a pass or take a ball directly out of the opposing players hands (this is usually quite embarrasing), however one of the fundamental rules of the game is that if a player is tagged by one of the opposing teams players it is a turn over. A free throw is then awarded to one of the other teams players. A free throw essentially follows the same rules as a mark is Aussie Rules Football (the player may not be tagged or tackled for the next few seconds).
When a goal is scored, the goalkeeper takes a free throw from the goal square and play is instantly resumed. The ball must be passed directly to the goal keeper by the player closest to the ball.
Tactics
Because there are a very minimal set of rules, many players will use a variety of methods to play the game:
* The Basketball player: to avoid a turnover the player will take the ball down the court whilst dribbling the ball with their hands, meaning that they cannot be tagged since they are not holding the ball, thus the game will start to closely resemble basketball.
* The Soccer player: to avoid a turnover the player will take the ball down the court whilst dribbling the ball with their feet, also meaning that they cannot be tagged since they are not holding the ball, thus the game will start to closely resemble Soccer.
* The Football player: to avoid a turnover the player will pass the ball either to another player or themselves when they are about to be tagged.
* The physically superior player: to avoid a turnover, the player will run straight down the middle of the court and take a shot at the goals from point blank range, noone wants to be hit by 1000 kg force.
It is not uncommon for players on the losing team to hold on to the best players on the winning team to prevent them from playing. This is considered very unethical, but is not against the rules. Many goals are score in Gaalball from goalie throws right after a goal is scored, due to lack of concentration from the oppposing goalie.
Because of the nature of the ball used in a Gaalball game, it is possible to curve the ball to a very large extent (think Sine waves). However, this technique is hard to master and even harder to maintain, since throwing a ball by releasing it sideways puts and incredible amount of strain on your elbows.

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See Also

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