The Kirkwall Ba' Game
Christmas Party
T
PLAYERS
20+ (teams)
DIFFICULTY
SETTING
Outdoor
MATERIALS
- A heavy leather ball (the 'Ba')
- The streets of a town as the playing field
MEASUREMENTS
There is no fixed field; play spreads through the town's streets between two traditional goal points at opposite ends.
HOW TO PLAY
1
The town's players are divided by long-standing tradition into two sides, each defending a goal at an opposite end of town.
2
The ball is thrown into the middle of a tightly packed group of players called the scrum, and both sides try to force it toward their own goal.
3
Players push, shove, and wrestle within the scrum to slowly move the mass of bodies and the ball through the streets.
4
A side may also try to smuggle the ball out of the scrum to a teammate who can run it freely toward the goal.
5
The game ends the moment the ball is touched against the winning side's goal, which can take anywhere from minutes to several hours.