Angleball
Encyclopedia
Angleball is a fitness game
developed by Rip Engle
, onetime head football coach
at Penn State
. Engle devised the game as a way for his players to maintain physical fitness
in the off-season. It has deliberately light contact and minimal rules.
, teams pass a smaller ball back and forth, attempting to knock the other team's ball off its perch with the smaller ball (normally a regulation size handball). A goal is worth one point. An offensive player who is touched by a defensive player must come to a stop and has three seconds to pass the ball to avoid a turnover. Additionally, once tagged a player cannot shoot for a goal. Requirements on the "time limit" between tagging and passing the ball is usually up to the organizer, but is, as stated above, standardly set at 3 seconds. If a ball is knocked off its perch as a result of the standard being struck it does not count as a goal and results in a turnover. After a score is made, play may not resume until the ball is replaced in its perch at the top of the post. The team scored against then begins with possession of the ball inside of their own circle and can begin to advance the ball towards the other team's goal. The ball may be thrown, kicked or rolled from player to player. There is no tackling. The organizer should set tagging rules, but it is usually one hand tag.
Like basketball, teams don't have goalies and the goal is surrounded by a key
area where offensive players aren't permitted. As stated above, this key area is a circle marked on the ground at a certain distance (usually 10') from the goal. Defensive players may cross into the circle area of the goal that they are defending as often as they wish. Offensive players may never transgress the circle guarded by the opposing team. If at any point a member of the offense crosses the plane of the defensive team's circle (with or without the ball) the defense may call to account the transgression and demand an immediate turnover. It should be decided before play begins whether defensive players may tend goal. Some rules allow for a single goalie who is allowed inside of the marked area, but is discouraged from exiting it. Teams do not have a set number of players—the number of participants is simply divided in half, although five or six per side is considered ideal.
There is no regulation field size and out-of-bounds, if used, are arbitrarily set; the suggested size is a field large enough to place the standards 35 to 50 yards apart or about that of a soccer field, and out of bounds areas usually do not exist.
undefeated championship football
team. The game was won by Corry.
Van Horn was the owner of Pioneer Ranch, a boys camp on the Allegheny River
near Tidioute, Pennsylvania
. With Hanna, he founded the Northwestern Pennsylvania Football Camp at Pioneer Ranch in 1961, the nation's first summertime football camp for high school gridders
, and hired Penn State's coaches to staff it. It was here a relationship with Rip Engle was formed, and they were first introduced to angleball.
Continued use of this game takes place at Quaker Haven Camp, in Syracuse, Indiana
. In the mid-1990s the game was also introduced to students at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana by Philosophy Professor, Dr. James Spiegel. On October 4, 2009 Angleball was introduced to a group of about 20 people in Tucson, Arizona
. It remains a favorite in Gym classes at Bellefonte Area High School in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and Mount Nittany Middle School in State College, Pennsylvania. Angleball sets are manufactured by the American Angleball company and are being used by camps, schools, and youth groups throughout the United States and Canada. In 2011 at the 100th year celebration of the Dept. of Kinesiology at Penn State, Angleball equipment was featured in "The Ball Games of the World Exhibit" presented by Dr. Ken Swalgin, Associate Professor of Kinesiology. The exhibit includes over 80 balls, equipment, and posters depicting ball sports from around the world. Ball sports are categorized as follows: handball games, bowls and bowling, ball and bat games, racket and paddle games, football games, ball and raised goal games, invasion goal games, and other ball games.(Swalgin, K.L. 2011)
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
developed by Rip Engle
Rip Engle
Charles A. "Rip" Engle was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1965, compiling a career college football record of 132–68–8...
, onetime head football coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
at Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
. Engle devised the game as a way for his players to maintain physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
in the off-season. It has deliberately light contact and minimal rules.
Gameplay
Two large balls are placed atop standards (normally 10' tall posts with a 10' radius circle around the post) at opposite sides of a field. In a mixture of soccer and basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, teams pass a smaller ball back and forth, attempting to knock the other team's ball off its perch with the smaller ball (normally a regulation size handball). A goal is worth one point. An offensive player who is touched by a defensive player must come to a stop and has three seconds to pass the ball to avoid a turnover. Additionally, once tagged a player cannot shoot for a goal. Requirements on the "time limit" between tagging and passing the ball is usually up to the organizer, but is, as stated above, standardly set at 3 seconds. If a ball is knocked off its perch as a result of the standard being struck it does not count as a goal and results in a turnover. After a score is made, play may not resume until the ball is replaced in its perch at the top of the post. The team scored against then begins with possession of the ball inside of their own circle and can begin to advance the ball towards the other team's goal. The ball may be thrown, kicked or rolled from player to player. There is no tackling. The organizer should set tagging rules, but it is usually one hand tag.
Like basketball, teams don't have goalies and the goal is surrounded by a key
Key (basketball)
The key, officially referred to as the free throw lane by the National Basketball Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association , the restricted area by the international governing body FIBA, and colloquially as the shaded lane and the paint, is an area in a basketball court...
area where offensive players aren't permitted. As stated above, this key area is a circle marked on the ground at a certain distance (usually 10') from the goal. Defensive players may cross into the circle area of the goal that they are defending as often as they wish. Offensive players may never transgress the circle guarded by the opposing team. If at any point a member of the offense crosses the plane of the defensive team's circle (with or without the ball) the defense may call to account the transgression and demand an immediate turnover. It should be decided before play begins whether defensive players may tend goal. Some rules allow for a single goalie who is allowed inside of the marked area, but is discouraged from exiting it. Teams do not have a set number of players—the number of participants is simply divided in half, although five or six per side is considered ideal.
There is no regulation field size and out-of-bounds, if used, are arbitrarily set; the suggested size is a field large enough to place the standards 35 to 50 yards apart or about that of a soccer field, and out of bounds areas usually do not exist.
History
The first angleball game played was in the late 1960s at camp La Junta in Hunt, Texas when the Corry High School Beavers hosted the Corry's athletic director, Lou Hanna and Titusville's athletic director, Roy Van Horn, had been teammates on the 1939 Slippery Rock State Teachers CollegeSlippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is a public, master's-level university that offers some doctoral programs in cooperation with Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Both institutions are members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education...
undefeated championship football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team. The game was won by Corry.
Van Horn was the owner of Pioneer Ranch, a boys camp on the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
near Tidioute, Pennsylvania
Tidioute, Pennsylvania
Tidioute is a borough in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 792 at the 2000 census. The name is an Iroquoian word meaning "protrusion of land", referring to a sharp bend in the Allegheny River.-Geography:...
. With Hanna, he founded the Northwestern Pennsylvania Football Camp at Pioneer Ranch in 1961, the nation's first summertime football camp for high school gridders
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, and hired Penn State's coaches to staff it. It was here a relationship with Rip Engle was formed, and they were first introduced to angleball.
Continued use of this game takes place at Quaker Haven Camp, in Syracuse, Indiana
Syracuse, Indiana
Syracuse is a town in Turkey Creek Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,810 at the 2010 census.Syracuse is the location of Lake Syracuse and the nearby, larger Lake Wawasee, in addition to several other lakes in the region.-Geography:Syracuse is located at ...
. In the mid-1990s the game was also introduced to students at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana by Philosophy Professor, Dr. James Spiegel. On October 4, 2009 Angleball was introduced to a group of about 20 people in Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It remains a favorite in Gym classes at Bellefonte Area High School in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and Mount Nittany Middle School in State College, Pennsylvania. Angleball sets are manufactured by the American Angleball company and are being used by camps, schools, and youth groups throughout the United States and Canada. In 2011 at the 100th year celebration of the Dept. of Kinesiology at Penn State, Angleball equipment was featured in "The Ball Games of the World Exhibit" presented by Dr. Ken Swalgin, Associate Professor of Kinesiology. The exhibit includes over 80 balls, equipment, and posters depicting ball sports from around the world. Ball sports are categorized as follows: handball games, bowls and bowling, ball and bat games, racket and paddle games, football games, ball and raised goal games, invasion goal games, and other ball games.(Swalgin, K.L. 2011)
External links
- The Clarion Ledger: Angleball gives families chance to get together
- Have You Played Angle Ball?, MentalHealthRN, April 22, 2006
- http://www.americanangleball.com
- http://www.angleball.net
- http://www.angleball.info