Hall of Fame

Stickball. a traditional Junkyard Sport, as found on Streetplay

PONG PING

Steve Childs

I remember wiling hours away playing a version of baseball that we called pong ping. Our junkyard game was merely baseball played by two people with a ping pong ball and a pair of eraser thongs, one for home plate and one for the bat. We found that a ping pong ball just can't be thrown straight. Once you figured out the aerodynamics of curves, screw-balls and fastballs, you could dimension the field properly. It would matter how light and soft the ball was. The heavier the ball the better the fastball. If a ball was too soft, it wouldn't take long for the ball to break or get disfigured.

This game could be played almost anywhere. We usually played in someone's back yard, using either permanent landscape features or a shirt for foul lines. A clothesline would help determine whether a hit was a single, double, triple or home run. If a clothesline wasn't available, we'd use a garden hose. We were pretty serious fans of specific teams so we chose each game's lineups to match up against our opponent's starting pitcher. The pitcher got to make the calls of balls and strikes but sometimes arguments ensued. Both of us were right-handers so it was pretty funny to watch us switch around and pitch left-handed. Good pitching has an edge over all batters and good fielding could save the day.

Eraser Bouncing

Geof Inglis

I once invented a sport called "Eraser Bouncing." (Probably all over the world lots of kids did too, but I never met them!). All you needed was a eraser (a well-worn, fairly round one worked best) and a table, ideally rectangular - a table tennis table would do, but longer would be better.

You simply stood at one of the 'long' ends and bounced the eraser to the other end. You lost a point every time you dropped the eraser. You could play to 5 or to 10 points lost. As long as the surface of the eraser was irregular you could put spin on it when you bounced it or in the air. erasers with sharp corners, e.g. in the shape of a rectangle, were not so good because you could bounce them on the corners and it would make the eraser deviate too much, rounded ones with a bit of grip on them would make the eraser curl after bouncing. All the pitcher's and the bowler's skills could be used and when you got good at it you had to become a pretty good catcher.

You could also play a Doubles version: rather like Doubles Table Tennis or doubles Squash, you've got to be pretty nippy about moving out of your partner's way . I think it came about in my teenage years when we used go to to our Boy Scout hut to play Snooker/BIlliards at a table we had there. We kept losing or breaking the balls. Eventually we had none left, and kids being kids we started flinging things at each other. Somebody must have picked up a eraser so made a game out of it. We simply left the protective wooden cover on top of the table and started "Eraser Bouncing". I think it became more popular than the Snooker for a while.

You would just throw it, being careful to ensure it bounced on the table. The simplest way would be to raise the hand with the eraser about a foot in front of your eyes and then throw it by bending your elbow back and then forward (just like throwing a dart in the game of Darts). You could also try underarm and round arm throws. You could also get sophisticated and draw two lines, one-third and two-thirds of the way along the table, between which the eraser would have to bounce (like a Tennis service) - because it's unfair to bounce it too close or too far away from someone. You can flick your eraser with your fingers or wrist to impart over-, under- and side-spin on the eraser and make it move in a different direction after it has bounced. It all depends how pointed the eraser is and whether you can make it land on the pointy bit. Usually it would be one person throwing to one person, at the other end of a long table, but you could play doubles if you had the room. Great fun for kids - lots of squealing and bumping into each other - a bit like the chaos you get when kids play doubles or trebles at Table Tennis.

Frisbee Ball art

Kathy Kelly

2 adults started throwing a frisbee. A few kids watch. A couple of the kids get soccer balls and start trying to knock the frisbee out of the air during the throw.

Soon there are 10 kids each with a ball throwing it at the frisbee as it sails by.

Great visual art is created and fun is had by all.

Shoreshoes

a beachwalking game by Bernie and Rocky DeKoven

who were, at the time, walking on the beach and carrying their shoes. Well, Bernie had shoes. Athletic shoes, even. With long laces. And Rocky had a pair of sandals.

1. look for a space in front of you that's free of people and birds
   
2. toss Rocky's sandals - both sandals, both people, 1 per person, simultaneously.
   
3. hold one of Bernie's sneakers by its lace end, twirl and toss towards one of Rocky's sandals (simultaneously, or take turns, or both)
   
4. the player who tosses a sneaker closest to a sandal wins and gets a free back strecth while picking up the shoes and sandals
   
5. play the next round

Calvinball continued

Bryan Alexander

"So, as far as I can tell, it began with a modified baseball field - not a diamond, because it had nine bases, more or less.  Owain deemed himself batter, and me the pitcher.  Gwynneth decided that a bench in the middle was a jail, and a water bottle the magic implement which, if contacted, sent you to jail.  Owain realized that touching the ball froze you.  Ball and bottle counteract each other, defreezing or freeing you, respectively.  Naturally, a huge, rideable plastic car had to be involved, so there was much pulling and riding, shrieking and freezing as the thing careened across the not-exactly-a-baseball-diamond.  When everyone ended up in jail, we improvised a baseball game on top of the bench."

(see also)