Posted 4/4/01
North Branch youths invent new all-season sport
By Danielle Strenke
Last December, a group of North Branch fourth graders headed out at recess to place a game of soccer. The only problem was, they didnít have a soccer ball.
Not having the right kind of ball did not stop them, however, and a trio of creative boys at North Branch Elementary in-vented a new game, using the only ball they had ñ a football.
Nicholas Thomson, along with his friends, Andrew Lonquist and Timmy Mc-Donald, came up with a game using the football on the soccer field.
Once they figured out how they would play the game, all they needed was a name. The trio came up with Seasonball. The explanation behind the name?
ìYou can play it during any season,î Nicholas said.
Seasonball is somewhat similar to soccer. There are two teams of four people who try and score by putting the Seasonball into a goal ñ roughly the same size as a soccer goal.
Nicholas said the field is probably 50 yards long. The rules are pretty simple ñ you can kick the ball as much as you want, or you can hold it.
There are strict rules when you are holding the ball, however. Once the ball is picked up, you can no longer move with it, and must either pass it to someone else or put it down and kick it within five seconds.
What happens if you hold the ball longer than five seconds? ìA referee would call a foul if you did,î Nicholas said.
When asked how long the game was, Nicholas said, ìwell, we play it at recess.î But he said in a regulation game of Seasonball, it probably would be about one to one-and-a-half hours.
Since they started playing Seasonball in December, many other kids on the playground have found out about it, and wanted to play.
Nicholas said most of the time there are more than eight people who want to play. ìThe teams can have as many people as they want, but only four people can play at a time,î Nicholas said.
When there are too many people, he said, they just have the other kids act as referees.
The new game these kids are playing has not gone unnoticed by Nicholasí teachers, Mrs. Yust and Mr. Balzer, either. ìThey think itís pretty cool,î Nicholas said.
Nicholasí parents, Lori and James Thomson, are also impressed with the new game their son has invented.
ìThey play it all the time at recess, and Iím sure theyíll play it in the summer too,î Lori said.
Nicholas and his friends are having fun playing Seasonball, but are taking a break right now because it is too wet to play. Until they can get back on the Seasonball field, they have to settle for playing basketball at recess, but Nicholas is anxious to start playing it again.
And so, another sport is born ñ invented by some enterprising kids at North Branch Element-ary.