Arch Ball

Source: Games For The Playground, Home, School And Gymnasium
Category: BALL GAMES



_10 to 100 players._

_Playground; gymnasium; schoolroom._

_Basket ball; bean bag; oat sack; any substitute._

This game is very similar to Pass Ball, but is here described under
another name, as it differs from Pass Ball in (1) not having the run
to a goal line; (2) admitting of variations, as in the passing of
several articles; (3) being comparatively informal without the scoring
of fouls and other strict observance of rules that class Pass Ball
with athletic events.



The players line up in two or more single files, which compete with
each other, and must therefore contain an equal number of players. The
captain or leader of each file toes a line drawn across the ground and
holds a basket ball (a bean bag or other object may be used). At a
given signal he passes the ball backward over his head to the player
next behind, who in turn passes it backward as rapidly as possible,
and so on until it reaches the last player in the line. He at once
runs forward, carrying the ball to the front of the line, which moves
backward one place to make room for him. He toes the line and passes
the ball backward over his head. The play continues until the captain
reaches the end of the line, and runs forward with the ball to his
original place at the head of the file. As he takes his place there,
he holds the ball aloft as a signal that he has finished. The file
wins whose captain is the first to return to his place.

The game may be made very enlivening by passing several articles in
rapid succession, each of a different and contrasting character, such
as a basket ball, tennis ball, Indian club, heavy medicine ball, bean
bag, light dumb-bell, three-or five-pound iron dumb-bell, etc. In this
form of the game the last player must accumulate all of the articles
before running forward with them, or the score may be made on the
arrival of the last article at the rear of the line.

FOR THE SCHOOLROOM
See also _Hand over head bean bag_, in which the
entire class plays at once.

The players raise their seats where this is possible, and stand
between the desk and the seat. Where the seats cannot be raised, the
players may sit in the seats or on the desks. An even number of
players should be in each line, and only alternate lines play
simultaneously, so as to leave clear the necessary aisle space for
running. Those at the front of the lines should hold a ball or any
substitute for passing backward over the head, such as a bean bag,
eraser, foot rule, or book. At a given signal the object is passed
backward over the head to the next player in the rear, who in turn
passes it backward, and so on down the line until the last player
receives it. He runs forward on the _right_-hand side of his desk to
the first seat. At the same time the other players in his row step
into the aisle at the _left_ of the desks and move backward one place.
The line wins whose original leader first gets back to the front.

As in all games in the schoolroom in which part of the players are
seated while others run, care should be taken that there are no feet
in the aisle over which the runners might trip.

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