Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Rule Sheets from Streetplay
One of the many reasons for the growing connection between Junkyard Sports and Streetplay is their collection of Streetplay Rulesheets - one-page, clearly written, attractively formatted, ready-to-print, complete descriptions of how to play the games kids played on the streets, with anyone and everyone who wanted to play, as long as they could get away with it. Games exactly like:
Ace-King-Queen
Boxball
Box Baseball
Fivebox
Hit the Stick
Hopscotch
Kick the Can
Off the Wall
Punchball
Ringoleavio
Skully
Slapball
Stickball
Stoopball
These games are the very stuff of junkyard sports. Like the "demonstration games" described in the book, each of these games is close enough to the spirit of reinvention that, in the hands of even an amateur junkmaster, they become the foundation for thousands of new sports.
Hopscotch, for example. Hopscotch baseball, to be more precise. Or hopscotch volleyball, if you'd prefer. Ad Hoc hopscotch, played on whatever can be construed as a hopscotchable environment: hallway carpets, tile floors, restaurant tables. Mini-hopscotch, of course, when you get to playing on restaurant tables, where you have to keep both fingers on both sugar packs at the same time.





