Basketball Games Arch Ball
( Basketball, Handball, Kickball, Physical Contest, Relay Race, Volleyball )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.– 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.