Several different 'ball' games as seen played in Glenwood youth

As I'm heading on a youth weekend away this weekend where some, maybe all, of the following ball games will be played, I've decided to post the definitive guides to them here. Then when people ask me 'What's Murderball?' I can tell them to look on my blog and all will become clear.

These then are some of the games we play...

X-treme Teamball

This is very much like Dodgeball. You have two teams, several dodgeballs and two goals. The teams stand in their own half of the room and you throw the balls to try and hit people to get them out. Headshots don’t count as getting you out. If you catch a ball that is thrown at you then the thrower is out. You can bat a dodgeball away with a dodgeball you’re holding.

If a ball is thrown into the opposition goal without bouncing, then players on the team who have scored who are ‘out’ can ‘respawn’ and return to play (until they are hit again). The game continues until all players on one side are out or a set time limit is reached, when the team with the most players left stay on.

Variations include whether balls are allowed to bounce off the floor, walls or other players or whether they can be direct hits, length of time played, and limiting the number of respawns.

The Ball of Destiny: This can come into play late on in the game. If any player scores a goal with the Ball of Destiny, then their team wins and the game is over.

X-treme Teambasketball

This is exactly the same as X-treme Teamball, but with basketball hoops instead of goals. To get a respawn you have to score a hoop. The Ball of Destiny can be introduced as in regular X-treme Teamball.

War Ball

Instead of goals you have two (or more) cones each with a tennis ball balanced on it. Each team tries to knock the balls off the cones to win. The cones are placed in marked areas which defending players cannot stand inside (hula hoops are good for this).

This is basically the opposite of Dodgeball as you can get hit repeatedly trying to protect the balls on your cones. You can’t stand still in front of the cone. Stand still and you can be called out by the referees, so you have to keep moving.

Variations include players being out when hit until you reach a point where one person may be trying to protect two or more cones. You can have respawns if you want to, but a better way is to say you can get hit without being out as it’s still difficult to defend the cones from every angle.

Tag-team Team Ball (New)

Another variant on Dodgeball. Each team contains several pairs (one in bib and one not). Bibbed players are blockers and non-bibbed players are throwers. Blockers are there to block the ball and protect the thrower. Only throwers can throw the ball at opposing players.

If a thrower is hit by an opponent, then both the thrower and their nominated blocker are out. Play continues until the last thrower and blocker pair is left in. Blockers can take any number of hits. Respawns as in X-treme Teamball or X-treme Teambasketball. The Ball of Destiny can also come into play.

King Ball

Start with one non-bibbed player and everyone else wearing bibs. The non-bibbed player is ‘on’ and has a dodgeball. They then seek to hit a bibbed player, who removes their bib and is also on.

As soon as two or more players are on, they cannot run with the ball. They can pass to each other and run if they don't have the ball to get near to bibbed players. Each player they hit removes their bib and joins the ‘on’ team. The last player left with a bib on, i.e. ‘not on’ is declared the winner. They usually become the first player on in the next round of King Ball.

Murderball

All that’s needed for this game is a ball – preferably a rugby ball or American football. The object is simple. Both teams try and retain possession by holding the ball for as long as possible, while the other team tries to gain possession through rugby-style tackling and so on. Best played on grass or another yielding surface as it can get rough! (Well, it is Murderball, after all!)