Escape from the Guards

Escape from the Guards

The essence of the game:

The field is divided into 2 halves. The players are divided into two teams. Each team has attackers and guards. At the back of both halves is a circle with a ball in it. The guards’ task is to protect the circle from the attackers of the other team. The attackers’ task is to take the ball from the circle of the other team.

Parameters (playground, accessories):

Outdoor court of any size (depending on the number of players) with a circle in the back with an approximate diameter of 1 m.
Ball approximately the size of a tennis ball.

Rules:

• Each team consists of at least five players (guards – 2, attackers – 3).
• The ball is located in the center of the back circle of both halves.
• The attackers of one team try to get into the circle of the other team, while in the territory of the opponents they can freeze them when catching them.
• They are frozen until their teammates unfreeze them by touching them.
• If the player/s get into the opponent’s circle, they cannot be frozen.
• The player who gets the ball from the other team and passes it to his territory ends the game and his team wins.
• Players cannot throw the ball, but they can pass it.
• If the hook with the ball is frozen, he must return the ball back to the opponent’s circle.
• Players cannot leave the playing field during the entire game.

Variation of rules:

• In several places, instead of a ball, they used natural materials. For example, a stone, a stick, a cone, …
• The game used to be played in such a way that frozen players could only be unfrozen by being tackled by their teammates.
• In some cases, when there were several players, the game could also be played in elimination mode. If a player from the other team caught you, you would not be frozen, but you would be eliminated immediately.
• It was also common for players to throw a ball or other object from a circle.

Additional information:

The play was also used to be performed in the oratory in Rožňava – Domka.

GAME CONTEXT

Origin, distribution, history:

There are no reliable sources for the origin of the game. We were taught it by an elementary school teacher who comes from Orava.

Who and where (did) they play?

The game was used to be played at the Elementary Schools, but also in other places like the already mentioned Oratko.

Further variations:

It was played long ago, not only in the present but also in the past, more or less the same way we described it.

METHODS USED:

• Talking and remembering the old school and teachers

SOURCES:

Elementary school teacher Matilda Pytáková and our memory.