Overball

Overball is a field sport, with elements of earthly soccer, rugby, and volleyball. The game is named so because the ball, called the overball, remains in play only while it is in the air. Movement stops when the ball touches the ground.

Field and Equipment

The overball field is (approximately) 100 meters long by 40 meters wide, with a goal area on each side that's about 10 meters deep. The goal area is called the shade. The field is divided up into ten sections, each about 10 meters thick, called spills. The center of the field, at the halfline, is the ring, and the center point on the field is called the center pip. There is also one triangle dead center in the second spill on each side, which are called the back pips. These back pips are used for penalty kicks and kickoffs. The center pip is only used at the start of the game during pip-off, where the ball is placed on a divet where an underground spring launcher punches the ball into the air.

Players

There are ten players on a side.

Overball Positions

Overball Positions

Backfield

• Defender
• Leftback
• Rightback

The defender and the two backs are mostly on the backfield to defend against any sudden deep penetration of their home shade.

Midfield

• Center
• Left Midrider
• Right Midrider

The Center is traditionally the most versatile player on the field, as he can cover all the surrounding positions. The two midriders are also similarly veratile, able to play both back and front fields, though they are often large in size to enable strong hits all along the midfield.

Frontfield

• Left Forward
• Right Forward
• Left Breaker
• Right Breaker

The forwards are usually the fastest and most agile players on the team, second to the backs. They are the ones most likely to score. The breakers are typically some of the largest players. Their job is to wreak havoc on the others team from the flank side. They also provide solid blocking for the forwards.

The initial positioning on the field upon "pip-off" has the players from each side lined up as in the diagram. During the rest of the game, players can take whatever positioning they want, barring any limitations (dead ball buffer).

Gameplay

The premise is that the ball must be in the air in order to make forward progress for a side, whose object is to get the overball into the opposite side's shade. The ball may be thrown, popped, kicked, tossed, or bumped forwards to another player.

Players may catch the ball, but they can only run backwards or sideways with it, never forwards. The other side may attempt to create a dead ball by tackling the player only during a carry. A tackle puts the ball into the other side's possession with a stop, which is when players are reset and that side starts with the ball in hand. During a stop, the other side must buffer by positioning in the adjacent spills. The side in possession can only have a maximum of three players within the spill of the overball.

If the ball hits the ground outside of a tackle, it becomes grounded and players can only kick it backwards or sideways, never forwards. Players can only carry it by kicking it up to another player.

Scoring happens when a side gains control of the ball within the other team's shade. They then switch sides and the defender kicks off from the back pip.