Winter Fun.
My friends and I play a little game in the winter time that we like to call “Foosockey.” This is, as the name suggests, a combination of three sports: football, soccer and hockey. A pretty brilliant name if I do say so myself. The rules are relatively simple and this game can be played anywhere there is a frozen hockey rink with two hockey goals. I’m not going to say we were the first to play this because I’m sure others before us have discovered this amazing sport, but our rules are our own.
The idea of this game is to work as a team (ideally teams of 4-5, depending on the size of the rink) to score goals. This is done by kicking the (American) football into the opposing team’s goal. Teams can maneuver the ball between defenders by kicking the ball to one another like in soccer OR one team member can flip the ball up to another team member who catches it before it hits the ground. If a player catches a kicked ball, they can pass the ball but cannot move, like in Ultimate Frisbee. The ball cannot be thrown in the goal, it must be kicked and if a player is going to attempt to drop the ball and kick it in the goal they must let the ball hit the ice before they kick said ball. So no punting allowed. A player cannot flip the ball up to him or herself or catch a ball that they kicked off a side board or net but may catch it off another player.
Other more specific rules that have come into being after numerous games include the rule that if a player passes a ball in the air and another player then kicks that ball out of the air into the goal, without it hitting the ground, it is a goal. After a team scores (and at the beginning of the game), the ball is placed at the center of the rink where the team that was scored against has the opportunity to flip the ball up to a fellow teammate, unobstructed. Once this first attempt is made, play begins. If the person drops it on the “serve”, that is too bad, no second tries, play continues with the ball on the ice. Also, and this is a very important rule, once a ball has bounced on the ice after being dropped, kicked, thrown, whatever, it cannot be caught. The ball must be caught off of someones foot or from someones throw, once it hits the ice, it has to be played on the ice. As far as scoring goes, you can decide what you want to go to depending on how long you want to play and how fast people are scoring. I’ve seen games that go on for an hour that are 2-1 and others that go on for 15 minutes that are 7-6, so judge for yourself.
I think that’s basically it. If anyone goes out and plays this game and notices any holes in my explanation, let me know. Otherwise I encourage all those who live in cold, snowy places to go out and play in this beautiful weather. Bundle up but this can be a very exhausting sport so wear layers so you can be comfortable. One other thing: hockey players might try to kick you off the rink so either go at a time when it’s not busy or reserve the ice for your game. Go! Stop tumbling! Start playing in the snow! Peace.
3 years ago