Jorkyball

Jorkyball
Characteristics
Team members	2 per side
Mixed gender	male and female
Type	Indoor
Equipment	Jorkyball
Venue	Jorkyball court
Presence
Olympic	No
Paralympic	No

Jorkyball is a format of two vs two football.^[1] It is played in a 10 m (33 ft) by 5 m (16 ft) cage on artificial turf with the possibility of using the walls to pass, dribble, and score. As in football it is played only with the feet and use of hands is forbidden. The objective is to score goals into a net. As in squash and paddle, the sport is played in a four-walled court and all of them can be used including the net above, i.e. there is no outside. The governing body is the Jorkyball International Federation.

History

Three on two jorkyball was invented by the French Gilles Paniez in 1987. It started in a garage in Lyon, France. Jorkyball was first played in front of a large audience at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy as an exhibition. Since then, the number of jorkyball players has been increasing.

Jorkyball is currently played in 13 countries and expanding: France, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, India and Israel.

Rules

A jorkyball game is played in sets of seven goals each. The first team to reach two sets wins. Each team is made up of one striker and one defender. The striker is not allowed to play in the kickoff areas. At the end of each set, defender and striker change role. The defender is not allowed to play in the opponent's side of the court.

Game elements

The pitch of 2 vs 2 jorkyball is a parallelepiped. Dimensions are:

Length: 9.80 m (32 ft)
Width: 4.80 m (16 ft)
Height: 2.70 m (9 ft)
Goal size: 110 cm × 110 cm (43 in × 43 in)

The ball is in hand-sewn felt. It weighs 200 g (7 oz). It is roughly the size of a handball.

References

^ Vincenzo Cito (January 20, 2001). "con nove uomini in meno". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian).

External links

[1] Vincenzo Cito (January 20, 2001). "con nove uomini in meno". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian).

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