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Hunger home >
Hunger facts and games > U-ball |
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U-ball (Ubuntu Ball) |
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Youth Gathering participants in Atlanta will
remember U-ball, interactive volleyball and dodgeball sponsored
by ELCA World Hunger and
Lutheran World Relief. Young people played with
"handicaps" - both too many material goods and too few (plus
other things that make it hard for people who are poor to
escape poverty). See below for
instructions on how to run a U-Ball
session at youth "lockdowns" or other activities in which youth
can learn about hunger and poverty while having fun at the same
time. |
Photos from the 2003
Youth Gathering in Atlanta
(taken by Brenda Meier, Lutheran World Relief)
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| U-ball
headquarters |
U-ball
court |
Coffee
sacks |
Still
hoppin'... |
"You're outta there!" |
>Click to enlarge photos
Question:
Why are there arrows pictured on the court?
Answer:
During the first week of the Gathering, volleyball was played
using the props and a standard player rotation pattern.
Once the game switched to dodgeball, it seemed that dodgeball
allowed for a faster-paced and more energetic activity than
volleyball, and more players had to be involved and keep on the
move. Don't worry about having arrows in your game, unless
you attempt the volleyball version and want to establish a clear
rotation pattern.
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U-Ball instructions are pasted below.
If you would like a printer-friendly version of instructions
(complete with court diagram), choose one of the following two
options for downloading and/or printing:
 [PDF
file] [Microsoft Word] |
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Buckets
– Symbolic of over one billion people who do not have access to
clean, sanitary water and/or who have to walk miles to retrieve
water.
Coffee sacks
– Represents unfair coffee prices for small-scale farmers, who
cannot sustain a livelihood for themselves or their families.
Fair trade provides them with a living wage.
Baby dolls
– Reminds us of the many babies and children who have been
orphaned by AIDS.
Goggles (or inner tubes)
– Symbolic of the ways that people with wealth and power let
materials and “stuff” weigh them down or blind them to the needs
of others.
T-shirts
(put only one arm through an arm hole) – Represents those who
have lost a limb to a landmine or because of lack of access to
medicine or medical care. Every 17 seconds someone steps on a
landmine – many are children. |
U-Ball pits two ball-throwing teams,
separated by a center line, against each other. The object
of the game is to get all of your opponents “out” of the game
by:
1)
Hitting them with a ball you throw.
2)
Catching a ball they throw at you while trying to get you out.
When someone is “out” of the game,
they leave the main playing area and join other “out” teammates
on the other side of their opponent’s team, also separated by a
line (like the end line on a volleyball court). While “out,”
players act as a backstop to catch balls thrown by their
teammates that go through their opponents’ side. “Out” people
also can throw at their opponents to get their opponents “out.”
Once you are “out” you stay out, so you can’t come back in when
you hit someone from your “out” position.
The game ends when the last person on
one side is hit or throws a ball that is caught.
Strategies:
- Throw balls that are difficult to
catch.
- Throw low (also avoids hitting
people in the face).
- While your opponent tries to stay
as far away from you as they can when you have the ball, they
get very close to your teammates behind them. By throwing the
ball just over your opponent’s head and into your teammate’s
hands, they can quickly catch and throw the ball at your
retreating opponent.
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If you catch a thrown ball from an
opponent who already is “out,” you get to choose which one of
their active players to send “out” of the game. This entices
people to take chances by catching the ball, and equalizes the
game by giving everyone a chance to get their opponent’s best
player out, without having to catch his/her ball or hitting
them. (i.e. you can catch their weakest player’s thrown ball and
make their strongest player leave). |
- Thrown balls only count on the fly
– bounces don’t count for hitting people or for catching the
ball.
- A ball that hits your teammate and
flies into the air and is caught preserves the person who was
hit – unless you want to negate this rule – but it fosters a
sense of teamwork.
- Sometimes balls hit two
people…again, you can state that both will be out (for
speeding up the game) or that only the first person hit is
out.
- You can reach over the line to get
a loose ball, but you can’t step over it.
[Note: Instructions prepared by Jeff
Rasmussen, Lutheran World Relief.] |
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