Apparatus and method for a court ball game

Abstract

A game court and method of play are provided which allow players to compete and score points by throwing a ball through their opponent's goal or throwing the ball and hitting their opponent. The game provides a court bound on all sides to facilitate retention of balls during game play and features an opaque dividing fence which splits the court into two halves each occupied by a different team. The fence is oriented such that each team has on its side of the fence an area of the court protruding past the midpoint of the court. The configuration and orientation of the dividing fence creates unique elements of strategy including the possibility that players from one team may attempt to score points from a position behind players of the opposing team.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to games and sporting events. More particularly the invention relates to an apparatus and method for a competitive game in which points are scored for hitting other players with the game balls and for throwing the game balls through goals positioned at opposite ends of the court. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Athletic contests have always been a popular source of entertainment and exercise, and many different types of games and activities are known in the prior art. Games and athletic contests have become an outlet for an increasingly health-conscience society to maintain physical fitness in an enjoyable and entertaining fashion. But very few games or activities manage to combine physical coordination and mental strategy in such a way as to appeal to both strategists and persons of all athletic skill ranges. [0003] It is a common problem with many games that the athletic capabilities of one player or team can become su...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] This general configuration of the fence described above is advantaged over a fence that is simply parallel to the ends of the court as the configuration of the invention greatly alters the strategic possibilities of the game by creating the possibility that players may be able to strike an opposing player with a ball (thus knocking them out of the game and scoring a point for their own team) from a position that is actually behind the opposing player.

[0009] To further enhance the strategic advantages created by the configuration of the fence, a preferred embodiment of the invention contains a fence made of an opaque material so that the players of one team cannot see the players of the opposing team that are hiding behind the fence.

[0010] Positioned at either end of the court is a vertical goal. Each goal has a circular opening larger than the size of the balls used to play the game. Points are scored by throwing the balls through the circular opening. To facilitate game play and constant action, the goals are equipped with a ball return system which in its simplest form consists of a hollow space behind the circular opening with an opening at the bottom so that the ball thrown through the circular opening will fall down through the interior of the goal and may be retrieved by a player through another opening at the bottom of the goal.

Problems solved by technology

But very few games or activities manage to combine physical coordination and mental strategy in such a way as to appeal to both strategists and persons of all athletic skill ranges.

It is a common problem with many games that the athletic capabilities of one player or team can become such a dominate element of the game that any individual or team strategy is essentially useless.

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