Introduction

WallGames is the competition series that features lacrosse being played on fenced-in handball courts.  The idea was conceived by Brooklyn Lacrosse Club Co-Founder Khalid West as a means of answering the following 3 challenges

Wallgames: The Future of Urban Lacrosse

Check out this great article by US Lacrosse regarding or innovative training methods

Skills Development

  1. Improving stick fundamentals of passing and catching
  2. Improving 1-on-1 sensibilities and skills through footwork and space constraints
  3. Increases the numbers of "touches"...the number of times the player touches a ball in practice is critical in their development
  4. Creates games that players ca do on their own

Exposure

  1. Increased exposure to lacrosse in urban communities

The City as our Field

  1. Allowing for increased lacrosse play, in spite of field scarcity
  2. Usage of under-utilized handball courts

There are 6 games in the Wallgames Family, each will be touched on during a typical practice session

A. Off-The-Wall

Objective:

Two opposing players battle for possession in an attempt to throw the ball at the wall, catch their own rebound, and successfully clear to the top of the court.

Rules:

1. Start of game:

The game begins by the toss of the ball towards the wall by the referee and the two opposing players (starting behind the top line facing the wall) scrambling for possession of the ball, once it makes contact with the wall.  The player winning possession, after successfully reaching the top line (clearing) can then attempt to score.

2. Scoring:

After a clear, the player with possession must attempt to strike one of three targets positioned equidistance across the upper portion of the wall.  The defender may not enter the region beyond the top line.  The player on offense can advance as far as the bottom line to score, however, once the player on offense has entered the region towards the wall, below the top line, they may not retreat back into the top line safe region unless they lose possession, and regain it and are attempting to clear the ball.

3. Play objectives:

The objective of each player is to score 1 point to end the game.  A point is scored by a player, after gaining possession and successfully clearing, hitting a target (must be thrown from behind the bottom line on the court), catching the rebounding ball on-the-fly and returning with the ball to any point beyond the top line.  Bounce shots are permitted, as long as the shooter is behind the bottom line and the shot has no more than one bounce before hitting the target.

The attempt to return with the ball to the top line can be met with reasonable defense (poke-checks, front or broad-side body checks, wrap-around checks, over-head checks, etc.)  A push from behind with possession, slash to the head with a stick, or any act of unnecessary roughness is considered a foul and gives the offended player the opportunity for 2 free-throws.  If BOTH free-throws are made, the match is over and won by the player who made the free-throws.  

A free-throw is defined as an unguarded attempt to hit a target and catch the rebounded ball on-the-fly.  If, on the 1st attempt, the player does not hit the target, live-play resumes.  If the target is hit, the player proceeds to attempt to catch the rebound.  If the rebound is missed, live-play resumes.  If it is caught, the player attempts the 2nd free-throw.

Out-of-bounds is considered any area outside of the bounds of the wall-ball lines.  If a player is “checked” out of bounds, the opposing player gets the ball and, after clearing the ball, can shoot for a target, as long as they are behind the bottom line of the court.

4. Game winning and Match winning:

A match is a defined as the series of games played throughout a full contest.  The player who wins a game will continue to play subsequent opponents in 1-point games, until losing.  The match is won when any player reaches 10 points (has won 10 games).

5. If a throw hits a target, and an attempt is made by the throwing player to catch the rebounding ball, but fails, as long as the ball stays in-bounds, the game is in-play and active. If the ball goes out of bounds, the defending player gains possession at the top line and must resume play from there.  If a defender attempts to catch the rebounding or in-flight ball of the offensive player and misses, the game remains in-play, unless the ball goes out of bounds. In that case, and the same rules apply and the non-offending player receives possession at the top line.

B. Tennis

Objective:

2 players (opponents) throw the ball at the wall as hard as they can, trying to make their opponent unable to catch the rebound.

Rules:

  1. Throw the ball from behind the top line to serve into play. 2 faults on a serve is a point for the opponent.  A fault is a serve that goes out of bounds. Out of bounds is any area laterally adjacent to the walls
  2. Upon a successful serve, the opponent must catch the rebound and within 3 steps return it to the wall, to the opponent.
  3. The court is divided in half, down the middle, from the wall to the top of the court. If a player throws the ball against the wall and it rebounds on their side, they must catch and return it, however, if the opponent goes for the ball, the throwing player is released from obligation and can go to the other side of the divider line.
  4. After the ball hits the wall from a throw, it must rebound past the bottom line (line closest to the wall).  Failing to do so on a serve is considered a fault. Failure to do so after a serve is a loss of a point to the offending player.
  5. A ball may be played in any of the following ways:
    1.     - after one bounce
    2.     - off the back wall/fence
    3.     - a combination of the above
    4.     - directly from a catch on-the-fly
  6. If an attempt is made to catch a rebounding ball, and the ball hits the player’s stick, but the player does not catch it, the one-bounce rule is void.

C. Pipes

Objective:

2 opposing teams consisting of 3 players each, attempt to score by hitting a 4”x4” target at opposite ends of the fenced-in court.  Hitting a pipe causes the offending team to lose.  First team to 3 or with most hits after 7 minutes wins.

Rules:

  1. Because courts vary in size and layout, the “lay” of the court will change based upon game location.  
  2. In order for a team to score, 3 complete passes must occur and the ball must be shot from at least the mid-court or further away from the target.
  3. Regular defense is allowed.  Slashes and pushes with possession are rewarded by “free shots” from mid-court.  Non-possession Pushes are penalized by giving possession to the pushed player.  
  4. There are no out of bounds, except for beyond the boundaries of the court, itself.
  5. After a score, the scored-on team gets possession.  
  6. The ball is initially put into play by being tossed up at mid-court.

D. Boards and Hoops

Objective:

2 opposing teams consisting of 3 players each, attempt to score by hitting the back board (1 pt) or making the ball go through the hoop (3 pts), from half court or beyond.  First team to 15 or with most hits after 10 minutes wins.

Rules:

  1. Game is played on a full court basketball court
  2. In order for a team to score, 3 complete passes must occur and the ball must be shot from at least the mid-court or further away from the targets.
  3. Regular defense is allowed.  Slashes and pushes with possession are rewarded by “free shots” from mid-court.  Non-possession Pushes are penalized by giving possession to the pushed player.  
  4. There are no out of bounds, except for beyond the boundaries of the court, itself.
  5. After a score, the ball remains in-play, so a scoring team may get their own rebound and attempt to immediately score again.  The ball is initially put into play by being tossed up at mid-court.

E. Catches and Cones

Objective:

A player stands behind the 2nd line on the court from the wall and attempts to hit a series of cones placed across the first line from the wall.  A complete point is a hit of a cone and a catch of the ball, rebounding off the wall.

Rules:

  1. Player has 90 seconds to score as many points as possible
  2. In order to score, the player must knock down a cone AND catch the rebounding ball.
  3. A player may not proceed to the next cone in line, until the previous cone has been knocked over.
  4. If a cone is knocked down out of sequence, no point is awarded, and the player must still stay in-sequence.  They simply do not get the point for that cone, when/if they finally get to it.
  5. Games are 3 rounds. The player with the most points after 3 rounds wins.

F. Walk the Line

Objective:

Travel the length of the wall and back, as fast as possible, with as many completed throw-catch combinations as possible.

Rules:

  1. Players start with the ball in their sticks, behind the first line (from the wall), at the extreme side bounds of the court.
  2. Every step must contain an effort to throw the ball to, or catch the ball returning from the wall.
  3. A thrown ball must reach the wall without a bounce.
  4. A caught ball must not drop or bounce before being caught.
  5. A winner is declared after all participants have attempted to walk the line, by adding the number of catches to one's speed delta*

*The value of 120-the duration in seconds it took to complete the line walk.