Intramural competition has never been something to take lightly at Simpson College. With a variety of sports such as basketball, flag football, volleyball or games like washers and yard golf, students have many options to choose from. Starting April 8, Tchoukball is included in these options.

For the many readers who have never heard of Tchoukball, it could be described as a very high-paced sport. It is played with seven to nine players on a court about the size of a basketball court. Tchoukball is played with a ball the size of a small soccer ball. The team with the ball scores points by throwing the ball off a bouncy net angled upwards. Points are scored if the other team does not catch the ball off the bounce and it hits the ground off the ricochet.

There are also several other rules to the game called the rules of threes. These rules include a player being unable to hold the ball for over three seconds, not taking more than three steps with the ball or not throwing more than three passes before shooting into the net.

Nicole Darling, assistant director of student activities/intramurals, got the idea for Tchoukball after reading about it in a magazine. Darling then shared the idea with senior Andrew Dau, who is on intramural council, who had played Tchoukball in high school and thought it would be a great game to play here.

“We played it in high school and my classmates basically loved it,” Dau said. “It’s a game that combines athleticism with strategy so the kids that weren’t necessarily the best athletes in the world were really good at the game. We presented it to the council and thought what do we have to lose?”

Darling describes the game as a combination between many games.

“It’s kind of a combination between ultimate Frisbee, soccer and a little bit of keep-a-way,” Darling said. “The good thing about the game is anybody can play it. Males, females, and your size doesn’t matter. It’s a fun-natured game that’s competitive and somewhat similar to a childhood game.”

Most games of Tchoukball are played with nine people but here at Simpson it will be played with seven players. There will be a co-ed division only in the tournament.

Junior Tyler Pearson is also on intramural council. Pearson has a team playing in the tournament and also anticipates being one of the four officials that Darling plans to have for each game.

“It looks like it will be a very high-paced and up-tempo game,” Pearson said. “It’s definitely a team sport where everyone has to be involved all the time.”

Another interesting rule to Tchoukball is there is no defense allowed. Any attempt to intercept or deflect the passes of the offense is prohibited. The only type of defense to be played is anticipating where the ball will land after being thrown off the net.

The tournament will be played downstairs in Cowles along the basketball court. Since this will be a test run at Tchoukball, the rules are not totally set up yet. Darling said she plans on tweaking the rules after the first tournament to see what will work best.