• Women’s water polo made its Olympic debut in the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
• Water polo players swim up to one and a half miles during the course of a water polo game.
• The water polo ball is the size and weight of a #5 soccer ball and is thrown at speeds of up to sixty miles per hour.
• The USA Water Polo Women’s National team has won a medal in each Olympic water polo competition to date, silver in 2000, bronze in 2004.
• Women’s water polo became a NCAA championship sport in 2001 with the University of California Los Angeles winning the first title.

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Air
getting airborne

Bail
to abandon a board; jump off

Barrel
space inside a breaking wave between the lip and face; a surfer may be completely hidden from view during a barrel ride. See tube.

Bashing
body surfing

Beach Break
waves breaking over a sand bottom

Break
when a wave passes from deep to shallow water the crest or top part of the wave tumbles or “breaks” down the face of the wave

Bodyboard
boogie board

Booger
a bodyboarder

Bump
a swell created by the wind

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Artificial Turf
synthetic surface on which all international matches are played.

Attack
the team possessing the ball as it advances toward the opposing goal.

Blade
flat part of the hockey stick used for hitting the ball. The blade face is always on the left side of the hockey stick.

Bully
neutral re-start to play following a stop in the action, much like a face-off in ice hockey.

Clearing
when the defense stops an offensive attack by passing or dribbling the ball away from its goal; usually done by the goalie.

Covering
defensive maneuver in which a player positions herself between an opposing player and the ball in an effort to intercept a pass or to tackle an opponent moving with the ball.

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 The Basics:

• Volleyball is played by two teams of six players on a court divided by a net.
• The object of the game is to send the ball over the net so that the opposing team cannot return the ball or prevent it from hitting the ground in their court.
• Each team has three hits to attempt to return the ball.
• The ball is put in play by a serve that is hit by the server over the net to the opponent.
• When the receiving team wins a volley, it gains the right to serve, and the players rotate one position clockwise.
• When the serving team wins a volley, it wins a point and the right to continue serving.
• The ball must clear the net on a serve.
• A game is played to 21 points or some other agreed upon number. The team that wins the best two out of three games wins the match.
• Common positions include hitter, setter, libero (defender)

Equipment: Volleyball, sneakers (indoors), knee pads (optional)

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ADVANCE
a movement forward

ASSAULT
friendly combat between two fencers

ATTACK
initial offensive action made by extending the sword arm and threatening the the opponent

BALESTRA
a forward hop or jump

BOUT
an assault at which the score is kept

BROADSWORD
any sword intended for cutting instead of thrusting; sabre

BUTTON
the safety tip on the end of practice and sporting swords

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 Blitz - When defensive secondary players rush through the offensive line into the backfield to try to “sack” the quarterback.

Blocking - Offensive players use their bodies and arms as a means to impede defenders from making tackles, moving them away from the path of the ball carrier.

Bomb - A very long forward pass.

Buttonhook - Pass pattern in which the receiver runs straight ahead several yards, then quickly turns around to catch the pass.

Dead Ball - Declared by an official at the end of each down after a player has been tackled and the ball is no longer in play.

Down - The offensive sequence of plays starting from the line of scrimmage that begins with the center’s snap and ends when the ball is dead; One of a series of plays in which the offensive team must advance at least 10 yards or lose possession.

Drive - Describes a series of downs in the offensive team’s advance toward the goal.

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Rules of the Game: Anyone who has ever seen a Robin Hood movie has at one time or another dreamed of being an archer. Archery is a truly great sport that is growing in popularity.  Anyone can participate but to be successful an athlete must train and develop both mental and physical skills.

The sport of Archery is first listed in Homer’s “The Iliad and the Odyssey.” It has been traced to all parts of the world in many different time periods and may well be the longest use of a weapon in the history of man.

Equipment: So first you need a bow and arrow.  The two kinds of bows are the Olympic, or Recurve Bow and the Compound Bow. Mastery of the Olympic bow results in better muscle tone and overall archery habits; once that is accomplished the Compound bow represents a leap forward in accuracy and force.

Scoring: Once you have your equipment you’re ready to toss a few arrows into targets. The target has ten concentric circles and the score of each arrow depends upon where it lands on the target. The highest score, a ten, is achieved by shooting an arrow into the center, or bullseye. Scores go down from nine for the next circle out to one for the outermost circle. Missing the target results in a score of zero for that arrow.

Archers develop techniques to fully control their body movement, their endurance and their mental steadiness, when preparing to meet the challenge of match days.

Filed under: 101-Basics, Archery, Playbook by jane
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“She got Maytaged in those rapids,” “At mile 15 she bonked and didn’t even finish,” “She scored a hat trick in the first half.” Any idea what we’re talking about? The sporting world has it’s own specialized vocabulary.

If you want to walk the walk, you’ve got to talk the talk. (more…)

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Rules of the Game: Water Polo can best be described as contact soccer in a pool, in which athletes use their arms, not their legs, to throw the ball through the opponent’s goal.

Each team has seven players in the pool at one time, including a goalie whose duties are the same as their soccer and hockey counterparts. They are the only players who may touch the bottom of the pool in defending the three-meter goal area. Goalies are also the only players who may touch the ball with both hands.

Play begins with both teams lined up at opposite ends of the pool and the ball is dropped from the side of the pool by the referee. Teams sprint to the center in an attempt to gain the first possession.

Players may move the ball by passing it through the air or across the water’s surface to a teammate, or by carrying the ball while swimming.

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Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football.

10 Simple Rules

THE FIELD - A rectangular shape with endzones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with endzones 25 yards deep.

INITIATE PLAY - Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective endzone line. The defense throws (”pulls”) the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.

SCORING - Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense’s endzone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.

MOVEMENT OF THE DISC - The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc (”thrower”) has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower (”marker”) counts out the stall count.

CHANGE OF POSSESSION - When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds,
drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc
and becomes the offense.

SUBSTITUTIONS - Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.

NON-CONTACT - No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.

FOULS - When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.

SELF-REFEREEING - Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.

SPIRIT OF THE GAME - Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

Links & Resources

Ultimate Players Association

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