October 22, 2008 - Basketball may be one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world. At the Asian Beach Games, the sport will be performed at the beach.
Spectators from around the world can witness sports history with the 1st Asian Beach Games now underway in Bali, Indonesia. Conceived by the Olympic Council of Asia and currently scheduled every two years, the event features athletes from 43 countries participating in 18 sports. Some of those sports are played in North America. Many of them are not. All of them are way cool.
Obvious events like beach volleyball and surfing are included as are sailing, jet skiing, paragliding and marathon swimming. Participants can compete in other hybrid sports such as beach wrestling, beach waterpolo and beach soccer.
Some of the games, such as basketball, have to be adapted in order to be played on the sand. Beach basketball is similar to the hoops we all know and love except the basket has no backboard, just a net on a pole. The court is circular and there is no out of bounds. Shots from outside the circle are worth three points. Shots from inside the circle are worth two points. Obviously there is no dribbling possible so players move the ball by passing or taking two-and-a-half steps.
The Beach Games also features several sports that may fall far outside the American sporting consciousness.
One is Beach Kabaddi, a combative sport with teams of four players who try to score points by raiding their opponent’s court and touching as many defence players as possible without getting caught on a single breath. Kind of like an adrenaline-fueled game of tag.
Beach Pentjak Silat is a combative art of fighting and survival. A martial art form that has evolved in Indonesian and Malaysian civilizations into a social culture and tradition. Competitors use hands, elbows, arms, legs, knees and feet in attacks. Common techniques include kicking, hitting, tripping, sweeps, locks, takedowns, throws, strangles, and joint breaking.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable sports of the Beach Games is Beach Sepaktakraw, a Malaysian game that combines principles of soccer and volleyball. Players touch a rattan synthetic ball across a volleyball-style net using only their feet and heads.
Dragon Boat racing is a sport where a very long and narrow boat is powered by teams of 10 to 50 paddlers. It originated in China and dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard that leads the crew throughout a race with the rhythmic beating that indicates the timing and frequency of paddling strokes, from the cadence to picking up the pace to slowing down.
Not all the contests feature female competitors. Beach wrestling, for example, is for men only this year but most of the games do welcome women participants. Windsurfing, triathlon, dragon boat racing and woodball all have female entrants.
What fun to train and what fun to participate. Clearly, these Games, which continue through Oct. 26th, are more than just a day at the beach!
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