Kin-Ball

The black team is about to strike the ball.

Kin-Ball, is a team sport created in Quebec, Canada in 1986 by Mario Demers, a physical education professor, in which the main distinctive characteristics are the big size of the ball (about 1.5 meters in diameter) and that the matches are played among three teams at the same time instead of traditional one-vs-one like the most of the team games. The International Kin-Ball Federation counts 3.8 million participants, primarily from Canada, the U.S., Japan, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Czechia and Malaysia.

Game

Kin-Ball game

Games have three periods lasting between 7 to 15 minutes each, depending on the age level of the participants, with a one-minute intermission between each period. At the beginning of each period, the ball is put into play from the center of the gym by the team with the fewest points. The team with the most points at the end of the three periods wins the game.

Teams are composed of 4 players (with up to 4 substitutes), all of which wear a jersey or pinny of a different colour, with grey, pink and black being the official colours internationally, except in Quebec where blue replaced pink in 2004.

Each team has 4 players. When the game starts, the player at the center throws the ball up while yelling the word "Omnikin" and the corresponding color of a team. The named team must catch the ball before it touches the floor. The catching team must have three players holding the ball from below, each player with one leg bent and with both hands on the ball. The remaining player may stand, then hit the ball with his/her hands while clearly yelling "Omnikin" and the colour of another team which will then run and catch the ball. If the named team does not prevent the ball from hitting the floor, the other two teams are each awarded one point. The ball then goes to the team which failed to score. If a player mistakenly yells the color of his/her own team when hitting the ball, the other teams are awarded points and play restarts.

A player can commit a series of fouls during the match.

1. Yelling the color of his/her own team when hitting the ball.
2. Yelling the color simultaneously with hitting the ball.
3. Allowing the ball to touch the walls of the room without the named team touching it.
4. Hitting the ball in a downwards direction.
5. The offensive team takes longer than 5 seconds to hit the ball once there are 3 contacts.
6. A player hits twice in a row.
7. The ball is hit less than 6 feet in distance.
8. Hitting the ball when there are less than 3 contacts on the ball.
9. Intentionally blocking a player who is on a different team.

International competitions

• Kin-Ball sport World Cup

External links

• International Kin-Ball Federation
• USA KIN-BALL Sport Web Site
• Al Mayrit (Spanish Kin-Ball Team)