Morley Games at Sandy Spring Friends School

Morley Games at Sandy Spring Friends School

Morley Games at Sandy Spring Friends School

Š 2007 Sandy Spring Friends School

EDITOR’S NOTE The dimensions for most Morley games were flexible, depending on the location where the games were played. The dimensions of the fields and distances between equipment listed in the following pages are approximate and can be changed to fit the field, age group, athletic ability, etc. Adjustments may also be made depending on the location of the game. Everything is flexible. The referee should feel free to stop the game and adjust the distances if they aren’t challenging enough, or are too challenging.

Thorny Brown, Head of School during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Barry Morley Biography........................................... 3 History of the Morley Games.................................. 5 Brindledorph.............................................................. 11 Frazleerham............................................................... 15 Friedlefrappe.............................................................. 23 Hoop-A-Doop............................................................... 29 Nurdleybawl............................................................... 33 Rondoturf................................................................... 37 Friedlefrappe

Barry Morley

BARRY MORLEY BIOGRAPHY Based on information in the SSFS Community News, Fall/Winter, 2000 Issue.

Barry Wilson Morley was born May 25, 1932, in New York City. He grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Queens, New York. He attended Harvard University (1950-54), where he received a degree in social psychology and started the Gilbert and Sullivan Group. He attended Boston University (1959-61) for his Masters in Education.

Barry served with the U.S. Army field artillery in Germany (1954-56), after which he sold life insurance, then taught history at Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, where he became a Quaker. He accepted a faculty teaching position at Westtown Friends School, and later moved to SSFS, where he taught for 20 years. Subjects taught included history, music appreciation, chorus and operetta, and intramural sports. He also added the School’s Community House Ninth Grade program. Barry invented the Morley Games and other “no athletic ability or specific number of players required” games. The games were played only at SSFS. Barry also served for 23 years as the Director of Catoctin Quaker Camp near Thurmont, Maryland. In his writings, he considered the Catoctin work the most important he did in his life.

After retiring from teaching, Barry worked as a school bus driver at SSFS and directed Inward Bound, a program that emphasized spiritual growth, reflection, and alternative methods of healing, for nearly 10 years. He led workshops and seminars on spiritual topics through Sandy Spring Meeting, and he wrote two books, Mole Hills and Mountains and The Language of God. Barry also wrote librettos and operettas, led choruses, and continued his lifelong interest in Gilbert and Sullivan through the Victorian Lyric Opera Company in Montgomery County, which he directed from 1985 to 1995.

Barry and Anne Katharine Berentson were married in 1959 and had three children–Ceit Lea Morley, Linda Morley, and Jack Morley, all of whom graduated from SSFS–and four grandchildren. Anne and Barry divorced, and in 1995 he married Lynda Joan Berg. Barry died suddenly of a heart attack near Cooperstown, New York, on August 11, 2000.

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“

Best time of my life!

H

”

oop-a-Doop, Brindledorph and Friedlefrappe were the girls’ games for fall, winter, and spring, respectively. I played them all (sort of). No world championships, but loads of fun and good aerobic exercise. Best time of my life!

Nurdleybawl Olympic Torch, lit by Judy Brown

Hoop-a-Doop was played with old bicycle tires (hoops) and I can’t remember what for doops. The object of the game was to get the hoop over the doop for a score, running the opposing team into submission in the process. I cannot recall team size, but I don’t remember any boundaries!

Brindledorph ‘equipment’ was brooms and a (soccer?) ball, which was swept into a goal - never made a goal, so don’t remember what it was! I do remember putting plastic bags over my socks inside of sneakers to try to keep my feet dry. After the initial shock, we were too busy to think about being cold.

I was usually a Friedle-snatcher with the net in the tower. No running (yay!) and had the bonus of moderate outlet for aggression on the frapper. I did do a brief stint as a frapper, and had the dubious distinction of getting a black eye from a ball thrown by Mrs. Brown.

The games could get heated at times. ~Constance V. Davis (Stone) ‘69

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HISTORY OF THE MORLEY GAMES Originally written in 1982 by Betsy McNerney, Upper School English teacher:

Wrap the tongue round the names of the games: Friedlfrappe and Frazleerham, Brindledorph, Hoop-a-Doop, and Nurdleybawl. The teams which coveted the world championship titles had equally outrageous names: the Hampton Crushers, the Rough Edges, Stampede, and the Duke of Madness. Two games which did not survive past early beginnings were Whandango and Rondoturf.

Awkward and angular are the sounds. Ridiculous, crude, wild, strange, even mad are the names. The players, no doubt wild-eyed and with the appearance of brute strength, had the intensity and abandon of utter involvement. And the games? Reaching their zenith in the first fifteen years of the School, they were the brainchild of Barry Morley. Their beginning moments were signaled by a blast through a moose horn. Boundaries were limitless, and there was an unwritten rule that said any spectator could be drawn into the fray of tilting broom handles, flying bicycle tires, and crumpled trash cans pilfered from Moore Hall classrooms.

The teams are small – between four and twelve to a side, depending on the sport. The equipment is simple, and the scoring unique.

“If you have never felt the satisfaction of connecting broom to volleyball,” urges one announcement for Brindledorph, “come out and play the most wonderful of winter sports.” A variation of field hockey, Brindledorph offers the convenient option of scoring through the back of your own goal. “We always lost the ball and ended up just brushing the snow off the field,” recalls Nellie McCracken, ‘75. Sue DeVeer, ’71, ninth grade teacher and former captain of the Brindledorph “Bloomers,” tells the story of the girl whose tooth was knocked loose by the swipe of a broom handle.

“At the hospital, the doctors said that if we could find the tooth, they could put it back in. So back we went, dug up the snow, and melted it all down in the kitchen in huge soup pots, and there was the tooth.” After that, the brooms were muffled in foam sleeves.

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HISTORY OF THE MORLEY GAMES Hoop-a-Doop, combining the techniques of ultimate Frisbee and the rules of flag football, involved placing a “hoop” (a bicycle tire) over a “doop” (a netless volleyball post). As in all the Morley Games, there is a sticky defense to contend with: the would-be hoop-a-doopers snatch at a handkerchief in the pocket of an opposite team player holding the hoop. The hoop is then dropped and up for grabs. “When you jumped up as far as you could, raised the hoop and slammed it down on the doop, there was a particular sound – kind of a ‘sceerape He-WHACK!!” says Nellie. “It was indescribably satisfying.”

While Hoop-a-Doop was played in the fall and Brindledorph in the winter, Frazleerham and Friedlefrappe were spring sports.

Frazleerham is a fast-moving field game with several unique features. The ball can only be shot off “unconventional parts” of the body, and the goalie, known as the “frazsnapper” does the scoring.

The field is wide open, the only boundaries being the “rhams” or pens surrounding the wastebaskets in which the frazsnapper catches the ball, thrown in by teammates. The game is begun with the toss of a coin, and the winning captain is given the choice of ball possession, direction of attack, or a “surprise.” It is important that the surprise sometimes be more attractive than the other choices, and sometimes less attractive. It is frequently something the entire team can share. The most famous surprise ever given was a toilet seat.

Friedlefrappe, another “rham” game played with fish net and broom, was named after German teacher Ann Friedl, a vivacious cheerleader at all the games. “I was going to wear my mascot uniform today but it was too cold,” she quipped to a Washington Post reporter at an exhibition of the games (Circa 1976). “It’s a leotard outfit with a black tutu and a large red sweater. One year, I really stopped the show with it.”

The absurdity of play, instrument, and title belie the intensity of the players’ involvement in the years in which the games were strong.

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HISTORY OF THE MORLEY GAMES Undaunted by the lack of any challenge from other schools, Sandy Spring Friends School regularly handed out world championship certificates.

“They were proud of those things,” affirmed Barry. And players worked for them. “Part of my love for the game had to do with the fact that I played on the world championship teams,” said ninth grade teacher Mike DeHart, ’71. Seventy percent of the students played in the two hundred games on campus each year. There were intense rivalries. “You got on a team when you came to school and stayed with it all the way through,” says Sue. Mike remembered the devotion of one Anne Friedl, 1967-68 school year player, Ned Maida, ‘69, of the Hampton Crushers. “He would stand up during the dinner announcements before every game he played and dedicated it to some famous southerner in history. Ned was a southern gentleman himself, the same guy whose team broke someone’s collarbone.”

The spirit and intrigue of the games is somehow increased for this writer by the fact that it has passed. For so many, their vitality now lies most prominently in their tongue-twisting titles, and not in the games themselves, or even in memories of great games. They came into being with the school in 1961, and continued at high pitch for many years, filling a need which has since changed. “The games made it possible for a school with a small student body to have a sports program,” said Anne Morley, one of the original faculty members. “There were no varsity sports. These were the sports the 7

HISTORY OF THE MORLEY GAMES serious athletes put their energies into.” As the School grew, there were enough students to field a traditional sports team which could take on other schools. “There was a period in which the School tried to do both types of sports,” she said. “That was tough. We only practiced once a week, but that put our varsity soccer and lacrosse teams at a disadvantage. The varsity became good enough that the serious athletes wanted all the practice time they could get.”

The games had been held after dinner, something for the boarders to do at night. As with operetta and chorus, everyone joined up. But as the day-student enrollment grew, and opportunities for extra-curricular involvement increased, the energies devoted to the games dwindled. “They died when I left the main school and went to the (off-campus) Community House Ninth Grade,” said Barry, who gave much of his energy and charisma to organizing and running the games.

It was in the Ninth Grade program, located in the Community House in Sandy Spring (1974-1990), that the games were still played.

Barry and Anne Morley, Mike DeHart and Sue DeVeer, Community House Ninth Grade faculty, agreed that the games were more of a fun thing by then. There was not the same keen sense of competition they said, the same shrewd understanding of the game. Yet the games bring on the same camaraderie and cohesiveness in a small school (Community House Ninth Grade) as they once did in the larger one. “It’s fun to be a part of the Ninth Grade and play the Ninth Grade sports, “said freshman Dominique Zeltzman,‘85.

“We play soccer against other schools, because everyone knows that game, but I like the Morley games better. They’re easier to be good at. They’re not ‘magical,’ but they are different; imaginative, creative.”

The absence of any need for finely honed athletic ability was no accident. It was built into the games at the start and accounted for the enthusiastic participation of many. “They were designed to be playable by anybody,” said Barry, “even those who always hated high school games.” Nellie, for example, grew up as the baby sister 8

HISTORY OF THE MORLEY GAMES to a lot of tall, athletic brothers, and was “always getting creamed” in games. To slam that bicycle tire home was something new to one who had “always been on the receiving end of volleyball spikes and who will never in her life achieve a slam-dunk in basketball.”

“People learned that they didn’t hate competitive athletics – they hated the bad things about it – being chosen, being skilled,” said Barry. “Although the games reward fine athletic ability, they do not punish lesser ability.”

“The games were designed so that the nomenclature and the name of the game were absurd – in an effort to prevent it from becoming too serious.” Barry remembered a player yelling in the middle of one game, “Stop them, girls, or they’ll dorph us to death!” and the players on both sides sitting down and howling with laughter.

Friedlefrappe

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“

... a significant part of the culture

I

”

was never athletic as a teen (or as a middle-aged woman) but the games were a significant part of the culture back in the 70’s. When my partner and I opened up a new community shortly after Barry died and were searching for a name, we chose “Brindledorf.” We wanted to keep it fun, co-operative, and to remember Barry and the community at SSFS. ~Sue Eynon Lark ‘76

Brindledorph

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BRINDLEDORPH Equipment 1. One volleyball 2. Brooms which have the straw section cut off just below the lacing 3. Eight markers (poles) approximately four feet high, made from ends of broom handles anchored in cement molds Field The field has no boundaries. There are two goals at either end of the field, 50-75 yards apart. Each of the goals is formed from four poles set approximately 10 feet apart. (See diagram on next page)

Description of the Game There are two teams of 6-8 players each. Each player holds a broom and attempts to score by hitting the volley ball through the goal. A unique aspect of the game is that scores may be made through the front or the back of the goal.

Rules of the Game 1. How to move the ball: the ball may be hit with the broom; the ball may not be moved in any other way.

2. Scoring: There are three (3) ways to score: a. Hit the ball through either of the openings “A” in your goal which is defended by the opposing team (a team’s offensive direction). This counts 2 points. (See diagram on next page)

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BRINDLEDORPH b. Hit the ball through opening “B” in your goal which is defended by the opposing team (a team’s offensive direction). This counts 3 points. (See diagram below) c. Hit the ball through openings “A” or “B” from behind the goal by the team defending that goal (that teams’ offensive direction). This counts 1 point. (See diagram below)

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BRINDLEDORPH General Positioning of the Players To begin the game, a coin is tossed and the winning team captain may make the choice of which teams will begin with possession of the ball or direction of attack. The team captain who loses the toss then gets the remaining choices of direction of attack or which team gets possession of the ball.

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“

... the best team sport I ever, ever, ever played

F

”

razleerham was written up in Sports Illustrated in the early 70’s.

Never read it, but Barry thought they did a good job describing it. I was never on the Fraz roster for the world games (the only sport I officially joined was Nurdleybawl - Go Valkyries!), but Frazleerham became my favorite. Nurdleybawl was a spring sport (of course) and we played Fraz in the winter. Our Spanish teacher developed the offensive upperarm shot that was great. You could use it either from far out and lob it over the defense in front of the rham, or play it close in for a quick scoring tap to the snapper. ~John Y. Hartge ‘72

I

remember my mother picking me up after a rousing game of Fraz. It was raining. It was muddy. I had on nine million soaked layers of clothing and couldn’t put my arms down. It was the best team sport I ever, ever, ever played. Ari bouncing around and yelling as we ran down the line... For a brief (and dazzling) moment I felt almost entirely not quite unlike a jock. Weird. And that’s wonderful. ~Glynis H. Irwin ‘82

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FRAZLEERHAM Equipment 1. Two square pens (rhams) made of wood 10-12 feet in length on each side. The top of the pen is 2 feet from the ground.

(PVC pipe and elbows were used in 2006 to construct two rhams. At least one alumnus designed a portable rham to take to college with him.)

2. Two large round buckets, about 14� tall, make up the goal within the rham held by the frazsnapper. A round bucket is crucial for this game. (Trash cans were originally used.)

3. One soccer or volleyball.

Field The field has no boundaries. The only official dimension is the placement of the pens 60 yards apart from the back of one rham to the back of the other rham. Any variation which suits the players, the number of players, and the conditions is encouraged. (See diagram below)

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FRAZLEERHAM Description of the Game Frazleerham is a fast moving field game involving running, throwing, catching and physical contact. A unique aspect of the game is that the goalie (frazsnapper) does the scoring by catching the ball in the bucket, while inside the rham. The rest of the team distributes themselves around the field to their own best advantage.

1. Players: There are two teams of 8-11 players. Each team has a player, known as the frazsnapper, positioned inside the rham at the opposite end of the field with the round bucket.

2. To begin the game: A coin toss is used to select receiving the ball first or which side of the field to defend. The captain of the team winning the coin toss chooses possession of the ball or defense of one end of the field. The captain of 16

FRAZLEERHAM the team losing the coin toss selects the remaining choice, i.e. direction of the attack or which team gets possession of the ball. (Tradition dictates that the captain winning the toss first be given the choice of the coin or a surprise. It is important that the surprise be more enticing than the coin.

The losing captain then gets what is left over. The surprise is frequently something the entire team can share. You are encouraged to think of surprising surprises.

3. The game is started by the frazsnapper of the team with possession of the ball, punting from within the rham towards his/her own players at the opposite end of the field.

4. Initial positioning of the players: Each team positions itself behind an imaginary line running through the front of the rham they are defending (the rham containing the frazsnapper of the opposing team).

5. The game ends at an agreed upon time (usually 8 minute quarters, running time, excluding stoppage time for injuries and referee explanations).

Scoring Each score is worth one point. There are two ways of scoring: 1. Receive the ball by catching it and then bouncing it off of the ground from outside the rham over the railing of the rham and having your frazsnapper catch it in the bucket. This is known to connoisseurs of the game as the Direct Indirect Method.

2. Receive the ball by catching it and then bouncing it off some part of your own body from outside of the rham, from the knee up or from the elbow up, over the railing and into the bucket held by your frazsnapper. Similarly, this is known as the Indirect Direct Method.

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FRAZLEERHAM Moving the ball 1. The ball may be passed or punted.

2. A player may not run while in possession of the ball, nor may a player dribble by hand or by foot down the field.

Two to three steps are allowed to halt forward momentum if receiving the ball while running.

3. Most teams divide themselves among defenders, midfielders and attackers with liberal overlapping.

4. Time outs: No time outs are permitted to be taken by players. Referees may call time outs for injuries or for rules explanation.

Defense 1. A defender may tackle the ball at anytime.

2. Physical contact is allowable, if in the referee’s judgment, the contact is clearly part of the tackling of the ball.

3. A defensive player may not tie up the offensive player. Any defensive player wrapping both arms around an offensive player from behind is considered to be tying up the player.

Defense of a player must be from the front, not from behind the offensive player or from the side.

Rules for the Frazsnapper 1. Frazsnapper may not play the ball with his/her hands at any time.

2. Frazsnapper involves self in offense by catching passes in the bucket or by passing out of the bucket to a teammate.

3. Frazsnapper may scoop up a loose ball inside the rham.

4. Frazsnapper may use his/her feet on a loose ball inside the rham either to scoop up the ball or to kick the ball outside the rham.

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FRAZLEERHAM 5. Frazsnapper may leave the bucket inside the rham in order to join the offense. No one else may become the frazsnapper during that time.

6. Frazsnapper may use outside of bucket to deflect the ball.

7. After a score the Frazsnapper promptly gets the ball to the referee, who punts or throws the ball, with the objective of having the ball land as close to midfield as possible. The ball is now in play.

8. A score is made when the Frazsnapper catches a “shot�, as defined above, while s/he is standing in the rham. The ball may be outside the rham when caught, but it must have passed over one side of the rham before being caught.

Violations (1-9) and fouls (10-12) 1. Moving the ball in any manner other than throwing or punting.

2. Unnecessary roughness, i.e. a player has fouled another player rather than playing the ball.

3. A tie-up between two opposing players results in the ball being thrown up in the air and becoming a free ball. Move 15 yards further out from the rham if in the proximity of the rham.

4. Delay of game violations or moving the ball further and further away from the normal playing area may result in the ball being awarded to the other team.

5. Field players breaking the vertical plane of the rham, preventing offensive players from passing or shooting, or impeding defensive players from blocking a shot or pass also are violations. Reaching under the rham with one arm up to the shoulder is permitted though.

6. Warding off another player while in pursuit of a loose ball with one’s body or arms is not permitted.

7. Passing to yourself.

8. Dangerous punting, i.e. while someone is reaching for the ball or at another player.

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FRAZLEERHAM 9. Restricting the movement or motion of another player by encircling them with one’s arms or legs.

10. Individual repeatedly committing egregious fouls or deliberately being rough.

11. If in the vicinity of the rham a possible scoring situation is interrupted by a violation, a foul may be called.

12. Showing bad sportsmanship towards an opposing player or a fellow teammate. This includes, but is not limited to, cursing and abusive language.

Penalties for violations and fouls 1. At the point of the violation or after 15 yards have been marked off due to proximity of rham, the ball is given by the referee to a member of the non-offending team to be put back into play by throwing or punting it. The player restarting play may not be guarded.

2. For fouls a foul shot may be awarded. The referee walks off five long strides from the front edge of the non-offending team’s rham. A shot is then attempted by bouncing the ball off of one’s thigh. No player may stand in the lane created between the shot taker and the front of the rham. If the shot is missed, no one may go after the ball until the referee blows the whistle once.

Substitutions

Free substitutions are permitted at anytime during play.

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FRAZLEERHAM Advantages of the Game 1.

2.

3.

4.

Elaborate equipment is not required.

Flexible number of players needed to play the game.

The game can be played on fields of varying sizes.

The skills involved are gross motor skills and as a result the game can be successfully played by people of varying ages and skill levels.

5. The game can be co-ed even though it may not sound like it.

6. The game can be played in almost any weather, including snow, because of the lack of the need for boundaries.

Furthermore, it is a good outdoor winter sport.

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“

Friedlefrapp is unique...

F

”

riedlefrappe is unique. There are two towers (the Friedleposts), that are placed inside the rhams, with a player with a net in each. Then, on the ground in the rham is a frapper, who has a broom and tries to deflect the shots by all of the players who are running around outside of the rham. The players outside the rham are essentially playing keep-away with a small ball, but can only hold it with one hand. Then to score, they have to toss the ball into the net of the player in their Friedlepost, without it being knocked away by the frapper. ~Michael T. McElroy ‘03

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FRIEDLEFRAPPE Equipment 1. Two brooms 2. Two long-handled crab nets 3. One red rubber playground ball six inches in diameter 4. Two towers six feet high 5. Two rhams

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FRIEDLEFRAPPE Field The rhams are placed side by side, touching, with a tower exactly in the center of each. There is a chalk line oval drawn on the ground around the rhams, as a scoring boundary. Otherwise, there are no boundaries. (See diagram below)

Description of the game There are two teams of six players each. (Eight can be used. Six makes it official.) Inside each rham, there is a Friedlfrapper holding a broom. There is a Friedlsnatcher from the opposite team standing in the tower, holding a crab net. The four other players try to score by throwing the ball into their own snatcher’s net, and prevent the opposite team from doing so.

Initial position of the players: the eight running players must remain outside the rhams. The two Friedlsnatchers are in their towers, and the two Friedlfrappers stand within the rham of the opponent’s snatcher.

To begin the game a coin is tossed by the referee with one of the captains calling, and the winner may choose whether or not to start with the possession of the ball.

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FRIEDLEFRAPPE The game begins when the starting team’s frapper throws the ball to one of the runners.

There are four eight-minute quarters running time (except for injuries, referee warnings or explanations).

Scoring Each team scores when its Friedlsnatcher catches the ball in its own crab net, except when violations occur on the scoring play. The ball must be thrown from the player’s hand to the crab net without touching the ground. However, the ball may bounce from the rham, or the tower, or another player, or a broom, but not the ground. No score is made, therefore, when the snatcher scoops a ball from the ground. (See snatcher, rule 3) If the ball is thrown to the net from inside the chalkline, one point is scored; if thrown from outside the line, two points are scored.

If the ball is hit by your frapper’s broom into your net, five points are scored.

Moving the ball Players move the ball by: 1. Running with the ball in one hand (except across the chalk line).

2. Passing the ball (players may catch the ball with both hands).

3. In order to move the ball across the chalk line, it must be passed.

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FRIEDLEFRAPPE Defense The ball may be grabbed at any time. Players must play the ball and not the person. Teams usually play player-to-player defense, with the four runners all playing defense or all playing offense, depending on who has the ball. Some teams prefer zone defense, dividing the oval field into quadrants.

Rules for the Frapper 1. Except for the 5-point score play, the frapper plays a wholly defensive position.

2. The frapper’s objective is to deflect a ball (with the broom) from going into the opposite team’s net, which is of course held in the tower directly above said frapper.

3. The frapper, who must always stay inside the rham, may reach out of the rham with the broom to hit or move the ball into the rham, into the air, or to another player, provided such play is not considered dangerous.

4. The frapper may touch the ball only with the broom, with one exception: after scoring, the frapper receives the ball, handed by the snatcher. The ball is put back into action in the same manner as the initial play.

5. The frapper and snatcher may not use their net and broom dangerously.

Rules for the Snatcher 1. The snatcher may touch the ball only with the net except after a score is made, at which time, he/she immediately takes the ball out of the net and promptly hands it down to the opposite team’s frapper. (See rule #4 for frappers) 2. The snatcher may interfere with the frapper’s attempt to get a ball on the ground inside the rham by reaching down with the net to scoop up the ball or to push it out to a player.

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FRIEDLEFRAPPE 3. If the snatcher scoops the ball from the ground into the net, this is not a score, and the ball must be flipped directly from the net, and can’t be touched in any other way by the snatcher.

4. The snatcher must have one foot on the platform at all times.

5. The frapper and snatcher may not use their net and broom dangerously.

Rules for the Runners 1. Players may not run with two hands on the ball.

2. Players may not kick the ball, dribble with hands or feet, or pass to themselves.

3. Players may not run across the chalk line while holding the ball.

4. After a score is made, the ball must be in the possession of a player on the outside of the chalk line before another score is made.

5. Players may not attack other players directly, or prevent a player’s movement except by grabbing the ball.

6. Players may not hold the ball against their bodies.

Penalties The referee blows the whistle to stop the play, and awards the ball to a player of the opposite team at approximately the locations where the violation occurred. The chosen player must stand and pass the ball. He/she can’t be guarded, and may not attempt to score.

Chalk line rules 1. Players may not run over the chalk line with the ball.

2. The ball must be passed over the chalk line.

3. Players may not stand on the chalk line.

Advantages Same as Frazleerham 27

“

... played with the fullest enthusiasm

D

”

ating myself, before Friedlefrappe there was Whandango, for the women, played with some strange catapult-like contraption that launched a ball.

Then, also for the women, was Hoopa-Doop, where old 26” bicycle tires were wrassled around up and down the field until one team or the other could throw the hoop (the tire) over the eight or nine-foot pole to score. There were two of these, one at either end of the field. I saw Molly Bennet and another young woman return to Moore Hall one night after a Hoop-a-Doop game bleeding as if they’d been in a prize fight. The games may have been non-contact in nature, but they were certainly played with the fullest enthusiasm by pretty much all concerned. ~ James C. Brown ‘69

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HOOP-A-DOOP Equipment 1. At least 30 thin used bicycle tires called hoops 2. Four doops: tall vertical poles seven feet high, set in cement inside of car tires (see photo) 3. Four gates: 2x2’s (see photo) 4. One handkerchief (flag) per player

Field The field contains five marked circles and no outside boundaries.

The center circle is 15 feet in diameter. The four doops are arranged with one at each corner of an unmarked square 50 feet apart, but can be adjusted for the age group. The gates are placed about 3-4 feet in front of the doops diagonally inside the square.

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HOOP-A-DOOP Description of the Game There are two teams of six. Each person begins the game with a handkerchief hanging out of his/her back pocket as in flag football.

Scoring is done by throwing a hoop (bicycle tire) over one of the doops while retaining the handkerchief. Each team has two doops at opposite corners, and any hoops on those doops add to that team’s score. The game is composed of four ten-minute quarters.

Rules of the Game 1. To begin the game, a coin is tossed by the referee with one of the captains calling, and the winner chooses whether or not to start with possession of the first hoop. The game begins when the team with possession passes the hoop.

2. The initial position of the players: the player with possession of the first hoop stands inside the circle. The other players are outside the circle.

3. Players attempt to throw the hoop over their doops while retaining their handkerchiefs. Scoring is cumulative, e.g., the first hoop on a doop equals one point; the second hoop on the same doop equals two points, etc. The hoops remain on the doops until the end of each quarter, at which point they are removed. After each score, the referee gives a new hoop to an opposite team member within the circle.

4. Players move the hoop by running with the hoop in hand or passing it to another player. Players may hold the hoop with one or two hands.

5. Defense: the main goal of defense is to pull the handkerchief out of the pocket of an opposite team player holding the hoop. As the defensive player succeeds in getting the handkerchief, he/she yells, “FLAG” and drops the handkerchief. The player whose handkerchief has been pulled must immediately drop the hoop and replace the handkerchief in his/her back pocket. Anyone may grab the hoop off the ground then. Players also may try to grab 30

HOOP-A-DOOP the hoop from someone’s hand. In the event that players of opposing teams are holding on to the hoops, they may continue to do so until one person grabs the hoop, or the flag of one of the two players is pulled.

6. The gates serve as inanimate defensive objects since they prevent players from running directly at their doops.

7. Teams usually do not divide into offensive and defensive players. When a team has the hoop, they all are offensive, and when the opposite team has the hoop, the first team is defensive.

Violations 1. Players must yell “FLAG” when they pull a flag or the play does not count 2. Players may not yell “FLAG” if they don’t pull a flag.

3. A player must not continue to hold onto the hoop after her/ his flag is pulled 4. Knocking down a gate is a violation 5. Unnecessary roughness is a violation

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“

Nurdleybawl... a fine sport indeed

N

”

urdleybawl ... a fine sport indeed ... and the Valkyries ... as a founding member of the team (long before the era of free agents and steroid abuse) I recall getting smoked for the first 2 years (we were all “underclasspersons”) ... however, the year when the majority (perhaps all) of the team were seniors ... well the results of that season used to be exhibited on a plaque in Moore ... in the hall leading to the laundry room where a rather large number of dining room chairs were stored one night ...

Josef S. Idoine ‘66

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NURDLEYBAWL Equipment 1. Nurdle (an adjustable batting tee about 3 feet high) 2. Nurdle bat (a little league hardball bat sawed off 17 ½ inches from and including the knob) 3. Ball (hard sponge ball about the size of a hardball)

Field The field is similar to a softball field except the angle at home plate is 40 degrees. The 2 bases are approximately 60 feet down each foul line from the nurdle. (See diagram, page 35.) The bunt line as shown in the diagram is drawn from a point 40 feet from the nurdle down one foul line to 40 feet from the nurdle down the other foul line.

Description of the Game Regular baseball (hardball) rules apply with the following exceptions: 1. Each team has four members, usually first base, third base, short field, and long field.

2. There is not a pitcher or catcher.

3. There is no second base.

4. The ball is put in play by being hit from the nurdle by the batter. No batter may put the ball in play until the fielders indicate they are ready.

5. Each batter has only one swing per turn; therefore one strike puts a batter out. If the ball is hit, baseball rules apply, with two exceptions: a. Any foul ball is out. b. A fair ball which does not go beyond the bunt line is out. However, a fielder may play the ball inside the bunt line, in which case the ball is in play. As with any caught fly ball, a runner may tag and advance after a foul fly is caught. (Smart players, therefore, do not catch 33

NURDLEYBAWL foul balls. Even smarter players help the fielder to know whether the ball will fall fair or foul.)

6. No stealing of bases is allowed. Runners must be on base when the ball is hit.

7. The game is played in 10 innings. (That’s what makes it nurdley!)

8. Substitutions: Free substitutions so long as no player is at bat more than he/she is in the field and vice versa.

Advantages of the Game 1. The field takes less space than a regular softball field, and can be set up anywhere the grass is mown, e.g., large yards.

2. Because there is no pitcher and only one strike, the game is speeded up, and everyone is more involved.

3. It can be played with only eight total players, e.g., a neighborhood gang.

4. A team’s success depends on each person’s skill more than on the pivotal position of pitcher

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NURDLEYBAWL

35

RONDOTURF

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RONDOTURF Equipment 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Five croquet wickets A post Three stakes arranged in a triangle at each wicket One basketball One softball

Field The Rondoturf green consists of a circle about ten feet in diameter and a concentric circle of five wickets and a post. At each wicket three stakes are arranged in a triangle.

Description of the game Rondoturf is a distant, circular relative of croquet. The wickets and the circle are manned by the six-person teams. The players in the circle attempt to deflect with a basketball the softball which is bowled by the players at the wickets. If the softball is deflected, a point is scored, the teams rotate, and the softball changes hands. If the ball goes through a wicket, the team in possession of the ball continues in the same direction, as they may also do if the center stake is struck by the softball. Hitting this stake enables that team to take a shot at the post; such a hit is worth two points from one wicket away, four from two wickets away, and six from the farthest wicket.

Scoring 1. If the softball is deflected a point is scored.

2. Hitting the post is worth two points from one wicket away, four from two wickets away, and six from the farthest wicket.

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FRAZLEERHAM - 2005

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MORLEY GAMES IN THE NEWS: SUN MAGAZINE Sun Magazine - September 22, 1974

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MORLEY GAMES IN THE NEWS: SUN MAGAZINE Sun Magazine - September 22, 1974 (cont.)

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MORLEY GAMES IN THE NEWS: SUN MAGAZINE Sun Magazine - September 22, 1974 (cont.)

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MORLEY GAMES IN THE NEWS: SPORTS ILLUSTRATED “I was then and am now a dyslexic klutz and was wretched at even Morley Sports but enjoyed them nonetheless. Does anyone have a xerox of the Sports Illustrated article? I recall hearing that it was published in 1974.

Maybe it could be posted on the alum site?” ~Harvey Kaplan ‘67 (The following is the text of the article...)

Sports Illustrated - November 1974

Games Friends Play With winter approaching, it’s getting to that Frazleerham and Brindledorph time again at Sandy Spring Friends School in Olney, Md. Just as well. Friedlefrappe, Hoop-A-Doop and Nurdleybawl had about run their course for a while.

Maybe this needs explaining. These are games. In Friedlefrappe, for instance, all you have to do is throw a friedlesphere up into a friedlesnare that is being held by a friedlesnatcher on the friedleplat, providing, of course, the friedlefrapper doesn’t get her broom in the way and bat the friedlesphere away from the friedlesnare.

Got it?

If you don’t, the Sandy Spring kids do and they profess to like the games, the inventions of Barry Morley, a Harvard and Boston U. graduate and a teacher there. A lack of funds and playing facilities were Morley’s original inspiration. Although tennis, soccer, lacrosse and baseball have been added to the menu, they will not do for the gymless students come the cold months. So it’s Frazleerham for the boys—a combination of rugby, soccer and basketball with a whimsical mixture of Morleyesque terms—and Brindledorph for the girls, sort of field hockey played with brooms.

“I have a philosophy that life is a process of participation rather than spectating,” says Morley. “It seems to me the object of education is to give a student experience. The object of school is to teach, not to exploit. The psychological and physical pressures put on Little League kids is too much. They win because their parents want them to. At Sandy Spring, the kids compete, but not to make the team.”

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