Stökpralla
Stökpralla | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Official languages | |
| Government | |
• Cultural Governing Body | Stalish Games Association (SGA) |
• Highest Governing Body | International Stökpralla Association |
| Formation | |
• Related Games | 2016 |
• Stalish Stökpralla Premier League Begins | 2018 |
• Club Alpenberg is formed | 2018 |
• Flåss Samina wins the first season of Premier league | September 2019 |
Stökpralla is an outdoor team game and the co-national sport of the Kingdom of Stalmanndorf. Stökpralla is one of Stalmanndorf's native sports. The objective of the game is to use a wooden stick called a Stök to hit a ball on to one of two wickets for a variety of points. These wickets are guarded by a wickets-keeper who must remain within a circle 10 meters in diameter. The ball must be bounced on the two flat spots on the Stök the flat spot on the end is called the Nivå which is Stalish for Plane, and the spot in the middle is the Wag which is Stalish for Cradle. A player cannot handle the ball with any part of his body, he must only use the Stök. A player can not have possession of the ball for more than 7 steps and the ball must be bounced on the Stök, like dribbling in basketball.
The only contact allowed in stökpralla is shoulder to shoulder contact in certain situations. The situations where contact is permitted are: defender vs ball-handler, opponents fighting for possession of an airborne ball, and when opponents are racing down the pitch.
No protection is used in Stökpralla, face masks and bonnets are optional.
Etymology
The name Stökpralla is in the Stalish language translating to "Stick bouncing" which describes how the ball is handled.
History
Since 2016 Stökpralla has gone through many changes and growing pains.
Early Games
Around 2016 games resembling Stökpralla started being played in Stalmanndorf. The game would be seen being played near two trees, about 100 meters apart, players would be throwing a tennis ball, trying to hit the opponents' tree. Soon the sport was too easy and players started bouncing the ball on sticks found on the ground.
Two-wicket evolution
The game was getting quite popular, but it hadn't developed since the addition of sticks. When playing, a player reportedly hit a dead twig, which made it snap off and fall to the ground. The extra points were added on to the score. Since then, players would try for twigs in the tree for bonus points.
2018
The game became more popular and rules started to form. Proper equipment was made and a scoring system was developed. Eventually, the SGA adopted the sport as it was a large part of Stalish culture. In August and September 2018, the first season of the Stalish Stökpralla Premier League was made.
Gameplay
Two teams of seven players each try to knock down their opponents' wickets, achieving a score, a double, or a triple. The team that has scored more points at the end of the game is the winner.
No player, including the wickets-keeper, may handle the ball with any body part. No player can balance the ball on the Stök either, the ball must bounce in the air constantly. The ball can be bounced in three different ways, handling is bouncing it on the Nivå, cradling is bouncing it on the Wag, and dribbling is bouncing the ball on both the Nivå and the Wag. Players are able to play the ball in all directions and move anywhere on the pitch, except for offside. The offside rule in Stökpralla is the same as the offside rule in Association Football.
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While playing the game, players attempt to score by controlling the ball through defense by handling it, passing it, or taking a shot on goal. The opponents try to get control of the ball through steals, interceptions, or a blocked shot. Physical contact can be made, but only in certain situations. Play is only stopped when the officials must consult, play continues through the injury because of the loose substitution rules.
The ISA rulebook states that there are no official positions in Stökpralla except a wickets-keeper. The ISA rulebook also regulates who can score and handle the ball, only two players are allowed to score, and only two are allowed to offensively handle the ball. The Stalish Stökpralla Premier League mandates that the teams use the Stalish Formation (4-2-1) to make positions. The picture on the right shows the Stalish Formation, the 1 position is called the striker, strikers are the only players on the field with the ability to score. The 2 position is called the assistman, assistmen and strikers are the only players on the field allowed to offensively handle the ball. The 3 position is the defenders the defenders cannot handle the ball offensively, meaning the only time they can handle the ball is to steal it and pass it to a member of the offense. The Defenders generally don't cross midfield. Finally, the k position is the wickets-keeper. The wickets-keeper must remain in the keeper's circle which is 10 meters in diameter.
Scoring
Scoring is more complicated in Stökpralla than it is in other sports. There are three different ways to score, a score, a double, and a triple.
A score is the most common way to earn points. To score, a player must hit the bottom wicket causing both wickets to fall, and his team will earn one point.
A double is a little rarer than a score but happens often enough. A double is hitting only the top wicket, and only the top wicket falls. The double rewards two points.
A triple is the rarest form of scoring. A triple is when the top wicket is hit, causing both wickets to fall. The triple rewards you three points. The triple can be very deceptive if the ball makes any sort of contact with the top wicket the call will be a score. Sometimes a score will look like a triple if the ball makes contact with the top of the bottom wicket.
Ending the match
A Stökpralla match is divided into 5 games, like tennis. Whoever wins the best of 5 games, wins the match. A game ends when a team leads by five points. Once a team wins three games, they have one the match, but if five games haven't passed, match can't end.
Below is the final scoreboard for the 2018 Stalish Stökpralla Premier League final.
| Flåss Samina | 6/1/0|8 | 4/2/0|8 | 6/0/0|6 | 2/0/0|2 | 10/2/0|12 | < |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club Landeshås | 3/0/0|3 | 3/0/0|3 | 5/3/0|12 | 5/2/0|7 | 5/2/0|7 |
Scoreboard
| Flåss Samina | 6/1/0|8 | 4/2/0|8 | 6/0/0|6 | 2/0/0|2 | 10/2/0|12 | < |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club Landeshås | 3/0/0|3 | 3/0/0|3 | 5/3/0|12 | 5/2/0|7 | 5/2/0|7 |
Above is the scoreboard from the 2018 Stalish Stökpralla Premier League final where Flåss Samina met Club Landeshås. The scoreboard is divided into seven sections, team name, a score of game 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and an arrow to signify the winner. The scores for each game follow the template of s/d/t|tl. the s stands for score, d for double, t for triple, and tl for total. The scoreboard is designed to show the viewers of the game and the officials the total score of the game, and the number of scores, doubles, and triples. To find the total score of the match, always look at the number to the far right.
Another irregularity is in the 3rd game, where the final score is 6 to 12, but the game ends after a team goes up by 5 points. In that case, Club Landeshås scored a double when they were ahead by four points, that's why every once in a while a team might win a game by six or even seven points.
Pitch
The Stokprölla pitch is circular with a midfield, two keeper's circles, two free hurl lines and a center circle. Measurements of a Stökpralla pitch are in metric format. The pitch is 160 meters in diameter with the opposing wickets being 100 meters apart. The center circle has no official diameter. The free hurl lines are 10 meters from the outside of the keeper's circle.
Boundaries are marked by out of bounds lines and are monitored by officials.
Ball out of play
There are many ways the ball can be considered "out of play" there are also a variety of penalties if the ball goes out of play.
Below is a list of ways the ball is considered out of play and the penalty that follows it.
| Out of Play | Description | Penalty | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Out of bounds | The ball or ball handler goes
outside the boundary. |
Pass-in | The opposing team takes possession
of the ball at the spot where the offense left the boundary. A member of the offence will stand out of bounds and pass the ball in. |
| Drop | The ball makes contact with the ground | Out-hurl | The ball is brought to the opposing team's
wickets-keeper to pass it to an eligible team member. |
| Travel | The ball handler exceeds seven steps with
possession of the ball. |
Out-Hurl | |
| Net-Pralla | The ball handler is not bouncing the ball
on his Stök. More commonly referred to as "Netting". Net pralla is Stalish for "Not bouncing" |
Out-Hurl | |
| Handling | The ball handler touching the ball with a body part. | Out-Hurl |
Fouls and penalties
A foul occurs when a player breaks one of the rules of the game. A foul is always followed up with a penalty, penalties range from minor ones, like a turnover, or major ones, like disqualification. The official's decision is always final and cannot be reviewed. When scoring the official must watch vigilantly to see if points were scored through a score, a double, or a triple and make a decision on the points rewarded to the scoring team.
Below are a list of fouls.
| Foul | Description | Penalty | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intentional Strike | Intentionally hitting another
player with the Stök. |
Free Hurl | The victim of the foul
gets to take a shot at the wickets from the free hurl line. Any position is able to shoot. |
| Tripping | Intentionally tripping an
opponent. |
Out-Hurl | |
| Illegal contact | Making contact outside of the three legal situations.
Those are: defender vs ball handler opponents fighting for possession of an airborne ball opponents are racing down the pitch |
Out-Hurl | |
| Intentional strike II | Intentionally hitting another
player with a part of your body. |
Free Hurl | |
| Illegal keeper
movement |
Keeper leaving the Keeper's circle. | Free Hurl | |
| Illegal scoring | Anybody but the two legal positions scoring. | Out Hurl | Points not counted |
| Out of bounds | The ball or ball handler goes
outside the boundary. |
Pass-in | The opposing team takes possession
of the ball at the spot where the offense left the boundary. A member of the offence will stand out of bounds and pass the ball in. |
| Drop | The ball makes contact with the ground | Out-hurl | |
| Travel | The ball handler exceeds seven steps with
possession of the ball. |
Out-Hurl | |
| Net-Pralla | The ball handler is not bouncing the ball
on his Stök. More commonly referred to as "Netting". Net pralla is Stalish for "Not bouncing" |
Out-Hurl | |
| Handling | The ball handler touching the ball with a body part. | Out-Hurl |
Officials
Stökpralla has two officials. The referee stays inside the play and watches for fouls, the linesman follows the ball handler to make sure the ball doesn't go out of play.
Governing bodies
Stökpralla has two governing bodies, the Stalish Games Association (SGA) and the International Stökpralla Association (ISA). The SGA only manages Stökpralla's cultural impact on Stalmanndorf and has no say about the rules of the game and anything of that sort. The ISA is the governing body that regulates the sport all over the world. The ISA regulates rules, teams, and international matters. The ISA hires people from all nations to work for their government, but the current president is the King of the Kingdom of Stalmanndorf, H. Stalmann. The ISA terms for president last 10 years, his term began in 2018.
International presence
Stökpralla currently only exists in Stalmanndorf, but the ISA is currently trying to grow the sport to be part of other micronation's culture. The ISA issued a statement that once three more national teams are officially registered with the ISA talks of a world cup would begin.
| General | |||||
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| Geography |
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| Culture | |||||
| Sport | UCIM • Stökpralla | ||||
