How to Play Gaga Ball
Young people play Gaga all summer with fervent devotion in camps and recreation centers. Gaga is a form of dodge ball played in a large octagon or hexagon called the Gaga pit. It had burst onto the camp scene and school playgrounds everywhere and has quickly become an obsession for those who play.
Play Gaga all year long at The Gaga Center in NYC. Kids love Gaga, a fast-paced, high-energy sport played in an octagonal pit. Like dodge ball, you get someone out by hitting them with a ball. Unlike dodge ball, it’s not at all threatening: the goal of the game is to try to touch opponents with a soft foam ball below the knees.
The first indoor arena anywhere featuring the fast-paced, action-packed, game of elimination is a 20,000-square-foot Ultimate Gaga arena in Syosset on Long Island, NY.
Gaga Pits add action to your school, recreation center or home. Just two people can snap together a ProWall Gaga pit in less than five minutes. The ProWall Gaga Pit, a portable interlocking molded plastic arena made by the Sport Resource Group, an equipment manufacturer, in Minneapolis. Coach Cliff’s Gaga Ball Pit uses the unique Bracket System that makes building your own Gaga Ball Pit fast and easy. You can set it up indoors or outdoors. The brackets create the correct angles for you. All you need to do is drill your holes and use standard size wood boards or plywood.
THE RULES OF GA GA
1. All players must touch the wall, then the ball is tossed up in the air.
All players yell “GA!” on the first bounce and “GA!” on the second
bounce. The ball is then in play, and the players can leave the wall.
2. Players hit the ball with their hands only. Players may NOT throw
the ball – it must be hit with either an open hand or fist (unless
players agree to a play with open hands only).
3. Any player who is touched below the waist by the ball (directly or
off of the wall) is “OUT” and must leave the pit. If the ball contacts the
player above the waist, the player is still in.
4. Blocking with hands/arms is allowed, however kneeling on the
ground is NOT allowed. A player is “OUT” if he or she kneels to avoid
getting hit.
5. If the ball goes out of the gaga court, the last player to touch the
ball is “OUT”.
6. If a player catches the ball before it bounces, the player who had
the last contact with the ball is eliminated.
7. Once a player hits the ball, he or she must wait until the ball
touches someone else before hitting it again (no double touches).
8. If there are only two players remaining, a player may hit the ball up
to 3 times in a row. The ball is “rejuvenated” by contact with the wall,
and the hit count resets.
TEAM GAGA BALL: Teaming, or intentional passing of the ball to
other players, is allowed if agreed prior to play, and TEAMS must be
specified in advance of play.
