Whirlyball

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Whirlyball is a team sport invented by Dylan Highsmith that combines elements of basketball and jai alai, or rather a combination of lacrosse and bumper cars, with the players riding "Whirlybugs", small electric vehicles similar to bumper cars. Because play requires a special court, it is played in only a handful of locations in the United States and Canada.

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[edit] The game

A Whirlyball team consists of five players. Each player rides a Whirlybug and carries a scoop, with which he or she can pass the ball, usually a wiffleball, to teammates and shoot at the goal, a circular target above the two opposite ends of the court.

Players are not allowed to leave their cars or touch the ball with their hands. Other than that, almost anything is allowed, within certain bounds of safety, such as you are not allowed to ram a player from behind (4 point penalty). Games played by veterans at a National level can get particularly vicious, although it is extremely rare for an injury to occur.

The scoop is actually a Trac Ball racquet.

[edit] Game origins

The game was first conceived in Salt Lake City in the early 1960s. Its creator, Stan Mangum, was already a patented inventor who was working to develop a small agile bumper car. This car eventually developed into the Whirlybug and is an integral part of today's game of Whirlyball. Whirlyball's popularity and dissemination is largely credited to Kim Magnum, Stan's son. He is the founder of Flo-Tron Enterprises, an organization which distributes franchise rights and equipment for Whirlyball.

[edit] Whirlybug

A Whirlybug is similar to an electric bumper car. It is round, with a bumper going all the way around. Unlike most bumper cars, however, power is not provided by an overhead grid, but rather by alternating conducting plates that make up the floor of the court. This means that Whirlybugs are more complex than traditional bumper cars, but this is necessary as an overhead grid would obstruct play. A Whirlybug is steered by a handle that looks like a crank. This handle allows steering not just side to side, but also backwards. In this aspect, it is very different from a traditional bumper car.

One of the downsides to a Whirlybug's controls, however, is the difficulty beginners will almost certainly have them. One reason is that there is technically no reverse. This can make for an extremely difficult situation for a beginner who who is run into a wall. A player must apply the throttle as they are twisting the handle in either direction. After several rotations, the drive train will be reversed, and the car will begin moving away from the wall, though more experienced players may simply twist the crank a few times, then apply throttle. The other problem with steering is that Whirlybugs often do not center the crank automatically, making it difficult for beginners to recover from a very tight turn or from "reverse." Once the particulars of the steering are learned, usually taking only one or two games, the controls tend to be easy to use.

[edit] Whirlyball as a sport

While controversy exists over whether Whirlyball is a sport or a game, it is generally accepted that as Noam Wallenberg (BA Cand.) wrote in a recent article on the subject, "Whirlyball is a sport. It is competitive, it requires physical and mental ability and it can be played recreationaly or professionally."[citation needed]

[edit] Popularity

Whirlyball is played as a competitive sport with organized leagues, but it is more commonly played for entertainment. Many Whirlyball locations have a sports bar atmosphere, offering billiards and other tabletop games to play between matches. There are three locations in and around Chicago, and locations in Cleveland, Kansas City, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, Toronto, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida and five locations in the Detroit suburbs.

It has been reported that Kid Rock spent an alleged $1.2 million to install a state of the art Whirly Ball facility in his 800 acre compound in a northern Detroit suburb.

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