Banthaball

Banthaball is a full contact sport played around the galaxy with an organized professional galactic league that played from 20 BBY-15 ABY.

The sport of Banthaball is usually played on an indoor court in the shape of a rectangle surrounded by boards with a small ball. At each end there is a frame (a device similar to a trampoline off which the ball bounces) which measures one square meter and a semicircular D-shaped forbidden zone measuring three meters in radius. Each team can score on both ends on the court, and comprises twelve players, of which seven may be on the court at any one time. In order to score a point, the ball must be thrown by an attacking player, hit the frame and bounce outside the "D" without being caught by the defending team. The team and court sizes vary through the galaxy with underground, pick up games. Smaller courts have been known to be on Star Destroyers for recreation.

History

The game originated in Tatooine with the Tuskin raider tribes. The name "Banthaball" comes from the original balls used made of Bantha skin. Alderaan quickly picked up the game becoming a hit with the population and the first planet wide professional league was created: ABL (Alderaan Banthaball League).

In 20 BBY a galaxy wide league was created (GBL: Galactic Banthaball League) with 10 teams from different planets, Tatooine however made two clubs due to a increased interest in the sports gambling possibilities. The league ran until 15 ABY until many of the teams folded but the sport did not die and was still played by many.

In 0 BBY when Alderaan was destroyed, the Primus team was killed leaving a void in the league. Weeks after The Empire, in a patriotic propaganda campaign, declared that they would create a professional club with only Active duty Imperial forces to replace the Alderaan Primus.

Season and Playoffs.

The regular season is played over 18 Games allowing each team to play the others twice, one game home and the other away. Each win during the season earns a team 2 points in the standings and a loss results in 0 points, an overtime win results in 1 point.

After the regular season a playoff bracket is created with the top 8 teams and a "best of 3" series is played with the winner going on. The bracket is created with the first seed playing the eight seed, third seed playing the seventh seed, The second seed playing third, and fifth playing 6th.

Teams

The 10 professional clubs of the GBL and Home worlds are as follows:

Hanna City Tauntauns - Chandrila

Tatooine Sandcrawlers - Tatooine

Tuskin City Raiders- Tatooine

Alderaan Primus- Alderaan

Sundari Predators- Mandalore

Mon Calamari Admirals- Mon Cala

Coruscant Senators - Coruscant

Theed Gungans -Naboo

Coronet City Riveters - Corellia

Republic City Panthers - Hosnian Prime

Note: Alderaan's team replaced by The Imperial Primus in 0 ABY.

Note:In 0 BBY after the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, the Coruscant Senators team was renamed; The Coruscant Capitals.

Alderaan Cup

The championship winner is awarded the Alderaan Cup: a large gold trophy with a cup on the top.

Victories.

Uniforms and Equipment

Professional uniforms are colored shirts with a number on the back, and the teams logo on the front. Professionals are required to wear knee and elbow pads with optional soft cap helmets. They can if they wish wear gloves.

Clubs are also required to have inverted colors or "White jerseys" to make them more distinguishable when playing a team with similar colors.

Basic Rules

Court

The court size that is generally used is 27 m × 17 m. However, there are variations to this.

One rebound frame is placed at each end of the field of play

In front of each frame, a D shaped semi-circle measuring 3 m in radius must be drawn; it defines the limits of the forbidden zone.The lines of the zones are considered part of the zone itself, e.g. the line marking the semicircle forbidden zone is considered part of the forbidden zone, while the line around the entire court is considered a part of the court

Some non professional courts do not have boards but boundary markers, if a ball goes out in this court the other team gets control of the ball and can make a throw in.

Game

The game is played with three 20 min periods. After that time the team with the most amount of points win. If the game is tied a sudden death 5 min over time plays. First team to score wins the match.

Tip off

The game starts with a tip off where a referee throws the ball at the center line up and both teams have a chance to hit the ball to a teammate or catch it for themselves.

Penalties

The game is full contact but if a player intentionally tries to hurt another player by leaving his feet when throwing a check, starting a fight or tackling them they may receive a red major call. If three majors are received in a game a player can be ejected. A yellow minor call can be called for entering the forbidden area or any minor rule that is broken. The game is stopped and the other team is awarded the ball, starting with a throw start. A throw start is when the game is stopped for any reason the ball goes to were it was when the whistle is blown. The team awarded the ball starts the game again when he picks of the ball where he is and throws it to another teammate. He can not move, be checked by the other team or score a point while this happens and the clock does not continue to run until the ball is thrown in.

Scoring

Two teams of 7 players each (men or women) compete to score points with the team with the most points at the end winning the game. When a team gains a point, control of the ball is transferred to the other team. In Banthaball either team can score at either end of the court. A point is scored when the ball rebounds after hitting either of the 2 frames and touches the ground outside the forbidden zone or touches the defending player while he is still in the forbidden zone. A point is given to the non-attacking team when the attacking team shoots and the ball rebounds outside the playing area (either out of the court or in the forbidden zone).If a shot is caught by the defending team, the defending team can proceed to attack immediately

Positions

Each team comprises the following positions:

2 Right Wings (RW)

2 Left Wings (LW)

2 Forward Pivots (FP)

1 Centre Pivot (CP)

Each side of the court comprises a left shooter (Left Wing), right shooter (Right Wing) and an inner (FP), while the centre pivot usually stays near the middle of the court. The shooters are generally in charge of shooting although in some cases the inner can also take the shot. The inners are in charge of coordinating the first line defense while the centre pivot takes charge of the second line defense. However other formations include not using a centre pivot, the team would bypass the centre and throw full length court passes directly to the shooters/inners. This gives an extra first line defender or a dedicated second line defender.