Tangents of Equestria: Buckball · 5:33pm Sep 9th, 2016
Buckball, as it currently exists in Equestria, is a relatively new sport which involves two teams of three, with each team having one each of each of the three principle pony tribes in Equestria (Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn). It presumably originated as an informal family sporting event practiced by the Apple clan, which possibly consisted of teams of two to three Earth Pony players playing against eachother, with the third player sometimes being replaced by a basket on top of a tall stationary pole. Braeburn (of Appleoosa) is credited with creating the current format of Buckball when he bragged to his cousin Applejack (of Ponyville) that his team, which had a Pegasus and a unicorn, could beat any similar team she made from Ponyville.
The game itself is played on a circular court with four legal zones arranged in concentric circles divided in half: the Serving Zone, the Offense Zone, the Defense Zone, and the Receiving Zone. Points are scored by getting the ball into your team's basket. If the ball leaves the outermost boundary without being caught, the round ends with no points scored by either side.
The Serving Zone is the innermost circle, and is where the offence squares off to see who can buck the ball first once the referee serves the ball.
The Offense Zone, which includes the Serving Zone, is the portion of the court reserved for the Offense players. Offense Players can cross into the opposing half of the court, but only within the bounds of the opposing Offense Zone. Offence Players may not hold the ball while moving, although they may travel with it as long as they use a method that doesn't involve actually carrying it, such as juggling or bouncing.
The Defense Zone is the wide half-circle band between the Offence and Receiving Zones. This is where the team's Defense Player, typically a flyer or other high mobility player, will normally position themselves to intercept the ball before it enters the Receiving Zone. Defense Players may choose to Block or Catch the ball, and are permitted to carry it once they have it, but they may not pass into the opposing side of the court. While the Defense Player can score points by sending the ball into their team's basket, this is considered to be more difficult as this gives the opposing Defense Player more time to react to the ball's movements. Most of the time, unless the opposing Defense Player has left the target basket completely unguarded, it is considered to be wiser to simply send the ball towards your allied Offense Player instead.
The Receiving Zone is the outermost circle where the teams' Receivers are stationed. Unlike their team members, Receivers are always positioned on the opposite side of the court and may not cross into their own team's side during play. The Receiver's job is to simply catch the ball in their team's basket once it gets close enough to their half of the Receiving Zone. Receivers, who are unicorns, may only use their magic to handle their own team's basket during play, and must keep the basket within one ponylength horizontally at all times, although the basket may be raised higher than this distance vertically if need be.
The game is played to six points, with a short break between each point scored as the ball is reserved. The winning team is determined by whichever side scores six points first.
At this time, the sport is mainly played with an Earth Pony on Offense, a Pegasus on Defense, and a Unicorn on Receiving, but presumably substitutions can be made for players belonging to races with equivalent abilities. For example, a Griffon or particularly tall Minotaur might be selected to fill the Defense position, or a Donkey or Crystal Pony might end up serving on Offense.
No specific provisions have been made at this time for Alicorns, who embody the abilities of all three main Pony races, to fill any position, but presumably they would be restricted to the rules set for whichever position they choose to fill.
Very interesting.
4200986
I agree.