Hoofball Mania!

by SterlingC

Prologue - The Birth of the Equestrian Champions League

Hoofball. A sport much loved by Equestrians. A sport that was invented soon after Equestria was founded as a nation. Legend has it that Chancellor Puddinghead found what looked like a large orange. Out of spontaneity, she kicked the orange between two tree stumps, gleefully cheering at the strength of her kick. When she ran back to the orange, she dribbled it with her hooves back to the tree stump, having realized that an entire game could be made out of a single ball and two marker posts a sufficient distance from each other!

Nowadays, not many ponies thought to question the origins of such a loved sport in Equestria. Many a time, one could see abandoned street corners and open grassy fields filled with ponies playing hoofball. Hoofball fields in educational and recreational facilities were even set up across Equestria, the teachers and government officials encouraged at what was the easiest way to exercise. After all, a pony only a ball and two posts to play hoofball.

Sporting ponies of all shapes and sizes would play together across the fields and alleyways, dreaming the prospect of shooting the hoofball past the opponent’s net with a volley or the famed bicycle kick, regardless of where they played. Such dreams were widespread across Equestria, their hopes of a nationwide hoofball competition growing to fever pitch.

At the headquarters of the Equestrian Intranational Hoofball Association, or EIHA, several ponies wearing black and white-striped EIHA hoofball jerseys convened in a large room painted with a mural potraying a panorama view of grassy hoofball fields. There were ten ponies on each field, with colours so diverse that they featured the hues of the rainbow, and then some! There were ponies ready to line up for a shot on goal, ponies clumped together inside the penalty box with a green stallion waving his hoof up by the corner flag, and ponies flailing their hooves about with a Pegasus who had just tucked in a beauty at the low-left corner of the net.

Such artistry set the mood for the meeting, as the ponies inside the meeting hall talked in excitement and joy, as if they themselves had scored the winning goal for their team! Among the ponies inside the board room were Red and Yellow Card, twin brothers with gelled brown manes who were raised with the game of hoofball since they were foals. The red stallion and yellow stallion spent much of their time refereeing high school and collegiate hoofball before being called upon to the EIHA board. The two ponies retained their refereeing positions, but were now a part of the organization that handles all hoofball proceedings in Equestria.

Now that they made it to the top for their exceptional conduct as referees, Red and Yellow Card and were now free to propose new ideas to advance the game of hoofball. For them, it was their once-in-a-lifetime chance to take hoofball to the competitive level, where ponies would sign up and play hoofball within their towns and then send the best teams to play at the Equestrian stage. It was a chance to make hoofball the official sport of Equestria and an opportunity to spread the game to the rest of the world and promote Equestrian tourism!

For this particular meeting, Red and Yellow Card were proposing their plans for Equestria to host what they called the “Equestrian Champions League”, a tournament where the best five-a-side teams travelled from all over Equestria to pit against each other annually in the famed capital Canterlot.

“With this tournament my friends and fellows, we can ensure that hoofball gains the national recognition it so deserves!” the yellow stallion exclaimed and pumped his hooves.

“Yes brother Yellow! Hoofball is fast becoming a popular sport among school boards and recreational organizers. Now it’s time we encouraged some healthy competition and spirit in Equestria with an event that will bring ponies together from all sectors of life!” Red Card agreed, his eyes beaming at the opportunity they simply could not let slip.

The EIHA board members deliberated among themselves. The whispers in the room were a stark contrast to the booming voices Red and Yellow projected to the other board members. The brothers were jittering in place. It was the first time they proposed such an idea to the EIHA board. The two ponies took so much into account in the weeks they planned the idea and prepared the 150-page document, from the proposal to the Princesses to the execution at the municipal scale. They conducted detailed local surveys and reported on the growing passion of some of the ponies to do all sorts of hoofball-related tasks, from manning the scoreboards to setting up stands for each of the games.

The board members continued to chatter among themselves, some speaking brashly and others merely nodding their heads in agreement. The two ponies tried their best to hide their nervousness, but their hooves continued to shake about without their consent. Thankfully, the board members were focused on their document and the proposal and not on the brothers’ jitters.

After what felt like an eternity for the brothers, the other board members nodded and turned their heads to Red and Yellow Card. The two brothers were left with eyes wide open and a gasp, for the board members turned their heads to them not with derision, but with a pleased smile on their faces.

“Red and Yellow Card. We are at a time where hoofball can finally develop into Equestria’s national sport. It’s a sport that unites pegasi, unicorns, and Earth ponies in the same playing field. We have the Wonderbolts who can soar to the skies and unicorns who can play games with their magic, but nothing for Earth ponies. We at EIHA believe that hoofball is that sport,” one of the board members explained with a grin.

“What you have proposed here is something that all ponies can enjoy. It’s an inclusive sport that I’m sure the royal princesses will approve of for competition. Everything has been well-thought out and well planned. In short, we are delighted at this proposal from you both. We’re putting you both in charge of preparing the referees for the games. As for us, we’ll be sure to have an audience with Princess Celestia and the mayors of every town who will participate,” The board member continued with an assuring voice. The brothers quickly bopped their heads up and down and nudged each other’s sides.

“This is wonderful news sir! We have already listed eight cities who wish to participate: Ponyville, Manehattan, Canterlot, Crystal Empire, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale, Baltimare, and Our Town. I know the last city has an unusual name, but they were recently rescued from evil and have strove to make their own league to celebrate the occasion!” Yellow Card beamed. The board members nodded in turn.

“Alright, then I think everything is settled. Once we train the referees, they can teach the basic rules of the official sport and then start setting up stands for ponies to watch each other play!” Another board member spoke out. The other members nodded with Red and Yellow Card.

“Wonderful! We’ll have an audience with Princess Celestia in the coming days. In the meantime, you and Red Card can start announcing the wonderful news and getting the word out to Equestria! The interest is clearly there based on your survey, so I don’t think you’ll have a hard time with it!” The board members agreed.

Yellow and Red Card bowed their heads down in thanks and trotted out of the room. Once the board room doors were closed, the two ponies gave each other high fives.

“Yes! We actually got them to come along with our plan! Once the princess approves of this unifying competition, we can start advertising for positions!” Yellow Card exclaimed.

“Yeah Yellow! We can start hiring referees, announcers, and even get ponies to sponsor the event! Just imagine the possibilities! We’ll be famous! And hoofball will become a national sport!” Red Card rapidly clapped. The two ponies laughed together as they trotted down the long hallway to the elevator. The birth of hoofball as a national sport was imminent.

Comments

[Art de Triomphe]

This has the makings of a good story. Have a like and fav.

Two things though:
1) You stated that it was the Equestrian Intranational Hoofball Association (EIHA). However, every time after that mention, you wrote "EIFA" (as in football).
2) I'm not sure how there are enough ponies to constitute full leagues in each town. Manehattan and Fillydelphia are one thing, but Ponyville and Our Town are surely not large enough. An Equestrian Premier League would have worked better in my thinking. But I'm looking forward to what happens.

[SterlingC]

6491969
1. Thanks for the fix!
2. I'm thinking I'll gear the games more closely with futsal than with football. That's why there's only going to be 5 players per team. Ponyville and Our Town could mash together and I've thought about adding another city in Los Pegasus or Vanhoover. I was also planning around 8 teams per city, with the top 2 (with exception of Ponyville, for top 4?) teams heading onward to the Champions League for a total of 16 teams.