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The Sport of Megaball Was Invented At Tate High School, And They Are Hosting A Tourney Saturday
September 23, 2022
Eighteen high school teams will be competing in the Northwest Florida Megaball Tournament Saturday at Tate High School.
Major Steve Duckworth, Senior Army JROTC instructor at Tate developed the sport in 2012 and held the first tournament that year.
Megaball is derived from the sport of pushball, which was created around 1891 and played at the college level. Pushball was later picked up by the military.
Megaball is similar, in that a 6-foot-tall “mega” ball is used, but was designed to be a far safer sport with smaller size teams and stronger rules. Megaball also requires a trained officiating crew. The 72-inch megaball is produced in Italy; the company actually uses a picture of Tate’s megaball team in its brochure.
Megaball has been so successful in the local area that the U.S. Army Cadet Command is sending a JROTC representative from Fort Knox, KY, to observe this year’s tournament to explore the possibility of creating a nationwide competition.
The Tate Army JROTC, Milton and Pace Navy JROTCs, and the Pensacola High Air Force JROTC) have consistently participated in local Megaball competitions
Megaball is easy to understand and fun to watch. But it is a very physical game that should only be played by well-conditioned students. The game has similarities to football, soccer and rugby. Although megaball is considered a non-contact sport (in that opposing players don’t come in contact with each other) players make plenty of contact with the ball which often creates plenty of excitement.
Currently there are nine girls teams and nine boys teams registered for the competition on Saturday that begins at 8 a.m. Championship games will begin about 2 p.m.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
3 Responses to “The Sport of Megaball Was Invented At Tate High School, And They Are Hosting A Tourney Saturday”
As a player of megaball i can asure you that it is a very fun game and it’s very competitive even if (for practice) tate 1 vs. tate 2 it is another way to get out a lot of anger built up.
Go AGGIES!!!
This is definitely an exciting game to watch. Love that they are getting more acknowledgement for this event this year
Go AGGIES!!!!
Our grandson was one of the participants in that very first tournament. GO AGGIE JROTC!