Brännboll
Encyclopedia
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, lapta
Lapta (game)
Lapta is a Russian bat and ball game first known to be played in the 14th century. Mentions of lapta have been found in medieval manuscripts, and balls and bats were found in the 14th-century layers during excavations in Novgorod...
and pesäpallo
Pesäpallo
Pesäpallo is a fast-moving ball sport that is quite often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other countries, such as Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Northern Ontario in Canada...
played on amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
level throughout Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, mostly on fields and in public parks, but it is also part of the PE
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
curriculum in some areas. The name is derived from the act of catching a player between two bases at the end of a batting round, referred to as burning them (Bränna), roughly equivalent to being out
Out (baseball)
In baseball, an out occurs when the defensive, or fielding, team effects any of a number of different events, and the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a player is called out, he is said to be retired...
in baseball. The world championship, called Brännbollscupen
Brännbollscupen
Brännbollscupen is an annual competition in brännboll in Umeå, Sweden, organised by IKSU. Brännboll is a Scandinavian game similar to baseball....
, is an annual event in the Swedish city of Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
.
Rules
In contrast to baseball and cricket, there is no pitcherPitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
/bowler, but the batsman himself throws or bounces the ball (usually a tennis ball
Tennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
) and hits it with his bat. A selection of bats is sometimes available, with a regular wooden or metallic baseball bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
usually present, and a paddle-like bat resembling a cricket bat
Cricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball. It is usually made of willow wood. Its use is first mentioned in 1624....
available for less experienced batsmen, often called tjejträ (girl-bat). While it is somewhat disparaging, it is a general term in brännboll. On some occasions, there is also a stiff racket, commonly called the stekpanna (frying pan). The valid area for a successful batting is usually delimited by natural features such as trees, or simply an agreed upon imaginary border, this rule only restricts how widely the batter can hit, but not how far. The proportions of the field and positioning of the players are arbitrary, albeit usually adjusted according to the batting and running ability of the players, as well as the player count.
Once the batsman successfully hits the ball, he drops the bat and makes his way around the four bases (usually counter-clockwise), while the players in the catching team catch and throw the ball back to the designated catcher positioned by the outing base (Brännplatta), who announces the end of the batting round with "Out" (Bränd) once he has made contact with the outing base whilst holding the ball. If a player from the batting team is caught between two bases at the end of the batting round, he moves back to either the last visited base or first base (depending on the local rules) and the catching team scores a point. If a batsman is unsuccessful at batting after the three attempts allowed, he moves to the first base and will run once the next batsman bats a valid hit. There are no restrictions on the number of players at each base. If all players on the batting team fail to reach the fourth base (and thus rejoin the queue) and no batsmen remain in the queue, the inner team is caught out ("utebrända"), and depending on local rules extra points may be awarded to the opposing team in return for the safe passage on the players to the queue. Alternatively, the inner team gets to switch sides as batting is often more lucrative for scoring points.
Each team get to play as both sides, usually one or two times, and sides are shifted at predetermined time intervals.
Scoring system
Score and time is kept by a score keeper, who also has the final say in whether inner team players are caught out at the end of a batting round.Generic scoring system (Due to the lack of a professional organisation governing Brännboll, many local varieties exist):
- Home run (Frivarv/Helrunda) – 6 points for batting team
- Player passing fourth base (Varvning) – 1 point for batting team
- Team Caught out (Utbränd) – 5 points for catching team
- Caught out (Bränd) – 1 point for catching team
- Fly ball (catch the ball before it hits the ground) (Lyra) – 1 points for catching team
- In some varieties, catching the ball with one hand only may yield more points
Penalty system
Generic penalty system (Several varieties exist)- First time – warning.
- Second time – 5 penalty points.
- Third time – 10 penalty points.
- Fourth time – disqualification, the opponent wins.
Popularity
While not being an organized sport with teams and a league, it is appreciated by children of all ages during, in schools or after, or by friends after work play for fun.Since 1974 an annual Students World Championship tournament has been held in the northern city of Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, whereby some standardized rules are followed. The world championship is called Brännbollscupen
Brännbollscupen
Brännbollscupen is an annual competition in brännboll in Umeå, Sweden, organised by IKSU. Brännboll is a Scandinavian game similar to baseball....
, which is followed by the festival Brännbollsyran.
Branboll is enjoyed by elementary schoolchildren in the American Upper Midwest (particularly Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
), due to the area's large Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n influence.
A similar game, Brennball, is popular in PE
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
classes at German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
schools. It is usually played indoors, with a larger ball (such as a volleyball or a basketball) and without a bat; batting is replaced by throwing. The bases are usually far larger than in Baseball and more than one player can be on the same base at the same time. German Brennball is rarely played outside a PE setting.
Another version of the game, popular among students, is called ölbrännboll (beer-brännball), where beercases are used as bases so the players of the batting team, waiting to run can drink freely. It is however not mandatory to drink while waiting.
One version of the game where drinking is mandatory is vinbrännboll (wine-brännball), where you take a glass of wine after passing the fourth base and thus being "safe".