Gaga isn’t just a household name known for going overboard on dresses, but is also emerging as a fun, up-and- coming athletic pastime.
Gaga ball—gaga for short—is an exciting and competitive activity that has emerged over the globe in a short amount of time. Though its popularity is rather new, its invention dates back to over half a century ago, with the game debuting in the 1970s.
Communications High School fitness educator Virginia Clevenger is familiar with the game’s history.
“[Gaga] is a traditional game played originally at summer Jewish camps,” Clevenger said.
Sport Resource Group (SRG) corroborates Clevenger’s statements. Both sources assert that the sport began at an all girls summer camp in Israel, when campers were trying to make a spin-off to dodgeball. The game’s popularity remained dormant for a couple decades, until Israeli exchange students introduced the game to Australia, where gaga was taken to the next level and shown to the world.
Sophomore Katelyn Sandvik of Manalapan gives a brief summary of the sport to beginners.
“Gaga is when you’re in a pit and there’s a ball and your legs can’t get hit,” Sandvik said.
Gaga is a free-for-all style game where players are in an enclosed area: the pit. The game begins with a foam ball being thrown in the center of the arena and all players touching the wall. After the ball has bounced three times, playing may initiate.
The goal of the game is to outlast all other participants. Players have to avoid the ball hitting them anywhere below their knees. Though hitting your leg is the most common elimination method, players can also get out by double-touching the ball, hitting the ball out of bounds or being the last person to touch the ball before another player catches it. All players get to hit the ball once, and may only hit it again if it makes contact with another surface, such as a wall or another player.
Besides its easy-to-understand rules, the game’s widespread adoption can also be attributed to the fact that practically anybody can play. According to Camp Business, children who perform poorly in other sports tend to thrive in the gaga pit.
Although a lack of active participation may ruin most group physical activities, CHS sophomore Aki Sykes of Tinton Falls believes it doesn’t hugely impact a game of gaga.
“The people who don’t want to play can get out really easily so they’re not a bother, and the people who want to try hard, try hard,” Sykes said.
