And the Sportsballers Want You to Know That!
Peerawut Ruangsawasdi
Staff Writer
Alexandria City High School Principal Peter Balas retweeted a video posted by the International Academy of Alexandria City High School (IA) in early November 2021. The video showed a group of students engaging in a sporting activity that, on the surface, may look vaguely familiar. But for many, they could not seem to quite put their finger on it.
Some days during Lunch and Learn at the edge of Chinquapin Field, you may find a group of diverse students, male and female, playing with a rubber ball. However, they are not playing any traditional sport. The players call this activity “Sportsball,” and their group “ACHS Sportsball,” having rebranded from “Sportsball International League.”
Juniors Ben Rinkema and Spencer Klaus, the founders of ACHS Sportsball, said the game is a mix of other sports such as football, basketball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee.
“Imagine if you got every sport and put them in a blender,” said Klaus.
Rinkema said the Sportsball players created the sport after they got together to play as a result of boredom during Lunch and Learn. “We found this dodgeball and wanted to do something with the dodgeball. There was a goalpost, so we thought we should shoot the dodgeball through the goalpost,” said Rinkema.
Klaus explained the origin of the term, “[We call it] Sportsball because sport and a ball. ”
Klaus said he finds the increased popularity surprising, especially since the activity began as a joke, “It was a joke at first. We were bored out of our minds. It gained a lot of traction now [with] a lot of people playing. It is surprising.”
Rinkema shares a similar sentiment, “It is cool. I’ve seen a lot of people come out.”
“I randomly walked into it, because I was taking videos and pictures of the community and school soccer, it’s a new program that we have here. I saw a bunch of guys playing […] so I went over and just started recording and that was kind of fun,” said Gabriel Elias, an English Learner teacher with the IA and a sponsor of Sportsball. He was among the early supporters of the activity.
“I talked to them for a while and we decided that we’re going to change the school with Sportsball,” said Elias.
Elias believes that ACHS is a “big institution” with “lots of separation” and “a separation because of classes, because of sociocultural status, because of linguistics and because of where they live and who they interact with.”
Elias said students who are not on sports teams are separated from a lot of activities. He hopes that Sportsball, along with other activities facilitated by teachers, such as field trips within the school, can bring students together, including international students both inside and outside of the IA.
“Sports is really popular with the International Academy students. But getting into an organized sport is more difficult. […] So, I just thought this was a natural opportunity to take these two groups that can be united by sports and kind of get them together and see what happens.”
Elias laid out future plans for Lunch and Learn activities.
“Also, we [teachers on ‘the Lunch and Learn team’] are planning for intramural activities that may include Sporstball but also basketball and other activities through Communities in School NOVA, especially if we can maintain this respectful and positive atmosphere in the school during lunch and learn.”
Sportsball has continued to receive positive feedback from its participants, which has increased dramatically since the start of the club.
“It was just a wonderful experience,” said Balas, who participated in Sportsball.
Sportsball is currently off-season and will meet regularly again for the spring season.
“What I like about Sportsball is […] teamwork, and you can hang out with your friends, and physical activity during the day,” said junior Will Jahns, a Sportsball player.
Photos by Peerawut Ruangsawasdi.
