Soccer-style speedball dates to the 1920s.
Several sports have used the name "speedball." The most common is a soccer/football hybrid played in American PE classes. But gaining popularity as speedball is a fast-paced variation of paintball. The rules for the paintball version vary by league and competition, while the rules of the soccer/football-type speedball are largely uniform.
Objective
Players may not use their hands when the ball is on the ground.
In the most common version of speedball, the goal is to score points by kicking or throwing a soccer ball or kickball into a goal or end zone. The game uses both an American-football-type end zone and a soccer goal, cones or imaginary lines beneath the uprights at each end of a football field. Score more points than the other team in the time limit to win.
Setup
Each of four quarters lasts 12 minutes or less. Each team fields 11 players at a time. A soccer-style kickoff starts the game. After each score, the scored-on team kicks off.
Ground Ball
When the ball is rolling, standing or bouncing, it is a "ground ball." Any part of the body other than the hands and arms may be used to move a ground ball down the field. Typically, players kick the ball ahead or dribble with their feet soccer-style. You also may kick the ball into the air to be caught by yourself or a teammate. That makes it an "aerial ball."
Aerial Ball
An aerial ball is in a player's hands. A player must kick the ball into the aerial position or lift it with a body part other than a hand or arm and may not bounce it to the hands. You may throw an aerial ball to a teammate, keeping it an aerial ball, or convert it into a ground ball by drop-kicking it. A thrown aerial ball becomes a ground ball if a player knocks it down or drops it.
Scoring
You can score four ways in speedball. When a player catches a thrown aerial ball in the end zone, he scores a touchdown, worth 1 point. When a player kicks a ground ball into the goal, she scores a field goal, worth 2 points. (A goalkeeper who scores a field goal from the other end of the field typically earns double credit, or 4 points.) If a player converts a soccer-style penalty kick into a goal, he gets 1 point. If a player drop-kicks an aerial ball through the uprights, as in American football, she earns 3 points.
Penalties
If you knock an aerial ball out of bounds, the opposing team throws it in. If you knock a ground ball out of bounds, the opposing team kicks it in. A penalty kick results from a personal foul inside the penalty area, as in soccer. Only the goalkeeper stands between the penalty kicker and the goal. Fouls include tripping, stalling, bad sportsmanship and using hands on a ground ball.
Tags: aerial ball, ground ball, ball into, into goal, kick ball, ball bounds
