Tush Ball
BY BRANDY STERN

For many newcomers at camp, it is a very strange sight when they come across the camps tushball court. Camp Timberlane invented the game in 1963 by first year camper R.J. Tush. The game is played similarly to volleyball except that the net is replaced by a roof (approximately 10 feet high), and there is no one to catch the ball on the other side. The serve is also different, and there is no maximum or minimum limit on the number of people playing.

A group of people stands in a line facing the roof and the ball is served by the first person in line. The following people hit the ball in the style of a volleyball return. In case of a miss by one person, that person is then out of the game. However, if the next person successfully ‘saves’ the person before him, then both are still in the game.

Recently Camp Timberlane set the world’s record two years in a row for the most people in one game of tushball.

Also a highlight of the game,’polish-style’ is sometimes played in which the ball is allowed to bounce on the ground before being hit back up on the roof. Tushball is Timberlane’s own invention, and we hope the campers in the future enjoy it as much as those in the past.

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