Skyball

Skyball is the most popular sport in Aldum. It is played in both Aldum and Ebene and has become one of the most lucrative forms of entertainment across the continent of Nordvelen. There are 3 professional leagues in Aldum where teams from Aldum and Ebene compete. The highest tier of Skyball competition is The Pinnaculum and the oldest cup competition is the Sky Cup.

## Name

Skyball was originally called Drabeball, or Drop Ball in old Aldean. Originally a ground based ballsport, it was renamed as Skyball when the rules were expanded to include flight to differentiate it from the original game Drabeball. Drabeball is still played everywhere and is how most young children get their first taste of Skyball.

## History

Skyball was originally created as a ballsport that was played on the ground. At the core of the game, 2 teams of players would look to score more goals than the other team. It was originally used as an alternative by local villages to settle disputes over land, property, and personal slights. It was often an organised affair with the aggrieved parties rounding up a group of people who would support their cause and would be adjudicated by an invited neutral village elder. It was a good alternative that lead to far fewer deaths and injuries compared to drunken brawls that were the norm for settling disputes. In addition to this, it turned into a good spectacle that usually fostered quite a friendly atmosphere for those uninvolved in the match itself.

As Aldum was formed, it became a popular pasttime that grew into something beyond a means to settle disputes and a sport in and of itself. It grew in popularity as plenty of Aldean and Ebenean teams began to be formed around shared communities of towns, workplaces, education institutions and the like.

As technology in Aldum improved, new rules were put into place and the sport was taken to the sky. Flight became allowed as a new dimension of came into play. With the incorporation of flight, the games took on a greater sense of spectacle and it was a few short years before the professional leagues were established.

## Rules

The aim of Skyball is to score more goals than your opponent. The official rules are kept by the CAS and known as the Leges Ludus.
The game is played using a spherical ball of between 16 and 18 inches (40.64 and 45.72 cm) in circumference. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal

### Players, Equipment, and Officials

Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to be in the penalty area for more than 6 seconds consecutively and are allowed to use their hands to pass the ball while in their own team's third. Goalkeepers are restricted to only passing the ball with their feet if they are outside their own team's third of the court.

In competetive play, players are required to wear a helmet (with protective faceguard), mouthguard, shoulderpads, and shoes. Players are forbidden modifying equipment to be deliberately injurious to another player, such as adding or forming spikes in their equipment. Goalkeepers must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials. Players are allowed to wear enchanted gear to give them the ability to fly, players are not allowed to cast the *flight* spell on themselves as the danger of them dropping concentration of the spell is too great to allow the risk. All enchanted gear must be cleared and inspected by the league and double checked by at least 2 match officials before the start of the match.

Players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game.

A game is officiated by a referee who is well versed in the Leges Ludus and has the authority to enforce the rules therein for any match they have been assigned to. In competitive fixtures, the referee will be assisted by four assistant referees: 2 line referees and 2 penalty area referees. At high level competition, two extra officials will be on standby near each team's technical areas to replace an active referee or assistant referee should the need arise.

### Ball

The ball is spherical with a circumference of between 16 and 18 inches (40.64 and 45.72 cm), a weight in the range of 8 to 10 oz (226.80 to 283.50 g), and a pressure between 0.6 and 1.1 standard atmospheres (8.5 and 15.6 pounds per square inch) at sea level. In the past the ball was made up of leather panels sewn together, with a latex bladder for pressurisation but modern balls at all levels of the game are now synthetic.

### Court

In Skyball, the length of the court is in the range of 390-450 ft (118.87-137.16 m), the width of the court is in the range of 210-250 ft (64.01-76.20 m), and the height of the court is in the range of 150-180 ft (45.72-54.86 m) above and below the center of the goal. The lower bound of the court of play will be no fewer than 15 ft (4.57 m) above the ground and safety nets must be erected beneath the court of play covering at least 5 feet larger than the entirety of the length and width of the court of play in the event the *feather fall* spell is unable to prevent a sudden and dangerous fall of a player and/or official in the court of play.

The court is divided into thirds, each team's goals are in their own thirds and there is a middle third. The division between the thirds must be clearly demarkated. These lines are *Offside Lines* and must divide the length of the field into exact thirds.

Each team's thirds must have a square goal of height 25 ft (7.62 m) and width 25 ft (7.62 m). Each goal must be 100 ft (30.48 m) from the *Offside Line* that demarkates that team's third. The goal must have a net or some sort of magical field to prevent the ball from passing all the way through.

In each team's third, around the goal is the Penalty Area. This area measures 17.5 ft (5.33 m) in radius from the centre of the goal in front of the mouth of the goal facing the middle of the court. This area is a restricted area; any player may enter the area, but only the goalkeeper my remain within this area for more than 6 seconds consecutively. The only other marking is the Centre Circle. The circle should be centred around the centre point of the court and should be 25 ft (7.62 m) in diameter. No player may line up inside this circle when a ball is put into play for the beginning of each period.

### Duration and Tie-breaking

#### 90-minute Regulation Time

A standard Skyball match consists of two 45-minute halves. Each half runs continuously as long as the ball is within the bounds of the court. The match official shall be in charge of stopping the clock. In high level competition, a timekeeper official will be in charge of keeping time. If no timekeeper official is present, the referee shall be in charge of keeping time.

#### Tie-breaking

In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required various methods may be employed to break such a deadlock. A game tied at the end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score).

### States of Play

Under the rules of the Leges Ludus the ball may only be in three states of play: in possession, out of possession, out of play. Each period of play is started with a loose ball, the ball is mechanically launched upwards from the centre of the Centre Circle. It must clear the central plane, but not cross out of play at the top of the court. While the ball is in the air, it is deemed to be out of possession. Any player may gain control of the ball while it is out of possession. When it is deemed in possession of a player of either team, the ball is considered in possession. If the ball crosses out of the bounds of the court of play, the ball is deemed out of play. Once a ball is deemed out of play, it must be inbounded by a player of the opposing team from the team that was last deemed to have possession. If a foul is committed and the play is whistled dead, the ball is considered out of play. A player is considered to be on the defending team if they are in the same third as their team's goal and a player is considered to be on the attacking team if they are in the same third as the opposing team's goal. Depending on the circumstances in which the ball was deemed to have left play, the ball will be inbounded or the game will be restarted by one of the following methods:

* **Kick In**: awarded if the ball crosses either of the side boundry planes. It will be awarded to the opposing team from the team that last had possession of the ball. The player must pass the ball in from the spot of the ball leaving the field of play by kicking it and may not have any part of his body cross the boundry plane threshold until the ball is fully in the field of play and not touching any part of the inbounding player. If the inbounder breaks the threshold of the boundry plane while inbounding the ball, play is whistled dead and the Kick In is instead awarded to the opposing team from the same spot. If the ball would go out of play directly from a Kick In, the inbounding team is deemed to have been the last team in possession of the ball.
* **Goalkeeper Inbound**: awarded to the defending team if the ball crosses out of play by the boundry plane behind their goal after last being in possession of the opposing team. The goalkeeper must start from behind that boundry plane and is given the ball. The goalkeeper may bring the ball into play or pass the ball into play. If the goalkeeper would pass the ball into play, they may not have any part of his body cross the boundry plane threshold until the ball is fully in the field of play and not touching any part of the goalkeeper. If the goalkeeper would bring the ball into play, they may not begin a passing motion until their entire body has fully crossed the boundry plane threshold. If either of these stipulations is broken in the process of a Goalkeeper Inbound, the play is whistled dead and the opposing team is awarded an Attacker Inbound instead. If the ball would go out of play directly from a Goalkeeper Inbound, the inbounding team is deemed to have been the last team in possession of the ball.
* **Attacker Inbound**: awarded to the attacking team if the ball crosses out of play by the boundry plane behind the defending team's goal after last being in possession of the opposing team. The inbounder must start from behind that boundry play and is given the ball. Any player from the attacking team may bring the ball into play or pass the ball into play. If the inbounder would pass the ball into play, they may not have any part of his body cross the boundry plane threshold until the ball is fully in the field of play and not touching any part of the inbounding player. If the inbounder would bring the ball into play, they may not begin a passing motion until their entire body has fully crossed the boundry plane threshold. If either of these stipulations is broken in the process of an Attacker Inbound, the play is whistled dead and the opposing team is awarded a Goalkeeper Inbound instead. If the ball would go out of play directly from an Attacker Inbound, the inbounding team is deemed to have been the last team in possession of the ball.
* **Free Kick**: awarded if a foul has been committed against a team outside the opposing team's penalty area or the ball has crossed out of play by either the top or bottom boundry plane. The ball is given to a player on the team whom the foul was committed against or on the opposing team from the last team to have possession before the ball crossed out of play by the top or bottom boundry plane. The player must stand still at the spot of the foul or the nearest spot from the ball breaking the boundry plane to go out of plane. No player from the opposing team may be within 30 ft (9.14 m) of the Free Kick taker. The Free Kick taker may not take a step while holding the ball before kicking the ball; however, the freekick taker may drop the ball and another player may kick the ball instead. If any of these stipulations are broken, the freekick is retaken from the same spot. If the ball would go out of play directly from a Free Kick, the freekick taker's team is deemed to have been the last team in possession of the ball.
* **Penalty Shot**: awarded to the attacking team if a foul has been committed inside the opposing team's penalty area against the attacking team. The ball is given to a player on the team whom the foul was committed against. That player starts from anywhere outside the penalty area and has possession of the ball. No player other than the penalty taker and the defending goalkeeper may be involved in the play until the ball has been kicked. The penalty taker has 6 seconds to shoot. If no shot is registered in the 6 seconds, the play is whistled dead and possession is given to the goalkeeper inside the penalty area. Once the ball has been kicked, players are allowed to become involved in the play. If the ball would go out of play directly from a Penalty Shot, the penalty taker's team is deemed to have been the last team in possession of the ball.

## Governing Body

The recognised governing body of Skyball is the CAS. The CAS headquarters are located in Crux, Aldum. While the rules of the game are enforced and kept by the CAS, any changes to the Leges Lugus are handles by the International Skyball Rules Consilium.