During a hot day in July 2001, three young Columbus athletes accidentally created a new game when they ditched their hockey sticks and began playing an extreme, hockey-inspired version of hand ball that would grow in popularity on The Ohio State University campus.  

Since then, what was known to them as simply “the game” has taken on a new name, RASCBall or Revolution in Athletic Street Competition Ball. This up-tempo, 6 vs. 6 athletic competition combines elements of the world’s most acclaimed sports – hockey, soccer, rugby, basketball and lacrosse – and has grown into a sports organization of about 35 players in the Columbus area, ranging in age from 18 to 24.

The RASCBall organization hopes to grow interest and increase athletic and community participation with a campaign that introduces the game to the masses. To kick-start the campaign, founder Michael Crosky and RASCBall athletes invite the public to watch a RASCBall showcase match July 22, at 3:30 p.m. at the South Campus roller hockey rink by the Jesse Owens Center on 11th Avenue. Following the full-length match, RASCBall athletes will host a post-game Q & A session so spectators can learn more about the new sport.

“It’s going to be a fun time,” Crosky says. “When people sit down and watch it, they will be intrigued and hopefully find an interest in this new sport and want to learn more about it and play it. It’s a matter of getting people’s attention, and this is how we wanted to do that.”

RASCBall is a competition between two teams comprising a “netminder,” who tends the goal, and five floor players. Each match features two 35-minute halves with a continuously running clock and a 30-second shot clock. A designated captain on each side sets the direction of play and leads the team.

Each RASCBall match commences with a “jump off”— similar to the battle for offensive possession in a rugby scrum. Then a regulation size 1 soccer ball is used to score points in goals similar in size to those used in hockey. The objective of RASCBall is to outscore the opponent by throwing, dunking, kicking or heading the ball into the goal. Goals thrown or dunked into the net are worth one point, goals kicked in are worth two points and goals headed in are worth three points.

Any goals thrown or kicked in behind the designated “bonus line” (located 45 feet from the goal line) are worth an additional point, so that a thrown goal would be two points and a kicked goal would be three points.

Defense similar to street basketball and hockey is permitted as long as it pertains to the strategic flow of play. No tackling, tripping, elbowing or excessive physical contact is allowed, though hand checking and strategic body checking are permitted.

“Like any sport you have to play by the code. If you break a rule or do something your not supposed to do you will be taken out or put in a penalty box,” Crosky says.

Through its campaign to introduce RASCBall, the sports organization hopes to find prospective partners who believe in the organization’s venture – looking to sponsorship and community involvement for success. Alternate goals include getting OSU to implement RASCBall as an intramural sport and having a league set up at sports facilities, such as SportsOhio in Dublin.

“We want to make it as popular as we can locally, get a buzz going about it and get as many athletes involved in it as we can here,” Crosky says.

Basic rules of the game are posted on the organization’s Web site www.RASCBall.com, but the full 30-page handbook is kept by organizers. Matches are currently organized informally through Facebook, MySpace, e-mail and phone calls. All RASCBall matches, practices and scrimmages are played at OSU’s South Campus roller hockey rink. Matches are played on Sunday afternoons while practices and scrimmages are held on Wednesdays.