Raleigh PE teacher creates new yard game, Homeball
Basketball skills and two modes make a teacher's invention fun for all.
Posted — UpdatedYour browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
A long-time Raleigh physical education teacher is hoping a game he invented in his classroom might be the next trendy yard game.
"It's kind of like basketball and touch football put together," he says. "There's a circle that goes around so when you have the ball you can run with it. If the other team tags you, you can't run anymore. You have to just stand there, pivot and pass. The team has to make two passes before they can shoot.
"Watching the kids run around with smiles on their faces, and seeing how much exercise they were getting, I knew it was a sport that I wanted to share with the world."
His older son came up with the game's name.
He's become somewhat of an evangelist for his game since then. On a hot Friday afternoon in July a group of his friends met up to play the game at St. David's School, where he teaches.
"He's said some things about it and about how all his friends loved it," Matthews said.
"It's kind of what you make it," Matthews said. "It's a lot of moving around. I think it's sweet because anybody can play. Me and my buddy, we're out here in flip-flops both playing and being competitive."
"You don’t have kids pouting off to the side or playing in the grass with their friends in the corner. There’s a role that everybody can play," Miller said. "Research suggests that kids who aren’t having fun in PE between grades six and nine aren’t gonna be able to hit their fitness goals as they get older into their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s."
Vidalis manufactured more than 200 game sets for sale online. After taking the product to a state P.E. teachers' conference, he said at least 50 schools preordered the game, including UNC-Greensboro.
He and his friends also plan to start playing the game regularly at Dix Park. New players, he said, will be welcome.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.