BOXBALL: Two vaulting-horses (BOXES?) were "goals". There were two teams and each had to pass the ball around while taking no more than 3 steps and pass it at the "goal" and hit the side of the horse to score. It was vaguely like basketball but in rugby style. There was no tackling but you could spread your arms to stop someone passing. And there were all kinds of pass and of course dummies, too. There was a mat in front of each goal/box/vaulting horse on which the goalie stood and could obviously fall if need be. I do not remember if I ever knew why it was called "boxball" but I am now assuming it was because the vaulting-horse looked vaguely like a box. And in any case, to call it "vaulting-horse-ball" would have been a bit silly .....
PIRATES: All the apparatus would be put out (in advance as I recall) and linked up with beams and ropes etc. We would then race about all over the gym without touching the floor. I forget what the point of the racing was. Were we chasing someone? It was a nice change, but somehow the idea and name of the activity were more impressive than the activity itself. Still, it was a considerate attempt by Taffy to do something different as a treat.
My memory is certainly very patchy, so additional and/or corrective comments would be highly welcome! AND of course I am recalling MY era from 58 to 65 - no doubt some things were very different in other years. |