Do you know what Hawthorne High School’s favorite game to play is? It is speedball; a game which is a combination between football and soccer. Everyone loves it because anyone can participate in it, even people who aren’t good at being athletic. I bet you’re wondering, “How did a silly game like this manage to become so famous from such a long time ago?” Like all other famous sports that we all know and love today, it came from humble beginnings.

The game was first invented at the University of Michigan in the 1920s by a physical education professor named Elmer D. Mitchell. He wanted to develop a game where everyone could have fun without worrying about restrictive rules that we would normally see in other sports. That is how he created speedball and how it became the most played game in American high school physical education classes.

Speedball is similar to football and soccer because it is a combination of the two games. There are many ways where you can score a goal in Speedball. You can kick it in the net, throw it in the net, pass it over to another player to the end zone, or catch the ball in the end zone. There are even players who play roles (from soccer and football) in this game like Goal Keeper, Defensive Back, Left Winger, Right Winger, and Center. Creative stuff like this is what makes this game so much fun and interesting.

Ms. Jaclyn Peene, gym teacher here at HHS, was asked why kids in our school love speedball so much. She said, “I split the number of boys and girls on each teams. The kids enjoy it because it is so much fun and it is much more creative than the other sports we play in gym.”

Everyone is enjoying the game no matter what school they are in. You might even want to join in the fun. You can even create your own game if you want to just like Elmer D. Mitchell did. Just be sure it is fair, not that complicated to play, and a game that everyone can have fun in whether you win or lose.