Beach Ball

Beach ball games are fun with your friends in the water on the beach, and most importantly, with your group of corporate executives, teenagers, and camp kids.

Score Extra Points

Start dressed in light sports wear, then add extra layers of clothing like hoodies and rain wear, to make it more challenging.

Each item of clothing (excluding underwear or swimwear) counts as 1 handicap or bonus point. Add the points for the whole team to any score they may achieve.

Democracy Ball

The object of this game is for the group to hit a beach ball in the air as many times as possible, each time scoring a point, without the ball touching the water.

This game is fun and gets everyone involved. When players are coming together for the first time and playing this game, don’t play with rules, just let the players hit the ball in the air. Use one or more balls.

Around 3 to 9 Players start out in dry clothes, if possible. Begin in shallow water at the edge just deep enogh to get your shoes wet. Don't go barefoot as you might step on something sharp as you run around.

As a group leader you just hit the ball up in the air. Maybe you get another group leader to hit it back from slightly deeper water.

Then an amazing thing happens. By hitting the ball into the air at least one person from the group will get involved and that in turn will usually have a domino effect on the others. When more playes come into the water, they can just join right in.

Then introduce some of the rules, just so everyone can get involved.

Follow these rules:

1. A group’s score does not count until everyone has hit the ball once.

2. A player must not hit the ball more than once in a row.

3. Players can only hit the ball with their hands; no kicking. Although the occasional header is generally alright.

4. Players must not “punch” the ball.

Slowly move the group into knee deep to waist deep water. See who can stay dry the longest.

However, before to long everybody's clothes should be soaking wet. If some players stay dry too long, the may not have had a chance to fully participate. Get them involved and get them completely wet.

Minor Problems

If you don't follow Rule #1 and #2 this may happen:

If you have a group of 30 people (especially ones that do not know each other), about 10 of them (usually the taller, more aggressive ones) will circle up in the middle and “hog” the ball.

The rest of the group, too shy or too short or generally too unwilling to join the “fun”, will hang around the beach watching the action, but soon tire of that and eventually disengage from the game.

This could be a problem. So how to avoid it?
Follow rules #1 and #2.

However, you could allow it to happen and then present the problem to the group:

What rules can the group come up with to get everyone involved?

Then you could follow those rules until everyone is participating and gets soaking wet in the game.

Alternatively, you could let things fall where they may and use “democracy ball” as a gauge, a reference point, for your water games and wet activities that may follow.

Sometime during the rest of your day, the group leader may say: “OK folks, how did that activity compare to democracy ball as far as getting everyone involved?”

Democracy Ball Relay

This is a variation of the original game. The object is for the group to move themselves into deeper water while keeping it in the air the entire time by hitting it from one to another.

Start and finish line is the water's edge, the far side is defined where the smallest player stands shoulder deep in the water. Once all their clothes are wet the move back to the beach.

Make sure to enforce both rules of the original “Democracy Ball” game. This is a timed event, so your give the group a few different attempts to see if they can complete it faster and faster.

Once they are good at it, have them wear more clothes like hoodies and anoraks. This will slow them down and make it more challenging. Great fun.