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Highest governing body | Global VX |
---|---|
Nicknames | Super fun Sport |
First played | 2006 |
Characteristics | |
Contact | No |
Team members | Singles (V2), Doubles (V4), 1v1v1 (V3), Team (5v5 - VX) |
Mixed-sex | yes |
Type | Hand sport, Ball sport, Team sport |
Equipment | low pressure, low impact VX ball; VstiX |
VX, originally Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport from the UK. It evolved in North Yorkshire (Great Britain) and was launched in February 2006 at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference. The sport was continually developed by the International Federation and in 2012 the Federation approved a move by the worldwide membership to rename the sport VX [1] to cater for its international development.
VX has continued to be popular in schools in the UK [2] and is now being adopted by universities, [3] colleges, youth organisations, [4] [5] [6] Street Games and the military. [7] It is also attracting interest from the Prison Service and Primary Care Trusts. It now has a foothold in 25 countries of which 15 have National Governing Bodies(NGBs).
VX is a gender-neutral sport. [8] Males and females play on a totally equal footing in all disciplines and at all levels. It is also accessible to players of all abilities. It is not an adaptation of any single sport however there are elements of several sports including dodgeball, lacrosse, basque pelota and hockey.
The sport, originally known as Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport which originated from the British Isles. It evolved in North Yorkshire (Great Britain) and was officially launched at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference in February 2006.
Rock-It-Ball spread through schools in the UK. It featured on four of the Youth Sport Trust's programmes, began to be played regularly in 17 countries, [9] and saw the establishment of an international federation and eleven national governing bodies [10]
Over time the international administrative body had taken the original game and further developed and extended it, setting up a full sports infrastructure. In 2012, in order to cater for the international growth, the sport was rebranded by the international community to VX. All the clubs and NGBs followed suit and now all leagues, tournaments and international competitions are under the VX banner.
In August 2017 VX gained international recognition as a sport at the General Assembly of the Sport Recognised Association.
VX is played by two teams of five players. The court is roughly the size of a sports hall with four badminton courts. In the US, basketball courts are used. Each player uses a VstiX. This is made up of a control bar and a thrower/catcher at each end. Players are not restricted to a certain area but can go anywhere on court. They must dribble by rock-ing the ball between the two ends, or by using one end of the VstiX to bounce the ball on the floor. Five balls are in play. One point is scored by hitting an opponent with the ball between the shoulders and the feet. Three points are scored by catching an opponent's thrown ball. When a player is hit (s)he must stand still, raise a hand and look to the referee. The referee records the point and tells the player to play on. The referee is assisted by two umpires positioned on the opposite side of the court. The role of the umpires is simply to look for infringements. All infringements incur a three-point penalty. Violence results in ejection from the game and disciplinary action. Examples of infringements are:
Formal matches consists of four quarters each of which lasts four minutes.
As part of the development of VX, the International Federation introduced Singles (V2), a 1v1v1 (V3) version and Doubles (V4)
The new versions were created by the International Federation to develop the sport and provide individuals with an opportunity to set up clubs more easily.
The International Federation was established in December 2006 but changed its name to Global VX when the sport was rebranded in 2012. Global VX administers the sport on a global basis, assists with the establishment and running of NGBs [13] [14] and organises international competition. Global VX also runs the annual rules committee which takes place every January.
Global VX also has an awards programme. The annual 'Executive' Awards recognise the work of volunteers in the sport. 'The Person of the Year' Award is awarded to an outstanding volunteer who has done exceptional work to promote and develop the sport. The 'Person of the Year' and the Executive Awards are announced annually on Dec 31st
2010: Person of the Year: Conrad Broughton (England)
2011: Person of the Year: Matti Chasan Bergstein (Denmark)
2012: The first Person of the Year since the sport was rebranded: VX Uganda. Unusually, the award did not go to one individual but was presented to VX Uganda as a body to recognise the work and effort that had been made by several people to grow the sport in Africa
2013: Person of the Year: Eric Clark (Ripon Lions) & John Sheepy (Boroughbridge Lions)
2014: Person of the Year: Tony Notarianni (USA)
2015: Person of the Year: Dr Suman Shankar Tiwari (India)
2016: Person of the Year: Matty Horsfield (England)
2017: Person of the Year: Alessandro Foglino (Italy)
2018: Person of the Year: Dr Suman Shankar Tiwari (India)
2019: Person of the Year: Osman Wong (Hong Kong)
2020: Person of the Year: No awards made due to Covid
2021: Person of the Year: Carl Alsop (England)
2022: Person of the Year: Dan Shuker (England)
Any member affiliated to Global VX (e.g. player, coach, administrator) can nominate any other affiliated member who they consider to have made an outstanding contribution to the sport. Any nominee with three nominations passes to the next stage for voting by the committee. The Hall of Fame Awards generally takes place every two years. In 2010 the voting committee felt unable to differentiate between the 3 nominees who reached the voting stage and so, as an exception, voted to induct all three. In 2008 the founders of the original sport (Paul Hildreth, Tom Hildreth, Craig Buttery) were honoured by inducting them into the newly established Hall of Fame.
The 'Legends' Award and Gallery is reserved for players who have reached an outstanding level of achievement. This award was instigated in 2012 as a direct result of the achievements of Scotland's Scott MacMichael and is not intended to be an annual honour.
As the sport has grown its impact has started to be recognised by external bodies:
The role of Official VX Ambassador was originally taken by Olympic Diver Jack Laugher. [25]
The latest Global VX Ambassador is Natalie Chan from Hong Kong.
VX's first patron is trail blade runner Phil Sheridan.
The patron of VX Kenya is Mr Cosmas Nabungolo
The patron of VX Uganda is Mr Isaac Ssekamwa
Centres of Excellence and coaching academies are being established.
2012 The Sport Becomes VX
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