NEWS

Fishball takes off at Rodger Young Park

Daniel Carson
Reporter

FREMONT – The ball, which is a volleyball, has to bounce on the court before the opposing team can touch it in a game of fishball.

It’s just one of many quirky rules in the hybrid game of fishball that relative newcomers occasionally had problems with Sunday night at Rodger Young Park, as a group of about 20 friends took to the tennis courts for their regular weekly dose of the new sport.

Carter Winn, a member of Grace Community Church, moved to the area from Fayetteville, Ark. earlier this year and brought the game with him.

Fishball is a fast-paced blend of tennis, volleyball and dodgeball that is played on a tennis court with five players on each side. After a ball is returned across the net, it can be hit three times like in volleyball before it is returned to the opponent, with scoring also similar to a volleyball match.

Players can also use their feet to hit a ball, with the singles lines on the tennis court determining what is in or out.

Winn said between 40 and 50 people, predominantly from Grace Community Church and Fremont Alliance Church, have joined him at various times to play the game and meet new people at the Rodger Young tennis courts.

Claire Laverne is one of those newcomers to the sport and enjoyed her second week of fishball Sunday.

Laverne, also a member of Grace Community Church, said she moved to the area from Pittsburgh.

She said she previously played volleyball and soccer and was able to apply those skills to her new sport.

“It’s very entertaining,” Laverne said of fishball, adding, “It’s a good group of people. It keeps me active.”

During a break Sunday, Karissa Pinkerton said she had been playing the game about two months and described fishball as a fun, community game.

She said a Facebook group for fishball had been started to promote the sport in Fremont.

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter:@DanielCarson7