By John Salak –
No one is going to argue that team sports are good for the mind and body. Adults can benefit just as much if not more than school children from friendly games of tennis, pickleball, softball, basketball or just about anything else. Sure, accidents can happen—turned ankles, bruises, sore muscles to name a few. But the gains are usually worth the risk, especially for those who prepare and are cautious.
The potential team sports benefits include but aren’t limited to improved cardiovascular and muscle strength, increased energy, enhanced cognitive skills, stress relief, weight loss, better sleep and socialization.
What’s not to like? Of course, there is the Royal Shrovetide Football Match to consider or perhaps reconsider the benefits of these joint activities. It’s the ultimate team sport. It takes place annually each March between Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, involving hundreds of players from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England.
Described as a medieval football game that dates back to the reign of Henry 11 (1154-89), it’s kind of a freewheeling cross between rugby, soccer, Australian rules football and trench fighting during the First World War. The contest is played between the town’s Up’ards” and the “Down’ards over a three-mile swath of land that is clearly marked off. Rules are extremely limited, but murdering an opponent is specifically frowned upon.
The aim is simple but challenging: to score a “goal” at either end of the sector. Advancing the ball could mean pushing through rivers, hedgerows, main streets and as one observer noted “just about anything else.” The only things off-limits within the sector are churchyards, cemeteries and places of worship.
It is a rough-and-tumble affair for both players and spectators. It is also extremely popular as thousands show up annually in this small town to witness the two-day match. The audience is advised to stand way clear of the moveable madness. Stores and homes in the field of play are quick to board up windows and anything else that might get damaged, trampled or dislocated, which includes cars and trucks. Everything is fair game.
“It’s like tug of war without the rope,” former event marshal Natalie Wakefield told the Associated Press. “It’s mad in the best possible way.”
The physical nature of the event begs the question of training. Is it necessary or even possible? Apparently not. “You can’t practice,” explained Mark Harrison, a former participant who “goaled” in 1986. Now retired, he attends the match, serving hamburgers to the spectators.
He did, however, offer advice for those who want to get involved. Good players he said need to be “hard, aggressive and authoritative. You’ve just got to get in there and be rough. I am a rugby player … I’m also an ex-boxer so that helps.”
Records for the event date back centuries, although many were lost in an earlier fire. Scores, not surprisingly, are always kept, casualty lists on the other hand seem to be a second thought.
It doesn’t matter. After almost 1,000 years of play, Ashbourne residents don’t seem willing to trade off their ritual no matter the cost. In fact, the town revels in the match. Schools are closed and colorful bunting is hung throughout the town. Revelers gather throughout the safe zones to eat, drink and enjoy what essentially turns into a big street party.
“There are people who come and they have a drink and they’re just like, ‘This is a bit of a crazy thing and it’s a spectacle, and now I’ve seen it, box ticked off,’” Wakefield explained. “And there are people who are absolutely enthralled by it all, and they get the beauty and complexity of the game and those people follow it year on year.”
The bottom line? The Royal Shovetide might not be everyone’s cup of tea or provide the same benefits as a friendly softball and basketball game. As intriguing as it seems, it should really be a spectator’s sport for all but a brave and hearty few hundred.
Oh yes, the Down’ards claimed victory in this year’s low-scoring match-one/nil.
