Ga-ga Rocks!

ALL4 hosted one of its annual cornerstone events this past weekend – Crabfest 2015. Not only was this event held at a new venue this year, a local day camp facility located near our corporate office in Kimberton, PA, but it went down in ALL4 history as one of our highest attended events with 104 people present. While the day couldn’t have played out any better from a weather, venue, food, and friends vantage point there was one thing that stole the show for the day – Ga-ga ball! Ga-ga, which means ‘touch-touch’ in Hebrew, is a variant form of dodge ball and played with one ball. The game combines the skills of dodging, striking, running, and jumping, with the objective to be the last person standing. Players attempt to hit each other with the ball and are eliminated if the ball strikes them below the knees. The game can be played by a group competing as individual players, by groups divided into teams, or as a ‘one-on-one’ match. Rules, ball types, pit surfaces, and pit sizes can vary widely at different venues. While predominantly known as ‘Ga-ga’ this game can also be known as Israeli dodge ball, octo-ball, or panda ball.

While Crabfest guests initially walked around the hexagon shaped area on the grounds curious as to what this astroturfed based wooden structure was there for, guesses from the crowd began to take shape and ranged from a little tikes soccer field to a centralized time-out pit for the day campers. What picnic-goers came to enjoy was this was a Ga-ga ball pit and as the day progressed this became the place to be! The unique thing about this game is that there is no stereotypical player – sizes, ages, and abilities of participants ran the full gambit; however, there was one thing that participants, and observers alike, had in common…they were gaga over Ga-ga! This game held a captive audience the entire day and was not only the talk of the picnic, but was the talk of car rides home.

Move over horseshoes, swimming, and volleyball – picnics will never be the same now that ALL4 has the 4-1-1 on Ga-ga ball!