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Field Crumpets is a game played with two teams of players which try to score points by hitting the ''crumpet'' into the opposing team's goal using their ''crumpet sticks''. Created in 1996 by Robbie Overton and Mike Nolan in Leawood, Kansas , Field Crumpets is highly related to the games Field Hockey and Soccer . Unlike most team sports, Field Crumpets is not a game about ''winning'' but instead is all about having fun; teams are selected at random and a good amount of silliness is maintained in order to keep the game from being taken too seriously by its participants. The net effect of this "fun-based" attitude is a game which can be played by people having a large variety of athletic ability and of all shapes and sizes. GAME PLAY Field Crumpets is played very similarly to Field Hockey , each team attempts to use their ''crumpet sticks'' to hit the ''crumpet'' (the ball) into the opposing team's goal. A ''crumpet stick'' is an oversized plastic bat, often times made out of bright orange plastic and are originally intended for extremely young children to learn to play baseball with. The ''crumpet'' is generally a lightweight rubber ball of about 10 inches in diameter. These implements are used for safety reasons - while it is not acceptable to purposely hit another player with a crumpet stick, unintentional hits do occur (especially around the legs and feet) and anything which is more solid than the oversized plastic bats could do a considerable amount of damage. The game lasts until one of the two teams scores 10 points, whoever gets there first. Team Selection Teams are generated randomly by having a captain think of a number and having each player pick numbers. The player that is closest to the captain's number is then on the captain's team. This process is repeated until the teams are even or, if the number of players is odd, the captain will ''farkle'' (more commonly known as Rock, Paper, Scissors ) for the extra player. Other methods of team picking have been employed as well; for example, Montana crumpeters are known to have every player stand in a line with their eyes closed with the captain facing the line - on the count of three each player (including the captain) move to the left or the right. University Of Missouri - Columbia crumpeters have employed the ''mass farkling'' technique for picking teams as well, in which all the players farkle against the captain and teams are picked by determining which players beat the captain or were beaten by the captain. Restrictions and Penalties Players cannot intentionally kick the crumpet, with the exception of a goalie position, and hands are also off limits as well, which are played in a very similar manner to Soccer 's handball. The goalie is not allowed to cross outside of their half of the field and is also forced to switch with another player on the same team each time that team scores. No player can be goalie twice before every player on that team has been goalie once. If a team wants to go without a goalie, they can go "commando" which will allow all of their players to play the entire field, but does not allow any of their players to kick the crumpet. Field Size and Dimensions The field is marked off with four outside markers to mark out-of-bounds and then another four markers on each end-line to designate the goal. The goal does not have a top, nor does it really have any sort of "side" beyond whatever marker is used to designate it. Usually these markers are tent stakes and therefore do not have much height to them. If the crumpet is hit into the front of the goal, it has scored one point. If the crumpet then continues on through the back of the goal, the scoring team gets an additional point for a total of two. After the crumpet has crossed the threshold of the first point, the scoring team cannot continue through the goal to hit it in for two points, but the opposing team can get in and attempt to stop the crumpet from crossing over the back of the goal. If the scoring team does hit the crumpet while it is in the goal, that team will only be able to score one point for that score. Purpose Most importantly, Field Crumpets is about having fun, not winning. If an action might put another player in harm's way, it is generally better to err on the side of safety. Nobody has much fun if they get hurt by careless play. If two players know that they don't mind if one player runs into the other then this would be acceptable, but if a player does not wish to be run into then all players should respect this. While throwing a crumpet stick at the crumpet (to hit it out of bounds or possibly nudge it into the goal), throwing should be entirely under-hand and never in a situation where the throw is likely to hit another player and cause injury. EQUIPMENT Crumpet Sticks are usually oversized, light-weight, plastic bats. They are about 24 inches long and 4 inches in diameter. Crumpet sticks are generally made in bright orange plastic, but dark blue, yellow and red crumpet sticks have been used as well. Many crumpeters enjoy having their own crumpet stick and decorate them using a Permanent Marker . Crumpets are usually light-weight rubber balls. They are usually 10 inches in diameter and have cartoon characters printed on them. A particular crumpet that has become a favorite of crumpeters is the "Smiley" which has the design of a large yellow smiley face on it. LOCATIONS Field Crumpets is constantly growing in popularity. Originally created in Kansas, it remained an isolated game for quite some time. Not until the original crumpet players head their separate ways to college did the game start to spread. Initially there was only a club at the University Of Kansas , then followed by a club at Cornell University in New York and Iowa State University . In more recent times the sport has gone under a great deal of growth with a new club at the University Of Missouri - Columbia , one at Juniata College , one at the University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign , two clubs in the suburbs of Chicago, a club in Montana and a club in Alaska. Additionally, two new clubs are ready to emerge from the Kansas City area and still more possibilities for expansion exist at more colleges. EXTERNAL LINKS
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