Kronum
| Highest governing body | Kronum League |
|---|---|
| First played | 2008, Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Yes (in neutral plane) |
| Team members | 10 |
| Mixed gender | Yes |
| Type | Indoor and Outdoor, field |
| Equipment | Kronum ball |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | No |
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Kronum is a team sport in which two teams of ten players each attempt to score by either throwing, kicking or heading the ball into any of four goals, while the opposing team attempts to win possession of the ball. It is mainly played in the United States, with professional league games taking place in Philadelphia.[citation needed]
Kronum includes elements of different sports, such as association football, basketball and handball, which allows participants to combine their respective skill sets. The game is played on a 50-yard diameter, circular field, with four goals positioned around the outer circumference. The aim is for the team on offence to score in any of the four goals, while the defence attempts to win possession of the ball and return it to the central circle of the field, or Prime Ring, in order to transition to offence. The field is divided into a number of zones, which dictate scoring and the methods allowed to possess and control the ball.
History[edit]
Kronum was invented in 2006 by Bill Gibson, who wanted to bring together athletes from many sports. The first game was played two years later, when Gibson marked out the first full-size field in Villanova and invited local students to test the rules. As a result of this, the Kronum League was founded. The league's presence on social media allowed the sport to grow an online following, with 6,480 followers on Facebook, and almost 1,700 on Twitter (as of April 2016).
Since the inception of the Kronum League, the game has spread as far afield as Australia, Hungary, Poland and the UK.
In 2013, the Kronum League moved from a 70-yard to a 50-yard field in order to promote faster paced gameplay. The league also moved to an indoor venue. Recreational competitions still continued to be held on outdoor fields. In 2015, the Kronum College League played its first season, with 5 teams competing.
Rules[edit]
The field[edit]
The field consists of a 50-yard diameter circle, called the Boundary Ring. Two more concentric circles are marked, one with a radius of 8 yards, called the Prime Ring, and the other, with a radius of 1 yard, called the Pivot. The Boundary Ring is divided into four quadrants, with the lines not extending into the Prime Ring.
Around the circumference of the Boundary Ring, positioned at the midpoint of the arc bounding each quadrant, are four goals. Semi-circular arcs are marked around these goals, five yards in radius, called the Goal Zones.
A point, known as the Wedge Point, is marked 18 yards from the goal, measured along the radius of the field. From this point, two perpendicular, straight lines are marked, creating the Wedge Zone. The areas outside of the Wedge Zones and Prime Ring are known as the Flex Zones.
These zones govern the number of points awarded for a goal, as well as the methods allowed to control the ball. In the Wedge Zones, it is illegal for offence players to handle the ball, while defence players are allowed to deflect the ball with the hands, but not control it. Use of the hands is permitted on the rest of the field, including in the Goal Zones. Scoring from the Goal Zone is worth one point, from the Wedge or Flex Zones is two points, and from the Prime Ring, Pivot, or a different quadrant, four points. Scoring from a penalty shot is worth three points.
The goal[edit]
The regulation goal is 16 feet wide by 12 feet tall. Protruding from the top of the goal is a structure called the crown. The crown consists of 5 circular openings, and any goals scored through these openings counts for double points. This means that the maximum possible score from one shot is eight points, being a crown shot from the Prime Ring or long range.
The teams[edit]
A Kronum team consists of 10 players, who primarily play in one of three positions. Wedgebacks play mainly in the Goal Zones and Wedge Zones, and act as goalkeepers. There are typically four wedgebacks in a team. Four Rangers will generally cover the Wedge and Flex Zones, scoring many of the two and four point shots. Two Crossers patrol the central area of the field, and are most likely to score an 8-point shot.
General gameplay[edit]
The game begins with a Prime Rush. Two players from each team stand on a Wedge Point, then the referee spikes the ball in the Pivot, and these four players rush in to try and tip the ball to their own team. The team that wins the ball becomes the team on offence, and may then attempt to score in any of the four goals. The opposing team tries to defend the goals, or win possession of the ball and return it to the Prime Ring in order to become the team on offence.
Kronum League clubs[edit]
Seven clubs participate in the Kronum League, all based in the USA. Six of the clubs have been in the league since its inception.
- Evergreens (since 2012)
- Jet Sets
- Night Owls
- Nimble Jacks
- Throwbacks
- Urban Legends
- Work Horses
Two clubs, the Limelights and the Morningstars, played in the league until 2010, when they were disbanded.
The Nimble Jacks have been the most successful club, having won the first three championships and the 2nd Kronum Captain's Cup. The Night Owls are the only other team to win the league championship, in the league's fourth season, having defeated the Nimble Jacks 125-106 in the play-off final. The league has been on hiatus since the conclusion of the fourth season.
Kronum College League[edit]
A league consisting of five universities based in the USA began in 2015, with West Chester University taking the inaugural championship. The five clubs participating in the league were:
- Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
- Towson University
- University of Delaware
- West Chester University
- Widener University
Other nations[edit]
Kronum teams have started in other countries, although no nation other than the USA has more than one club. Kronum is now played in Australia, Hungary, Poland and the UK.
Online presence[edit]
Kronum has been able to spread through the use of social media and the internet. Pieces on the sport have appeared in Wired[1] and on the ESPN TV show SportsNation.[2] Local recreational Kronum Leagues and sessions have been organised through social networks, including those in Europe and Australia. Articles about Kronum have appeared in the New York Times,[3] the French newspaper Le Monde,[4] the Italian La Stampa[5] and the Spanish,[6] Italian,[7] UK[8] versions of Yahoo/Eurosport. On social networks, Kronum was promoted on the Facebook page of 8 Facts Sports,[9] and has also been shared by Whistle Sports Network.
References[edit]
- ↑ Article on Wired.com
- ↑ One of the ESPN videos about Kronum
- ↑ Building Sports, on the NY Times
- ↑ A la découverte du Kronum, grand mix des sports collectifs, on LeMonde.fr (in French)
- ↑ Un mix di calcio e pallamano: dagli Usa ecco Kronum, on LaStampa.it (in Italian)
- ↑ ¿Será el Kronum el deporte mundial del futuro?, on Yahoo/Eurosport España (in Spanish)
- ↑ Ecco il Kronum, lo sport del futuro, on Yahoo/Eurosport Italia (in Italian)
- ↑ Will Kronum be the world's next big sport?, on Yahoo/Eurosport UK
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/8factsSports/ Kronum, a very catchy sport
External links[edit]
- Official Kronum Website
- KL Insider – The min news website for Kronum
- Official YouTube Channel
This article "Kronum" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
