The Sport with One Rule: No Murder
In Ashbourne, a small town in England, there is a sport called Royal Shrovetide that is played annually. This sport, best described as “rugby on rabies”, has only one official rule: No murder. Here are the basics:
- A river runs through the town. Those north of it are the “Up’Ards”, thouse south are the “Down’Ards”.
- There is no limit to the number of players on each team (even in the 1000’s!)
- Before the game starts, the crowd all sings Auld Lang Syne followed by God Save the Queen
- There is a ball that looks the size of a basketball. The goal is for someone to get it from their town center to their goal (roughly 3 miles apart). Once at the goal, the player has to bang it on the wall 3 times for it to count as a goal
- Once a goal is scored, a new ball is thrown into play.
This game sounds completely awesome, and also like something I would be too chicken to compete in. It’s still cool to think that an entire town comes together to play this once a year.
