When I was in school, our gym classes weren’t always exciting. Sometimes, we only had to do different exercises that our teacher showed us, meaning no running, no playing with balls and no fun.
Our boredom could turn into excitement quickly though, when our teacher promised us that we would play a round of “burning ball”, once we were done with the exercises. We loved this game because it allowed us to run fast around the whole gymnasium, throw and catch a ball, and of course, play in different teams with our classmates.

The idea of the game is that one team is standing on the playing field and the other team is lining up behind each other on the outside. There are different “bases”(obstacles) set up along the borders of the playing field, making a line around the field for the players to run through. The outside player first in line then throws a ball in the playing field and while the players on the inside try to get the ball into a marked ring, the player who threw the ball runs through the bases one by one. The runner’s goal is to earn points by running through all the bases and making it back to the outside. The goal of the team inside the field is to get the ball into the marked ring as fast as possible to keep the runner from earning points.
It is played in two halves, each lasting around 10 minutes, depending on how much time you have and how long you want to play. After the time’s up, the teams switch positions and the game starts again. In the end, the team with the most points wins.
There are many different variations to this game and you can adjust it to whatever fits the circumstances you are playing in best.

What do you need?
To start, you need a big group of players. It was always the most fun when we played it with the whole class so I would suggest being around 10-30 players. If you’re fewer people, the playing field might has to be adjusted. The second most important part is the equipment. It is best to play it in a gym where you have mattresses, gymnastics rings, trampolines, vaulting boxes, … To set up the marked ring, a hula hoop ring is the easiest choice. A ball is also required for this game. The kind of ball you want to play with is up to you. We often loved playing it with a tennis ball, since it is smaller and easier to throw but you can of course also play it with a bigger ball.

How to play?
The first step is to set up the playing field. There are no instructions or rules for it so you can do whatever fits best. Each base must have a part on which the players are safe, f.e. if one of the bases is a trampoline with a mattress, the players first have to jump on the trampoline and then onto the mattress on which they are safe and can stay there until the next player throws the ball.
After setting up all of the bases, it is time to select the team and chose which team starts in which position. While the throwing team lines up behind each other on the outside of the playing field, the catching team stays on the inside and spreads out over the whole field, trying to cover every corner. This team has to select a player that stays in the marked ring. The player can switch during the game but it is necessary that there is always one player for it. The only rule for this player is that he or she has to have one foot inside the ring at all times.
Once the teams are ready to go, the game starts.
The first player throws the ball wherever he or she wishes, it just has to land inside the playing field. As soon as the ball is thrown, the player runs towards the first base/ obstacle. He or she can choose to either stay at the base or to run to the next base. It is mandatory to conquer each obstacle and not allowed to run past it. While the player throws the ball, the inside team has to try to get the ball into the marked ring as fast as possible. There are no rules as to how the ball has to be passed on, it can be done by throwing, rolling, etc. When the player inside the ring has the ball, he or she has to drop it into the ring and shout “burned”. Once these words are out, the players of the throwing team that are currently inside the playing field have to freeze. Everyone who is not in a safe spot, so either on a wrong part of a base or still on the way to a base, is “burned” and has to go back to the outside of the field and line up behind his or her teammates. This means that the players of the throwing team have to decide between staying at a base or to keep running, depending on how close the thrown ball is to the marked ring. Of course, the rest of the players on the throwing team can support their teammates from the outside by giving them advice on what to do. Once a player is in the safe spot at the base, he or she has to wait until another teammate throws the ball to run to the next base. The player can also decide to stay at the current base if he or she thinks that it’s impossible to arrive at the next base in time.
Let’s get to the points: Only the throwing team can earn points in a round: A player gets one point if he or she stopped at at least one base before arriving back on the outside. Two points can be earned if a player manages to run through all of the bases during one throw, which means that after the player threw the ball, he or she ran through each base without stopping at a safe spot and arrived back on the outside of the field before the catching team could say “burned”. The points get added up and after two rounds, when the teams switched positions and were both the catching and the throwing team, the final points are compared to see who won.

I hope you enjoy this game and have fun playing!