Beach Ball Games

Beach ball games are fun with your friends on the beach, or in the water, and most importantly, with your group of corporate executives, teenagers, or camp kids.

Score Bonus Points

Start dressed in light sportswear, then add extra layers of clothing like hoodies and rain wear, to make it more challenging and fun. Don't go barefoot as you might step on something sharp as you run around.

Each item of clothing (excluding underwear or swimwear) counts as 1 handicap or bonus point. Shoes count 1 point a pair, same for socks.

For example, if you dress in jeans, t-shirt, polo-shirt, and shoes you get 4 bonus points extra. Sum up the points for the whole team, and add them to any score they may achieve.

Democracy Ball

The object of this game is for the group to hit a beach ball in the air as many times as possible, each time scoring a point, without the ball touching the water.

This game is fun and gets everyone involved. When players are coming together for the first time and playing this game, don’t play with rules, just let the players hit the ball in the air. Use one or more balls.

Around 3 to 9 Players start out in dry clothes, if possible. Begin in shallow water at the edge just deep enough to get your shoes wet.

One group leader goes into in deeper water, the other stays at the water's edge and hits the ball up into the air towards the water. The other group leader run for it and hits it back from deeper water.

Then an amazing thing happens. By hitting the ball into the air at least one person from the group will get involved and that in turn will usually have a domino effect on the others. When more players come into the water, they can just join right in.

Slowly move the group into knee deep to waist deep water. See who can keep most of their clothes dry the longest. However, before to long everybody will be soaking wet, having a great time.

If some players stay dry too long, they may not have had a chance to fully participate. Get them involved and get them completely wet.

That's when you introduce some of the rules, just so everyone can get involved.

Simple Rules

1. A group’s score does not count until everyone has hit the ball once.

2. A player must not hit the ball more than once in a row. If they do, they have to put on a hoodie to slow them down.

3. Players can only hit the ball with their hands; no kicking. Although the occasional header is generally alright.

4. Players must not “punch” the ball. If they do, they have to put on a hoodie to slow them down.

That’s all the rules.

Minor Problems

If you don't follow Rule #1 and #2 this may happen:

For example, if you have a group of 30 people (especially ones that do not know each other), about 10 of them (usually the taller, more aggressive ones) will circle up in the middle and “hog” the ball.

The rest of the group, too shy or too short or generally too unwilling to join the “fun”, will hang around the beach watching the action, but soon tire of that and eventually disengage from the game.

This could be a problem. So how to avoid it?
Follow rules #1 and #2.

Solutions

You could allow a problem to happen and then present it to the group:

What rules can the group come up with to get everyone involved?

For instance, the folks on the beach could be asked to come into the water and hand out hoodies to the faster players to slow them down to a fair level.

Then you could follow those rules until everyone is participating and gets soaking wet in the game. Get bystanders involved in a non-competitive way, without being pushy.

Group Dynamics

Alternatively, you could let things fall where they may, and use “democracy ball” as a gauge, a reference point, for your water games and wet activities that may follow.

Sometime during the rest of your day, the group leader may ask:

“OK folks, how did that activity compare to democracy ball as far as getting everyone involved?”

Democracy Ball Relay

This is a variation of the original game. The object is for the group to move themselves into deeper water while keeping the ball in the air the entire time by hitting it from one player to another.

Start and finish line is the water's edge, the far side is defined where the smallest player stands shoulder deep in the water. Once all their clothes are wet they move back to the beach.

Make sure to enforce both rules #1 and #2 of the original “Democracy Ball” game. This is a timed event, so your give the group a few different attempts to see if they can complete it faster and faster.

Once they are good at it, have them wear more clothes like hoodies and anoraks. This will slow them down and make it more challenging. Great fun.