Rocball marked 40th anniversary in 2023

The sport of Rocball has been an annual sporting event played on a Public School System campus every year in the CNMI since 1983.

When there have been years when a lack of commitment, facilities and/or funding for intramural and interscholastic sports existed for one reason or the other, there were teams and leagues of players year after year and decade after decade competing in Rocball games for a lunch time and after-school activity outdoors on the grass, on the beach, on a parking lot, and in a gymnasium.

Rocball was defined years ago as “Saipan’s own sport” by the local newspapers, but Rocball players have been and continue to be from all parts of Micronesia and beyond.

One of the most important attributes about the sport of Rocball is the impact it had on changing the anemic competitive features of side-out volleyball for Rocball’s system of rally point scoring and unrestricted hitting. It wasn’t until after Rocball gained international recognition on the CNN World Report in 1993 and 1994 that the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball changed volleyball with Rocball rules of play. That issue was documented by a letter from FIVB in 1999 in response to a certified letter sent from Rocball to FIVB in 1995.

Since 2010, there have been Rocball games played at the local and national levels in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Rocball certificates of registration were issued to other countries that included Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. Kenya, Tanzania, Liberia, Spain, and Argentina. There have been two international sport forums that have involved the sport of Rocball in zoom meetings from here on Saipan. One meeting was held in Argentina and the other international forum was held in Pakistan.

This year there are 10 teams that will compete for the Rocball championship title—Nesian Power, Charii Fahn, Topshakas, Border Control, Spicy Locals, Bolley Ballerz, Rizzler Rocball Association, Quest, Aces, and Boddies.

The 10-team round robin scheduled is for 45 games but teams will be eliminated after their third loss.

The playoffs will include the four teams with the best win-loss record. There were two weeks of Rocball practice games held at Marianas High School during lunch time to teach new players about the game’s rules and refresher games for last year’s players. This year’s Rocball games began yesterday, Jan. 4, with Nesian Power and Charii Fahn squaring it off. (PR)