Ga Ga

[Dave]

Anyone play this at their camp? At our camp it's the most popular activity! The kids always love playing it. For those who don't know about ga ga, here's a summary:

Ga ga is played in a six-sided wooden-court with wooden walls.
Everyone is inside the court, along with a ball.
You can only hit the ball with your hand.
You can't stop the ball. If you do, you're out.
If the ball hits your legs you're out.
If you hit the ball twice without someone else hitting it (or without it hitting a wall) you're out. This is called a double hit.
Counselors have final say if a camper got out or not. ;)
Often, if more than one bunk is playing, the game will turn into a bunk vs. bunk game. In our camp there are also boys vs. girls games as well as kids vs. counselors games.
You win by being the only person to not get out.http://katzjcc.org/camps/LocPhotos/23HilltopGaGaCourts.jpg

[speedx5xracer]

nice ga-ga pit. The one at my camp is a little bigger but same general size. It is one of the campers favorite activities as well as mine from when i was a camper. The best thing is if staff is playing with the kids they all try to gang up on the staff its one of the hardest things to do take down 15 9 year old boys as the only councler in the pit.What size ball do you use for it? at my day camp we used a nerf ball and my camp I work at we use a normal kick ball and in the elementry school i used to go to they now use tennis balls.

[Dave]

The court pictured is for the younger kids, so that's probably why it looks smaller. The courts for older kids are bigger. Anyway, we use a kick ball or oversized volleyball. And the kids always team up on counselors. It's so funny. They try to get us out, hitting the ball as hard as they can, and then we tap it back to them and they get out. Of course, we'll let them get us out sometimes. And counselors never win a game of ga ga, unless it's a counselors-only game. If that were to happen, every single kid who played in that game would hold a grudge against you for a long time.

Also, truces are made between campers and counselors. For example, me and one of the kids my bunk last summer made a truce not to get each other out. One time, I hit the ball and he stepped in front of it and got out. He got so mad at me. Luckily he forgave me later on. Ahh, the memories...

[speedx5xracer]

I had the camper from hell last summer actually is was like 3 of them so after the rest of my bunk was out I decided to get my aggression out on these 3. I know it sounds mean but my director was even watching and thanked me for what i did to them. Since they bullied the other kids and were really hard on them I put a little more power into my hits to get them out just to make them realize what it feels like to be on the other side of the ball. that was the only time i ever won a game of gaga against kids usually i would protect the youngest one and then loose to him but on this day i needed to show those 3.

[Dave]

That's quite a story. Forunately I've never been forced to do that, yet. The only time I've gotten a kid out on purpose is when he already got out but refused to leave. He'd claim he never got out, so I'd hit the ball and it'd hit his leg. Then I'd tell him he was out. Usually the kid would then leave. Sometime they wouldn't though. Depends on the kid I guess.

Another scenario when I purposely defend some kids is during the boys vs. girls games. Even though my bunk may be playing in the game, I always defend the girls (campers). They're always afraid to hit the ball, so I stand in front of them and block most of the boys' shots, just so the girls have a chance.

[martha27]

our version of gaga is not quite as grand or intense! but the they love it!!! we would use 4 benches laid on their side, stick the kids in there and off they go!

[~Imp]

Sounds pretty fun! We don't have that here

[simdude]

That sounds like a fun game. I hope my camp will have ga ga. Looks interesting.

[speedy]

i was introduced to gaga for the first time this summer and it was intense.. my girls (5th/6th grade) were crazier then the boys and we were always having to ref and ahhhhh...

fun game though!

[Dave]

Yeah ga ga can be fast-paced game. Especially when it's counselors-only (or with older campers).

[Skater Bubbles]

Wow, I wish my camp had gaga. I might have to tell my camp director about it, see if we can get it going at my camp.

[Dave]

Wow, I wish my camp had gaga. I might have to tell my camp director about it, see if we can get it going at my camp.
You must tell him/her about it. The kids would love it if a couple courts were installed! No camp is complete without ga ga. :P

[CAMPFRIEND]

I think this is also a game I am going to try next summer!!! I looks great.

[Dave]

You definitely should try this next summer. The kids are all going to love it.

[camplover86]

We don't have that at my camp, but our campers love scatter ball, which is kind of like your game. They play it so much there is a dirt circle on the ground because all of the grass has been killed.

[code3cadet]

that is look like so much fun I have to do it

[Dave]

It really is a lot of fun. I look forward to playing it all year. I remember we went to some park/family center for a picnic last summer before camp started and they had ga ga courts. I got so excited.

[camper]

my camp is officially playing ga ga next summer...it's on my mom's "for 06" list haha.

[Dave]

That's a good choice to add to camp. If your camp is like our camp, it'll be the most popular activity.

[Sparkes]

It sounds kinda like square ball?

[collissimon]

That sounds interesting... is it like dodgeball?

Do you have a problem with over-competitive campers?

[Dave]

That sounds interesting... is it like dodgeball?

Do you have a problem with over-competitive campers?
They say it's the Israeli version of dodgeball. That's was our camp's website says.

We usually don't have any over-competitive campers. But when there's a boys bunk versus a girls bunk, the boys will usually team up against the girls. And when it's even just bunk vs. bunk, the bunks go against each other. There are some kids who hit the ball every chance they get, but they usually aren't aggressive about it.

I'd say the only time the kids are aggressive is when it's campers vs. counselors. That's always fun. :D

[runrachrunn]

They say it's the Israeli version of dodgeball. That's was our camp's website says.
:D


Actually, correction: Chaye Sarah is the Israeli version of dodgeball. It's one of the more dangerous games I've played in my time...

[Dave]

Hey everyone, for those of you who don't have ga ga at your camp and you want more pictures, our partner Ultimate Camp Resource (http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/) has a link to a page with some more pictures. Just scroll to the bottom of the page (http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/). There's also a link with some rules.

[collissimon]

Thanks for the link Dave... It's still really weird though :D

[facade1138]

So thats what those pits are for...who new....I used to babysit a kid last summer and I'd have to pick him up from kinder-camp...aka day camp from 9-12 and kids would be playing in them and I couldnt' figure them out.

[sarahdee]

It looks like a cool game, and I would enjoy the kids enjoy it. Its something different rather than other typical traditional sports. We don't play it at our camp and I would see it difficult to build the court. I work at a non-profit camp where we don't have alot of money and most of the money the camp has is spent on paying staff and food, and the other on repairs, but it is maybe something we can start planning towards it and making a goal for our camp.

[camper]

you can put benches together in the shape of the gaga court to make the court...thats what they do at our boys camp. it costs nothing!

[Dave]

you can put benches together in the shape of the gaga court to make the court...thats what they do at our boys camp. it costs nothing!
That's a pretty good idea for camps that don't have ga ga courts. :D

[campnerd99]

It sort of sounds like 4-Square, which is definitly a staple activity at camp.
That gets super competitive, but always in a friendly way.

[Rainbow]

We don't play it at my camp. But 1st Time I heard about was the Tri State Camp Conference.