chairball popular sport in thailand

For someone who’s into basketball and maybe a bit of football, chairball sounds, well, odd and different. It’s different from chairbasketball and certainly not Tchoukball. Chairball is a popular game in Thailand.

It is definitely a big thing here. The first time I heard of it, was during a sports week. Fellow teachers who were in their 50’s were playing and they were good at it. It was a bit strange to watch because they were passing the ball without dribbling it. I didn’t understand how it was played and I was totally uninterested.

Recently, my daughter got into this sport and join her team for their school’s sports week. Although she’s been training for basketball, she apparently was able to adapt to chairball. This time, the sport got my attention. Unfortunately there is not much information (in English) about this game in the internet.

Here’s a short video clip of a chairball match played by primary students in Thailand.

What do you think of the game?

For now having watched the game there are few things I’ve learnt about Chairball.

It is definitely a team game. So the one-man show in basketball is a no-no in this game.
The ball is passed from one player to another without dribbling.
Once a player has received the ball s/he has to pass it without moving her/his legs from where she’s/he’s standing.
The player standing on the chair holding the basket is allowed to catch the ball. In other words, the player could bend forward, sideward, backward, and could tilt the basket towards the incoming ball, as long as s/he stays planted on the chair.
The team that earns more points in a given period of time wins the game.
For every ball that gets into the basket earns the team two points.

Have you heard of chairball game before? Have you played it?

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