Jim Feger who was honored at the House of Representatives on Friday for developing the Rocball disclosed that the India held its national Rocball tournament in November last year.
The ministry of sports in India, Feger said in an interview, has made a commitment to officially adopt Saipan’s own sports. The India sports community held Rocball clinic in January and plans to hold another one in November, inviting sports aficionados there who became the country’s Rocball stars.
The game reached India through the internet.
Feger said he always posted news releases of Rocball events here in the internet and sometimes, he sent them to sports committees around the world.
Over the last 10 years, he said he and sports groups in India have been sending emails back and forth. These are the people who wanted to start it up in their respective states. Since 2001, Feger said he has been sending emails to India sports families about the sports “that goes the challenges of volleyball.”
“I sent out hundreds of emails that contains rules and regulations of the game to the sports committees around the world,” Feger said.
Rocball came from an ancient game that Mayans and the Aztecs used to play. It was the first game ever to use a rubber ball and require teams ever recorded.
“It is the grand father of basketball and volleyball,” he said.
The game started from Hopwood Junior High School where Feger experimented with rules and regulations.
Rocball is a game derivative of volleyball with its rules of play founded in the Aztec where both the concept of volleyball and basketball came from.
Rocball, he said “is going back to Aztec’s way of sport because we use the net and the goals the same as they, the Aztecs used it.”
“This is the game that we need more skills to play than in volleyball. I explained it,” he added.
Back on Saipan, Feger said Rocball season happens every year. Last year, there were two seasons—one in spring when there were eight to 10 teams and fall when there were 12 teams and those were just at the Marianas High School.
In other islands in Pacific region, Feger said there are people who know Rocball.
“They probably played it. I heard about it. They played it in San Diego. I get news releases about it being played by Pacific islanders in a Christian school in the U.S.” trying it out.
