Sport of My Dreams

I literally dreamed of this sport a couple of nights ago. I don't know why I was participating in it, and the exact details of how to play it are now sort of fuzzy to me now. However, I think I know enough to plan out the next great sport. I've modified it a little bit from the dream I had (no one wants rocks thrown at them).

Here's the general layout of the field (not to scale).

There are two teams of three people (this number is not set, but fewer is not recommended, nor a number larger than five or six). The field is walled in (like arena football or hockey), roughly the size of a football field (longest diameter is probably around 120 yards and shortest 60), and elliptical in shape. The sport itself is sort of a combination of capture the flag, soccer, and dodgeball. See the rectangular things on the right and left? They are goals, a little bit bigger than lacrosse goals. The yellow triangles are bins attached to the walls, each with about 20 or so flags of the same color (the same amount in each to start off each round). The 20 or so red circles are rubber balls filled with air about the size of a volleyball, much like the ones I grew up using in gym class. The black line is just a line dividing field into two. Ideally, three referees delegate the game, one by each goal and one by the line in the middle. The field is lightly padded and the players have no shoes or protective equipment, except for maybe a cup for male players.

A game is three rounds of 10 minutes each. Each side has a goal (east and west) to guard as well as a bin to guard (north and south). The scoring is as such:

-You can try to take a red rubber ball and strike it into the opposing team's goal. Each goal with a red rubber ball is 9 points.
-You can try to shuttle the flags from your team's bin to the opposing team's bin on the other side of the bin. Each flag found in the other team's bin is 2 points for your team (and they subsequently get 2 fewer points).
-You can try to stop opposing team members who are attempting either of the above. Each time you bean the members of the other team with a red rubber ball, you get 1 point.

Now, there's rules on top of that.

General
-Contact between players is strictly prohibited.
-Similar to soccer, referees can give red and yellow cards to various offenders on the field.
-The first yellow card is a warning, the second ejection from the current round, and the third ejection from the rest of the game. A red card is like the third yellow card.
-Yellow cards shall be given for minor contact as well as other broken rules, such as picking up balls when you're on your opponent's side of the field to throw at them (i.e. being an idiot).
-There's no strict definition of positions. Teams are free to form whatever strategy they please, as long as they follow the rest of the rules.

Defending
-The following rules only apply to those on their own side of the field.
-To stop a person attempting to score a goal or running with a flag, you can pick up any red rubber ball and hit them with the ball.
-You can run with the ball.
-You can catch balls with your hands without penalty to either side.
-You can try to deflect shots at the goal with your own thrown red balls (good luck with that).
-If you hit a person attempting to score a goal with a red ball, they cannot continue to try to score with that ball. They cannot take any action until they return to their side of the field. They can still be hit by balls thrown by the defending team, and the defending team will still receive points in that manner until the opposing player reaches his or her own side of the field.
-If you hit a person with a flag in their hand, they have to walk with their hands in the air to return the flag to their own bin. These people cannot be hit further by the defending team for points.

Scoring a Goal
-You can only score goals with balls that start in your possession on your side of the dividing line. In other words, you cannot grab a ball next to your opponents' goal and score. You must bring it from your side of the dividing line to the goal.
-You cannot score by throwing the ball into the goal. It must be struck by a part of your body, by your foot, knee, elbow, head, etc. In other words, while attempting to score a goal, the ball cannot have prolonged contact with your body.
-Since the ball cannot have prolonged contact with your body when you're on the offensive, you must dribble the ball to the goal, either soccer-style (with your feet) or basketball-style (with your hands). If you are dribbling with your hands, you cannot catch the ball with your hands to stop the ball. That is against the rules. You are either dribbling or attempting to score. The ball's movement cannot be stopped by the scoring player.
-Obviously, then, you cannot run up to the opponents' goal with ball in hand to score a goal.
-Goals can be scored from your own side of the field, but that's hard as the goal is tiny.
-You are allowed to pass to other members of the team, who must follow the above rules while attempting to score a goal.
-Only one ball for each side can be considered active, or eligible to score a goal with. There are no eligible balls if there are no eligible (have not been hit by a red ball) offensive players on that half of the field, and a new ball must be brought from the other side to be the "active" ball for that team.
-Therefore, if there are two offensive players making a play on the goal and one of them is hit by a red ball, the offensive player's ball is still "active" and the remaining player may continue to make a play on the goal.
-As stated above in the defending section, if you are hit by a defender's ball, you must cease trying to score a goal. You cannot throw balls back. You must return to your own side while dodging balls thrown by the defenders, as they still get points while you're in their territory.You can try to score again with a ball from your side once you reach your own side as well.

Shuttling Flags
-You may shuttle only one flag at a time.
-You may shuttle flags through the relative safety of your own side of the field, but you are still are an eligible target for opponents, even though you are not on their side of the field.
-You may not touch any red balls. None thrown by your own team, none lying neutral on the ground, and definitely none thrown by the opposing team. If you touch a neutral or friendly ball, the opposing team still gets a point and you must return the flag as if you were hit by a ball thrown by the opposing team.
-Your teammates may shield you from red balls, but know that the opposing team can take the opportunity to make a play at the goal.

Remember, each game consists of three rounds of 10 minutes long each. The players get a short break as points are tallied and flags are reset.


So what do you think? It's like soccer and capture flag at the same time with dodging balls thrown into the mix. The small team size means that each team has to really be strategic as to what they want each of their players doing. Do you want to focus on shuttling flags? Or have an all out offensive for the opponents goal? Or to hell with it all, dig in, and throw balls at any opposing player that steps near their flag bin or on your territory. Hopefully it's fast-paced and exciting. I would certainly like to play this. Who wants to play this with me?