Background of the Invention

Spectator sports, such as football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer, have become so extensively promoted as spectator sports that the team owners have been enabled to pay very lucrative salaries to the team members and team conquests, through professional leagues, have become major business activities, both in the United States and in certain foreign countries. Each of these sports, however, suffers from various periods of boredom for spectators, even during what may be considered "action". Also, even when "action" occurs, it may be routine and unexciting. Examples would be free throws in basketball, unproductive ground plays in football, catching a fly ball in baseball, and much movement in both soccer and hockey.

In addition, action of the players is generally limited to body movements on stable surfaces, such as

ground, wood floor or ice rinks, which movements may be limited by the normal physical capabilities of the players as human beings. An exception may be the sport of water polo, but actually the water in which the game is played, tends to limit quick movements of the participants.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides an added dimension to competitive sports in that the surface upon which the game of the present invention is played is resilient, with the result that the normal movement of players in running and jumping may be so modified as to enable the game participants to perform feats of which they would not be capable of performing on conventional ground, broad or ice surfaces.

The underfoot resiliency may be effected by providing a planar field constructed of adjacent rectangular trampoline-type panels supported by and on crossing cables, which cables themselves are supported at the edges of the field by being secured to a plurality of vertical posts. The concept of using this type of underfoot surface may be utilized in a number of different types of game contests. However, in the presently preferred form, the field may be rectangular, divided in half with goals or targets at each end to be protected by defending members scatteredly stationed in their half of the field, as members of the opposing team attempt to move into the

defenders' field in an effort to place a ball or other playing object into some type of goal or target disposed on the end wall behind the half of the field being defended.

In one embodiment of the invention, both the sides and ends of the field are bordered by sides formed of resilient panels which rise from the edges of the planar and extend outwardly from the panels at approximately a 45 degree angle.

The actual playing field in the presently preferred embodiment may be a 75 foot by 165 foot long rectangle with side panels of between 15 and 18 feet in height extending from the edges of the rectangular field angularly upwardly and outwardly. The end and side panels greatly enhance the safety of the players who will frequently be found to cross the edges of the planar portion of the field. The field and its end and side panels are formed by an assembly of 15 foot by 15 foot heavy fabric sheets. From the edges of each sheet extend six to ten inch long outwardly projecting spring connectors. The panels are supported by a grid of steel cables, each of which may be between 1/2 of an inch to 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The longitudinal cables will preferably cross or be crossed in abutment with the transverse cables, and the outer cables will be attached at their ends to heavy supporting poles, such as telephone poles, or steel poles embedded securely in the surrounding ground surface. The panels springs will be attached to the cables forming

the grid, with parallel cables being spaced from each other by a distance equal to the width or length of the panel, plus twice the length of the springs, when the latter are extended. The outer ends of the springs of each panel will be hooked over the cables supporting the panel. To prevent injury to the players who may fall or bounce along a strip of the field above a cable to which the end springs of adjacent panels are hooked or otherwise attached, a strip of resilient material, such as rubber approximately three feet wide will attach to and over the springs, thereby covering the springs and the cable over which the padding is laid and to which its underside is attached.

The angled end panels of the thus formed court may be provided with one or more goal openings, and the rectangular planar surface of the court may be marked for various purposes, such marking preferably being accomplished by providing different color panels disposed at predetermined locations. For at least one form of a playing surface, the rectangle may be bisected transversely into two opposing half-courts.

To play a game on the field or court thus described, two teams of players are placed on opposite sides of the bisecting line of the court or playing field. Each team may be comprised of some plurality of players, of either or both sexes, as, for example, each team might have as its players two women and four men. The object of the game is to advance a ball, which may be generally the size and

shape of a football formed of a foam and plastic. The ball should be resilient enough to avoid injuring a player who may be hit by it.

In one form of the game, one team is given possession of the ball for a period of five minutes in which to score one or more points by getting through the defensive team to throw or otherwise deposit the ball in one of the opposing team's goals. The ball may be advanced by throwing, running and kicking on the field which, because of the resiliency of the panels, may enable a player to bounce into the air, either from a planar field panel or from an angled side panel. Because of the resilient nature of the field panels, it may be expected that movements of players across them will be erratic and, when players acquire sufficient skill, most unusual, through the trampoline effect of the resilient panels.

In one form of the game, it may consist of four ten minute quarters, with a five minute break between each quarter. If the side having possession of the ball fails to score during its five minute possession period, the ball is then turned over to the opposing team for its five minute possession period.

Among rules for a preferred form of the game, tackling would be permitted only on the field surface. Blocking and bumping are permitted by a defensive player who is air¬ borne.

Also, in the preferred form of the game, each side of

the field is marked with a central circular area. When a player enters that area, if he or she chooses to throw the ball, the player must jump or bounce into the air to accomplish the throw. When a plurality of goal receptacles are provided at each end of the field, one such goal should be centered and any allowed foul shots must be directed to such center goal.

In the presently contemplated form of the game, the panels abutting the angled end rising up from the planar field are specially marked, such as, in red to form an "end zone", and a permanent goalie is stationed in this red end zone. To block any attempt on goal, the goalie must move or bounce in the air within the red end zone. There may also be provided an additional specially marked center zone, which may comprise three panels in length and extend completely across the width of the planar portion of the field, with one and a half panels on each side of the bisector. This zone may also be marked in red and, whenever a player enters any of the three specially marked zones (the center zone and each end zone) the player must be bouncing in the air or otherwise moving continuously until he or she leaves such zone.

Because of the resiliency and trampoline-effect of the panels comprising the planar field, as well as the end and side angled bordering panels, it may readily be appreciated that the game adds a new dimension to such competition

sports as soccer, basketball or hockey. It will, of course, require some teaching, and practice, on the part of players to acquire skill in playing the game, but skillful players utilizing the bounce effects of the panels, will not only enjoy the game itself, but will provide a sport of great interest to spectators.

Description of the Drawings

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the basic structure of the field.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the field shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the field shown in Figure 1 without the posts, but showing in phantom the disposition of cable supports for the planar field and side panels.

Figure 4 is an enlarged top view of a cable intersection showing spring connections between the corners of the four panels and intersecting cables.

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of the inside of the field as marked for the preferred embodiment of the game.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment The basic layout of the field of the present invention is shown in Figure 1, and comprises a planar rectangular field 10, 155 feet in length by 75 feet in width. This

planar field 10 is circumscribed by upwardly and outwardly extending angled ends 12a, 12b, and sides 14a, 14b. As best shown in Figure 3, the configuration of the planar field 10 and its ends 12a, 12b and sides 14a, 14b, may be maintained by a grid of steel cables 20a, 20a', 20b, 20b' and 20c, 20c', 20d, 20d' secured to the upper ends of inner posts 16 and outer posts 18. The planar rectangular field 10 and its sides 12a, 12b, and ends 14a, 14b are actually formed by adjacently disposed rectangular panels 24 supported by a grid 26 of interconnected cables 27a, 27b within the area defined by the end and side cables 20a, 20a', 20b, 20b', 20c and 20c' and 20d, 20d' . The arrangement of this grid 26 of cables 27a, 27b may best be understood by a consideration of Figure 3 of the drawings. Parallel longitudinal cables 27a, spaced from each other by a distance equal to the dimensions of a panel 24 plus the expanded length of two of the end springs 28 (Figure 4), are provided to extend from the upper end cable 20d and over and secured to the lower end cable 20b, across the full length of the planar area 10, then over and secured to the opposite lower end cable 20b', and up to the upper end cable 20d' to which latter cable the end of cable 27a is attached.

Correspondingly, the transverse cables 27b extend from upper side cable 20C over and secured to lower side cable 20a to and secured to the opposite lower side cable 20a' and up to the upper side cable 20c'.

Each of the panels 24 may be formed of a heavy duty fabric, such as sail cloth, the edges 26 of which are provided with outwardly extending springs 28 for hooking over or otherwise being secured to one of the cables 27a and 27b..

The sides 14a, 14b and ends 12a and 12b are formed of panels 38 which are generally similar to the panels 24, except for angular shaping at the corners 32a, 32b, 32c and 34d. In order to prevent injury to the players who may either trip or fall onto the springs 28, where they attach to the cables 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d as shown in Figure 4, a heavy-duty pad 29 with a cloth cover is provided to overlie the panel edges 26, the extending springs 28 and the cable 27a or 27b to which the springs 28 may be attached. This padding 29 may be held in place by attachment on its underside to the springs 28 and/or cable 27a (27b, 27c or 27d) and should overlap the panel edges 26.

Each end 12a, 12b of the assembly 10 may be provided with one or more openings 34, 34a, 34b, 34c, which may serve as goals for the game herein described to be played on the field or court 10. In addition, the entire field may be bisected by a line 36 and the panels 24 marked or colored to fit the rules of the game. While different types of games may be played on the described field assembly 10, the presently preferred game would provide for three red or other special colored zones,

38a, 38b and 38c. The end zones 38a and 38c each comprise one set of tcay adjacent panels which abut an end 12a or 12b of the field. The central zone 38b may comprise a block of three panels 24 lengthwise and all adjacent panels 24 from one side of the court to the other. When bisected by the line 36, the result is that each side of the field 10 will have a transverse block 25 of one and a half panels 24 extending for the full length of the bisector. Centrally disposed in the panel 24a on each side is a circular foul shot area 24'.

The presently preferred form of the game to be played on the field thus described in detail has been fully explained above in the Summary of the Invention, and need not be repeated at this point. Suffice it to say that the resiliency of the panels 24 connected by springs 28 to the grid 26 of cables 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d will result in quite different movements of players from those which would be expected as players traverse solid ground. In addition, because of the trampoline effect possible with each panel 24, the players, through bouncing or jumping movements, particularly near the centers of the panels 24 will be able to develop unusual and unexpected movements which may either enable them to avoid or pass by an opposing defensive player, or to block the approach of an offensive player or the passage of the ball which the offensive player may be attempting to throw into one of the end zone

goals 34a, 34b, 34c, or 34d.