As a kid we played a simple ball game called
Five Hundred. It's similar to the game
gahachino describes, but not exactly the same.
Players and Positions
At least 3 kids are required to play the game, however, having more players makes for a better and longer game.
The possibility of injury also increases with each additional player, which as any kid knows
can only make the game more fun.
One player is designated as the
thrower. All other players will be
catchers.
How to play
The catchers stand in a group at a good-throws distance from the thrower. The thrower throws the ball
high and far and the catchers attempt to catch the ball. Tricky, eh?
Scoring
Scoring can vary but usually breaks down into categories and point values like so:
100 points - A clean catch. The ball goes from the thrower to the catcher without hitting the ground. Bouncing out of one player's hand and into another's counts, as long as the ball doesn't hit the ground.
50 points - One bounce then a catch. The ball is allowed to touch the ground once and then must be caught cleanly.
25 points - Retrieving the ball in any way. Basically this is the catch-all so that if everyone misses the ball, at least some points are awarded. I always played this one at 25 points because it was easy to reach 100 by 4 x 25, but this point value varies. Sometimes this type of "
catch" would be worth 0 points.
Each kid keeps track of the points they've scored and
declares themself the winner once they've reached
500 points.
Variations
When I was a kid we only ever played Five Hundred with an old tennis ball (usually
thrown off the school roof by the janitor). But now that I have kids of my own, I've seen them play this game with a
soccer ball. Same rules apply, except the thrower becomes a
kicker.
I've never seen it played with a
football like
gahachino mentions, but just about anything you can throw and catch would work.