“Tchoukball is not only about the sport. What I really expect is to bring Peace and Happiness among the Youth around the Island.” – President of the Tchoukball Association of Sri Lanka.
What is Tchoukball?
Tchoukball, is a new sport in Sri Lanka. Dr. Hermann Brandt, the Swiss author, and Thulin Prize winner for his article ‘Á Scientific Criticism of Team Sports’, founded this sport in the 1970s as a sport with minimum fatal injuries to players. Tchoukball did not inherit a specific naming convention where “Tchouk” was merely derived from the sound made by the ball when bouncing on the frame. The two founding countries Great Britain and Switzerland along with countries such as Taiwan and Japan have attempted to spread the “Sport for All” around the world.
How it is played
Unlike most team sports we are familiar with, Tchoukball is not a game of pure strength but a game that respects the skills of observation, attentiveness, intelligence and participation as most points are awarded for effective ball distribution. At present this is the world’s fastest Handball sport.
The basic rules revolve around 5 – 7 players on the court depending on the chosen venue alternating between Indoor and Beach. The indoor court can be substituted with a Basketball court replacing a netted “frame” instead of the hoop. Points can be scored on both sides of the playing field when a player dashes the ball on the frame and it bounces beyond the D (a forbidden zone for the players to step in). If the ball is caught by a player in the opposing team, the point will be taken by the defense.
Similar to handball games like netball, physical contact is prohibited but the players can move about within three steps when in possession of the ball. However, scoring gets tougher as the ball cannot be passed more than thrice among with a team before attempting to score.
International Tchoukball
With a very young history of just over 40 years, the sport is played in over 60 countries around the world. The International Tchoukball Federation (FITB) is currently located at the National Taiwan Sports University. World Tchoukball has been dominated by the Republic of China in the Men’s, Women’s and Youth categories following in the footsteps of Team Switzerland. Regional Championships have also been worked out in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
Tchoukball in Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka Tchoukball coordinators Jonathan Wijesinghe (President of the Tchoukball Association of Sri Lanka) and Wijenama Wijesinghe (Vice – President of the Tchoukball Association of Sri Lanka) have taken necessary measures to bring down this sport to the Paradise Island. With a very new history of one and half years, the youth led Sri Lanka Tchoukball Association currently has 400+ members.
Tchoukball – Sri Lanka was launched officially last Month (on 26th May 2018) in the presence of the President of the International Tchoukball Association, Taiwan National Chris Huang. This inauguration was followed by a series of training programs conducted on the 26th May and 27th May 2018 for C grade trainers representing the Northern, Southern, Western and Central regions of the country. The training sessions for players took place under the guidance of Mr. Faisal Asad, joint Secretary of the Pakistan Tchoukball Federation. Tchoukball – Sri Lanka is open to all genders and age groups in Galle, Matara, Colombo and will commence in Jaffna from the 2nd Week of June.
Sri Lanka is hoping to play in the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championship held in Singapore Next Month (JULY 2018).
If you are interested in something new, join the Sri Lankan Tchoukball community!
0711357315 (Jonathan)
077 555 8951 (Micho)
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/253732628323684
