When reading this recollection of a childhood game called “Suicide”, I was surprised to see that someone else had played the same game that I remember so fondly from recess at Milton H. Allen Elementary. Not surprisingly, the author of the linked piece is from New Jersey, so perhaps this was a regionally popular game that never caught on elsewhere. Or maybe everyone played it, I’m not sure.
The gist behind “Suicide” — or as we called it, “Wall Ball” — was that a group of kids grouped up facing a wall. One person would throw the ball and when the ball bounced back, someone would attempt to catch it. If they caught it without a bobble, they threw the ball against the wall again. If the ball touched someone and then hit the ground, that person had to run to the wall and touch it before someone else threw the ball there or before the runner got pegged. We had some slight variations on the game, but none quite like the ones on the aforementioned page. I particularly like the “Relay” rule.
Did anyone else play this game?
Posted in Childhood Memories
Dave October 11, 2008, 1:22 am
Just like Phil said, we had our school wall. About 20-50 boys playing. Although I was tall..I could never actually catch the ball. So I used to cheat with a baseball glove. It was all good, until somebody roofed the ball.