Jugger

Jugger

The Hannover Living Undeads in the middle of a Jugger match
First played	2007
Characteristics
Type	Ball game, team sport
Equipment	Skull-shaped ball, prop weapons, stakes
Venue	Field
Presence
Country or region	Germany, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada

Jugger is a sport inspired by the 1989 film The Salute of the Jugger (released as The Blood of Heroes in the United States), in which a game of the same name is played. The film version was invented by the film's writer-director, David Webb Peoples, especially for the movie. The transformation into a real sport happened independently in Germany and Australia.

Jugger as sport is gaining popularity in Germany, especially with university and college teams, with its own league. There are teams in Australia, Ireland, England, Poland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Colombia, Costa Rica and The Netherlands. A couple of variations of the sport are played in the USA. Some follow the International version (e.g. Germany, Ireland etc.) while others use a model that more closely resembles The Game that is played in the movie.

The first ever Jugger international tournament took place in Hamburg, Germany on 20 May 2007 between the Irish team Setanta and a number of the Northern German teams. In 2008, Australia and Ireland came to Germany to take part in the 1st German Open, making it the first two-continent tournament in Jugger.

Traditional timekeeping is done with a gong and 100 stones: The stones are thrown against the gong to keep time. 100 stones per third, 3 thirds per game. Alternatively a drum or similar is used, with the drummer keeping count of each beat (known as a stone). 100 stones per third, 3 thirds per game. In conjunction with official equipment, smartphone applications such as Jugger Stones or Jugger Match. are sometimes used for score keeping and/or drum beats.

A team is composed of the 8 following persons, 5 of which are allowed to be on the field:

In the film The Salute of the Jugger (or 'The Blood of Heroes'), each role is heard at least once in the dialogue:

The objective of the game is for the team's Qwik to get the foam dog skull, or jugg, onto the opposing teams "stake" (mound) to score goals, while minimising the number of goals the opposing team scores within the time limit. The enforcer's role is to defend their Qwik from the opposing players.

Australian Rules Jugger is played with two teams of five juggers. Three enforcers with weapons, one chain and one qwik.