Woggabaliri

Woggabaliri is a traditional Indigenous Australian "co-operative kicking volley game" similar to the games of keepie uppie and footbag.

The Aborigines in areas near New South Wales played a ball game called Woggabaliri. The ball is made of possum fur. It is played in a group of four to eight players in circle. It is a cooperative kicking game to see for how long the ball can be kept in the air before it touches the ground.

Woggabaliri is a non-competitive game played with a ball made of Bulrush roots wrapped in possum fur where the objective of it is to keep the ball in the air using association football type skills of teamwork and ball control. Played by the Wiradjuri and surrounding peoples before European arrival, Woggabaliri is the Ngunnawal word for "play". Author Ken Edwards notes that a similar game with a ball made of grass covered in beeswax was also played by the Jingili people of the Northern Territory.

Woggabaliri is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) as one of the oldest Indigenous ball games and is the earliest depicted, believed by the ASC to be the subject of an engraving "never let the ball hit the ground" based on William Blandowski's observations in 1857 of camp life near Merbein, Victoria. The image is inscribed:

A group of children is playing with a ball. The ball is made out of typha roots (roots of the bulrush). It is not thrown or hit with a bat, but is kicked up in the air with a foot. The aim of the game – never let the ball touch the ground.

In 2010, Football Federation Australia referenced Woggabaliri in its Australian 2022 FIFA World Cup bid citing its similarity to football (soccer) as part of Australia's national heritage.

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