Oregon daily emerald., March 09, 1981, Page 5, Image 5

New games
Students have a ball
at weekend workshop
By HARRY ESTEVE
Of the Emerald
‘ OK, noses to kneecaps!”
Fifteen pairs of bodies writhe
on the Gerlinger Annex floor,
trying to achieve the proper
contortion. Elsewhere in the
gym, nearly 300 students are
engrossed in Mingle, Bop or
Human Merry-Go-Round.
The activities were part of the
1981 New Games Workshop, a
three-day, one-credit course
offered to students last
weekend by the recreation and
park management department.
“Elbows to earlobes!”
As they try to fulfill this
command, the pairs fall apart,
groaning, laughing, complain
ing.
“All right, all right — people to
people!”
The 15 pairs untangle and
scramble noisily to find another
partner. People to People
resumes.
More than just a name for a
special kind of sports activity,
“New Games" describes a
new-age philosophy of compe
tition and play, according to
workshop instructor Effie Fair
child.
Traditional sports place too
much emphasis on winning and
physical ability, thus discourag
ing most “non-athletic” people
from participating, Fairchild
says. Those people are left out
of games when they are growing
up, she says, and as a result are
less competitive in life.
New Games, on the other
hand, “are for people of any
age, any ability.”
After teaching physical
education for four years, Fair
child became concerned that
the wrong students were getting
the most attention
“The ones that we really
should have been trying to
reach were the ones that were
too fat or too skinny. You know,
the ones that are always chosen
last.”
Fairchild says New Games are
perfect for those people, as well
as athletes.
There is competition, she
says, “but it’s not against
people. It’s usually against a
piece of equipment, like the
Earth Ball.”
The Earth Ball, a highlight of
all New Games festivals,
resembles a gigantic beach ball,
six feet in diameter. The object
of Earth Ball games usually
involves keeping it airborne or
riding it while other players roll it
across the floor
“We call it cooperative play,"
Fairchild says. “You’ve heard
our motto I'm sure, Play hard,
play fair and nobody gets
hurt.’ ”
Following Friday afternoon’s
opening pageant that explained
the philosophy of New Games,
participants broke into groups
and began learning the games.
Students of Fairchild's New
Games class, a course offered
through the physical education
department, defined the rules
and acted as referees.
After a quiet start, simple
enjoyment overcame the
players’ initial nervousness, and
it became hard to hear the
referees’ instructions over the
shouting and laughing of the
players.
On Saturday, the workshop
moved outside for Earth Ball
games, an Ultimate Frisbee
Photos by Erich Boekelheide
Some University students earned one credit for blowing bubbles and holding the “Earth Ball'' aloft
during this weekend's New Games Workshop. Workshop instructor Effie Fairchild says the
workshop is likely to be repeated next year.
demonstration ana a massive,
campus-wide game of team
hide-and-seek.
On Sunday the activities were
held in Springfield at the
Willamalane swimming pool
where participants took to the
water for “Aquatic New
Games."
Fairchild learned about New
Games from the New Games
Foundation, an organization
founded by Stewart Brand, one
of the authors of the Whole
Earth Catalogue. Using
revenues from the sale of the
successful book, Brand created
the foundation that continues to
fund New Games festivals
around the country.
Fairchild first introduced New
Games at the University in 1975
with a workshop similar to lash
weekend’s. Since then campus
workshops have continued at
irregular intervals.
"It’s going to be a yearly event
as long as I'm at this campus,”
Fairchild promises. “We’ve had
too many really nice
comments.”
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