In 1999, “Hodo” sat on his back porch cleaning his shotgun, when the kids next door lost their beach ball over the fence. With a mischievous grin, he quickly loaded two shells of bird shot, pumped the action and fired. The beach ball jumped into the air, bounced off the wood fence and rolled to a nearby tree. The second shot caught the underside of the ball lofting it with a gentle spin back over the fence. HyperXBall was born, and his neighbor decided to move.
Over a few beers and smokes at the local Bar, Hodo and his buddies setup the first HyperXBall game at a local soccer field. They dubbed themselves “The Jesters” and split into skins and shirts. The original ball, now painted green and with an “X” taped over the holes created by the first incident, a donation by the former neighbors in an altercation involving three cans of cheap beer, a stuffed cat and a hub cap off a ’69 Cuda, was kicked and blasted around the field. Quick studies, Hodo realized that bird shot at close range was dangerous to his friends and went back to the bench to invent a non-lethal weapon. Several Jesters died that day, and to this day, the tradition of not honoring the dead lives on in the game of HyperXBall.
The game was soon moved indoors, taking over an abandoned high school field house. Armed with 2x4’s and chicken wire and several gallons of whitewash, the first HyperXBall Arena was created. The Jesters armed themselves with shotguns loaded with rubber balls, still sore from picking lead shot from their limbs. They armored themselves with salvage military armor, helmets and goggles. Between rolling on the floor laughing themselves silly and “intentional” accidents with team mates, the teams actually managed to score… new balls were introduced and different kinds of weapons brought in and the game evolved into the highly successful Arena challenge we all know and love today. HyperKat Games was organized to manage the HyperXBall franchise and holdings.
“Those were golden old days,” says Hodo, owner of HyperKat Games,. “I remember getting shot in the butt one time before we tried rubber bullets. I couldn’t sit down for a week and the wife didn't want any part of the required patch job.”
Today’s game has moved past its crude beginnings and the popularity of Professional HyperXBall (HXB) is a testimony to people’s love of loud weapons and watching their friends panic because as we all know where there is a big green ball, there will be projectiles.
While Hodo has retired, “The Jesters” continue to dominate HXB arenas world-wide. Technology has allowed Arenas to be built in power company sub stations where bolts of electric fill the air and over volcanoes where a hot foot is something to watch out for. To make the game more challenging, new options, such as huge pinball-like bumpers, The Thunker (randomly changes mass), the new Inviso-Ball and our favorite, The Grenade exploding ball have been introduced.
New teams and franchises are being added soon, and a world-wide tournament system will be empowered to play in the ultimate HyperXBall championship game, “The SuperBall!”
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