What is Watermelon Ball?

Watermelon Ball is a variation of a popular water game played in pools, lakes, and ponds all over the country. Up until this time, the game

was played with an actual watermelon fruit. This new ball has been designed to look, feel, and float like a watermelon, keeping the tradition

of the game; however, the new ball allows for: greater intensity of play (i.e. no messy, broken watermelons), increased strategy (i.e. ricocheting

the ball off the pool floor or walls to teammates), dribbling the ball off the pool floor, an unlimited season (i.e. play is not limited to when

watermelons are in season), and durability (i.e. this ball will not rot like the watermelon fruit but will allow for play with the same ball year

after year). In addition, our new ball slices through the water like a  allowing for longer underwater passes of up to 10 feet!
How to Play?
Setup
1.Fill Your Watermelon Ball 
2.Choose your playing field (i.e. pool, lake, pond)
3.Divide players into two equal teams
4.Define your goal areas (We typically use the sides of the pool deck as goal areas)
Game Play
5.Flip a coin, Rock Paper Scissors, arm wrestle etc… to decide which team has possession of the Watermelon Ball for the first round.
6.Each team begins at opposite sides of the pool deck to strategize. The team with possession of the ball initiates play by moving toward

   the opposing team’s goal area.
Offensive Objective
7.If your team has possession of the Watermelon Ball, your objective is to deposit the Watermelon Ball into the opposing goal area (i.e.

   onto the opposing team’s side of the pool deck) and clear away defensive players by dunking, pulling, holding, or body blocking.
8.The ball can be exchanged between players with “hand-offs” and passes in any direction. All passes must be under the water.
9.The ball can be carried out of the water but CANNOT BE THROWN. If the ball is thrown out of the water, then a turnover will result.

   The opposing team gains possession of the ball and play resumes.
10.In order to score a goal, the ball must be set onto the opposing team’s pool deck or goal area. If the ball is THROWN, IT WILL NOT

   COUNT AS A GOAL and a turnover will result
Defensive Objective:
11.If your team does not have possession of the Watermelon Ball, protect your goal area and attempt to gain possession of the ball

    and score a goal by dunking, holding, pulling, or body blocking opponents.
12.After each goal, play stops and the teams switch sides. Possession of the Watermelon Ball goes to the team who did not score the

   previous goal. Play resumes in this manner until the winning team attains a score of 5.
 

**Any safe means can be employed to score goals or steal the ball. Please play safe and be aware of other players at all times to

   avoid potential injuries**
Watermelon Ball Origins
  Sticking it to the man, or pool management in our case, has its benefits. In college, we brawled regularly at our apartment complex pool,

  playing watermelon ball with an actual watermelon fruit. Many watermelons were destroyed at our hands as the game became more

  intense causing a mess in the pool. As a result, pool management began to frown on our weekly games. For love of the game, we created

  a ball that could handle the pressure and would float like a watermelon. Weekly watermelon brawls were reestablished with the new

  Watermelon Ball and one of the greatest college summers on record was spent in that apartment complex pool.
How to fill the Watermelon Ball