TIPPY
by Paul Arthur Freynet
This interesting game probably originated with the natives of Eastern Canada. It was taught by parents to their children through many generations in the MAURICE Dit Lafantaisie line. It has simple rules and doesn't require any special skills.
Get two sticks, any kind of stick will do; break them off a tree, dig them out of the garage, they don't even have to be straight. The size of the sticks can vary but one has to be a foot or so long, the other around five times that length and not too big around for a child to swing.
Once you have the sticks, dig a small hole in the ground, the length of that kid's foot, half that deep and wide - modify as desired.Now you need two teams. Any of the usual methods, including arguing for an hour about it, can be used to decide which team gets first "Tip".
Now it's time to decide the order of the "tippers". The team that is "in the field" spreads out any which way facing the tipper.
And the game begins. Placing the short stick across the hole, the tipper flips it as far as he can into the field. If the opposing team is able to catch the short stick before it lands, the tipper is out and the next in line on his team becomes Tipper. If it's not caught, the kid closest to it when it lands picks it up.
The Tipper now lays the long stick over the hole with one of its ends pointing to the person that has the short stick. That kid now tries to hit the long stick with the short one, throwing it from the point where it landed. If he succeeds, the Tipper is out. If he misses, the tipper gets another at bat, this time to score points.
The rules vary a little here in different branches of the family. The idea is to hit the short stick twice, the first time sending it upward, and as it comes down, smacking it as far as he can into the field. The opposing team must let it fall to the ground.
Now if he's very confident, he can hit it up a second time before batting it off into the field, the tipper has to hit the short stick with the long one at least twice. If he misses, he's out. If he hits it twice, having hit the little stick as far as he could on the second hit, then he counts the points with the long stick, measuring from the hole to the middle point of the short stick where it landed.
Each stick length is one point. If he succeeded in hitting it three times, sending it into the field on the third hit, the distance is measured with the short stick, each stick length being counted as a point. Any remainder over half the length of the measuring stick is one point, anything under half does not count as a point.
Once the points are counted, the next tipper on that team is up. Each player on the team that is up has one turn being Tipper. They are either put out or they count some points. The points are added to the total for the team.
The teams then switch places. Each team has three turns tipping and three in the field. At the end of the three rounds, the team that has the most points wins.
When succeeding generations play the same game as children, it suggests continuity - a connection to their forefathers. This, in turn, suggests a closeness, a real empathy that is part of the strength of families and nations.
Thanks to Flora Auger
© 2009 Paul Arthur Freynet
contact: pfreynet@yahoo.ca