VX (sport)


VX, originally Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport from the UK. It evolved in North Yorkshire and was launched in February 2006 at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference. The sport was continually developed by the International Federation and in 2012 the Federation approved a move by the worldwide membership to rename the sport VX to cater for its international development.
VX has continued to be popular in schools in the UK and is now being adopted by universities, colleges, youth organisations, Street Games and the military. It is also attracting interest from the Prison Service and Primary Care Trusts. It now has a foothold in 25 countries of which 15 have National Governing Bodies.
VX is a totally gender-neutral sport. Males and females play on a totally equal footing in all disciplines and at all levels. It is also accessible to players of all abilities. It is not an adaptation of any single sport however there are elements of several sports including dodgeball, lacrosse, basque pelota and hockey.

History

The sport, originally known as Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport which originated from the UK. It evolved in North Yorkshire and was officially launched at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference in February 2006.
Rock-It-Ball spread through schools in the UK. It featured on four of the Youth Sport Trust's programmes, began to be played regularly in 17 countries, and saw the establishment of an international federation and eleven national governing bodies
Over time the international administrative body had taken the original game and further developed and extended it, setting up a full sports infrastructure. In 2012, in order to cater for the international growth, the sport was rebranded by the international community to VX. All the clubs and NGBs followed suit and now all leagues, tournaments and international competitions are under the VX banner.
In August 2017 VX gained international recognition as a sport at the General Assembly of the Sport Recognised Association.

Rules

VX is played by two teams of five players. The court is roughly the size of a sports hall with four badminton courts. In the US, basketball courts are used. Each player uses a VstiX. This is made up of a control bar and a thrower/catcher at each end. Players are not restricted to a certain area but can go anywhere on court. They must dribble by rock-ing the ball between the two ends, or by using one end of the VstiX to bounce the ball on the floor. Five balls are in play. One point is scored by hitting an opponent with the ball between the shoulders and the feet. Three points are scored by catching an opponent's thrown ball. When a player is hit he must stand still, raise a hand and look to the referee. The referee records the point and tells the player to play on. The referee is assisted by two umpires positioned on the opposite side of the court. The role of the umpires is simply to look for infringements. All infringements incur a three-point penalty. Violence results in ejection from the game and disciplinary action. Examples of infringements are:
Formal matches consists of four quarters each of which lasts four minutes.

Versions

As part of the development of VX, the International Federation introduced Singles, a 1v1v1 version and Doubles
The new versions were created by the International Federation to develop the sport and provide individuals with an opportunity to set up clubs more easily.

Current v2 National Rankings, England (senior)

  1. Scott Snowdon
  2. Carl Alsop
  3. Tom Hildreth
  4. Joe Willis
  5. Matty Horsfield
  6. Tom Burgess
  7. Lena Fowles
  8. Jess Porter
  9. Chris Town
  10. Iona Freeborn

    Current v2 National Rankings, England (youth)

  11. Oliver Stocks
  12. Jak Foster
  13. Andrew Davidson
  14. Henry Pittham
  15. Jhapin Shahi
  16. Becca Fram
  17. Cain Branton
  18. Patrick Cavanagh
  19. Trinity Benson
  20. Will Seabourne
  21. Emma Fram
  22. Ellie Bowman

    Current v2 National Rankings, England (junior)

  23. Jonathon Ward
  24. Toby Helferrich
  25. Matthew Ayre
  26. Charlie Fram
  27. Ed Pharaoh
  28. Antonia Evans
  29. Ellie Torrens-Burton
  30. Edward Dobbs
  31. Tom Griffiths
  32. Sam Griffiths
  33. Jamie Pritchard

    Current v2 National Rankings, England (masters)

  34. Andrew Foster
  35. Leigh Branton
  36. Karen Bruin
  37. Jill Stocks
  38. Karen Evans
  39. Ricky Gibson

    Current v2 European Rankings (senior)

  40. Carl Alsop
  41. Joe Willis
  42. Tom Hildreth
  43. Dan Raper
  44. James Foster
  45. Jess Porter
  46. Dan Shuker
  47. Egoitz Campo Gonzalez
  48. Scott Snowdon

    Current v2 European Rankings (youth)

  49. Oliver Stocks
  50. Becca Fram
  51. Andrew Davidson
  52. Cain Branton
  53. Patrick Cavanagh

    Current v2 European Rankings (masters)

  54. Leigh Branton
  55. Karen Bruin
  56. Jill Stocks
  57. Widen

    Current v2 World Rankings (senior)

  58. Scott Snowdon
  59. Tom Hildreth
  60. Carl Alsop
  61. Matty Horsfield
  62. Charlie Ford
  63. Joe Willis
  64. Dan Raper
  65. Dan Shuker
  66. Tom Burgess
  67. Jess Porter
  68. Chris Town
  69. Iona Freeborn
  70. Léna Fowles
  71. Frances Tse
  72. Lai Ka Wan
  73. Laddi Bhardwaj
  74. Lai Ka Wan
  75. Harish Kumar
  76. Sharng
  77. Laddi Bhardwaj
  78. Osman Wong
  79. Natalie Chan
  80. Ching Nam Choy
  81. Kagf Lam
  82. Rahul

    v2 World Rankings (Youth)

  83. Becca Fram
  84. Andrew Davidson
  85. Oliver Stocks
  86. Jak Foster
  87. Cain Branton
  88. Jhapin Shahi and winner of the Cornerstones AWard
  89. Parminder Singh
  90. Ellie Bowman
  91. Henry Pittham
  92. Patrick Cavanagh
  93. Matthew So
  94. Emma Fram
  95. Trinity Benson
  96. Tsz Yan Lai
  97. Shyamkin
  98. Samant
  99. Leah Drake
  100. Yoyo Chan
  101. Sonia Lau
  102. Karamjot Singh

    v2 World Rankings (Masters)

  103. Leigh Branton
  104. Karen Bruin
  105. Andrew Foster
  106. Jill Stocks
  107. Sewa Singh
  108. Karen Evans
  109. Suman Shankar Tiwari
  110. Ricky Gibson
  111. Gurmukh Singh

    Federation

The International Federation was established in December 2006 but changed its name to Global VX when the sport was rebranded in 2012. Global VX administers the sport on a global basis, assists with the establishment and running of NGBs and organises international competition. Global VX also runs the annual rules committee which takes place every January.
Global VX also has an awards programme. The annual 'Executive' Awards recognise the work of volunteers in the sport. 'The Person of the Year' Award is awarded to an outstanding volunteer who has done exceptional work to promote and develop the sport. The 'Person of the Year' and the Executive Awards are announced annually on Dec 31st
2010: Person of the Year: Conrad Broughton

2011: Person of the Year: Matti Chasan Bergstein

2012: The first Person of the Year since the sport was rebranded: VX Uganda. Unusually, the award did not go to one individual but was presented to VX Uganda as a body to recognise the work and effort that had been made by several people to grow the sport in Africa

2013: Person of the Year: Eric Clark & John Sheepy

2014: Person of the Year: Tony Notarianni

2015: Person of the Year: Dr Suman Shankar Tiwari

2016: Person of the Year: Matty Horsfield

2017: Person of the Year: Alessandro Foglino

2018: Person of the Year: Dr Suman Shankar Tiwari

Hall of Fame

Any member affiliated to Global VX can nominate any other affiliated member who they consider to have made an outstanding contribution to the sport. Any nominee with three nominations passes to the next stage for voting by the committee. The Hall of Fame Awards generally takes place every two years. In 2010 the voting committee felt unable to differentiate between the 3 nominees who reached the voting stage and so, as an exception, voted to induct all three.
In 2008 the founders of the original sport were honoured by inducting them into the newly established Hall of Fame.
The 'Legends' Award and Gallery is reserved for players who have reached an outstanding level of achievement. This award was instigated in 2012 as a direct result of the achievements of Scotland's Scott MacMichael and is not intended to be an annual honour.
As the sport has grown its impact has started to be recognised by external bodies:
The role of Official VX Ambassador has been taken by Olympic Diver Jack Laugher.

VX's first patron is trail blade runner . The latest patron is Sylvia Grice MBE, a member of Ripon Lions.

UK clubs

Centres of Excellence and coaching academies are being established.
2012 The Sport Becomes VX