Huruball in New Ingrea

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Huruball
Football, Huru rules
Two Huruball players
A huruball match in play
Governing body NIFA
First played 1872; 152 years ago (1872)
Hillsborough, CENT
Country of origin New Ingrea
Registered players 25,000 (adult)
60,000 (junior)
Clubs ~300 (senior)[1]
Characteristics
Contact Full contact
Team members 20 (18 onfield)
Mixed gender Single (at senior level)
Categorisation Outdoor
Equipment Huruball style football
Venue Football/cricket oval

Huruball is a major sport in New Ingrea. The game has a history dating back to the early 1870s, and has long been the most popular sport in the country. The game has a high participation rate, with over 60,000 juniors and 25,000 adults taking part in competitions all over the country. The premier competition is the NIFA Superleague 1 played by twelve teams from April to October each year. After a slow beginning, Huruball has grown to become the most popular winter sport for men, far outstripping any other professional sport in terms of spectator numbers, television ratings, and revenue.

History

Background of the game

The origins of the game are thought to lie with the indigenous Ngati Mōri people, who were observed playing a contact sport with a stuffed possum fur ball when the Ulethan settlers first arrived in the archipelago. The exact date the game was first played is not known, but since the possum is not native to the Asperic islands where the ancestors of the Ngati Mōri hail, it is likely that the game was first played after New Ingrea was settled in AD 1350.

It is from the Ngati Mōri that the game draws it's name. Huruhuru in the local dialect means "fur", and in a simplified form was adopted as the name of the burgeoning sport when it was first codified by the Ulethans in the 1870s.

Governing body and administration

The New Ingrean Football Association is the governing body of huruball in New Ingrea. The association was founded in 1892, and is a founding member of the International Huruball Council, the world governing body for the sport. It organises the NIFA Superleague 1, NIFA Superleague 2, and the conferences of the National League (Incorporating the tier-3 Conference Championship, and the teir-4 Conference North, Conference East, and Conference South), the Challenge Cup, Amateur Cup, and the New Ingrean national football team.

The association is based at Football House in the Sandon Parklands of Kingsbury.

Competitions

League system

The football league system is currently structured in to a system of hierarchical divisions, which are connected together by the principle of promotion and relegation. For each division, there is an official name, a sponsorship name (which differs from its historic name), and number of clubs competing each year. At all levels, each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it.

Level League(s)/Division(s)
Semi-Professional Leagues
1 NIFA Superleague 1
12 clubs – 2 relegations
2 NIFA Superleague 2
12 clubs – 2 promotions, 2 relegations
3 National League Conference Championship
12 clubs – 2 promotions, 3 relegations
4 National League Conference North
12 clubs – 1 promotion, 2 relegations
National League Conference East
12 clubs – 1 promotion, 2 relegations
National League Conference South
12 clubs – 1 promotion, 2 relegations
Amateur Leagues
5 Lunen Island Premier League Northern Premier League Albanyshire Premier League Capital Premier League Western Premier League Southern Premier League
6 Lunen Island League 1 Beaufortshire League 1 Fitzroyshire League 1 Albanyshire League 1 Kingsbury League 1 Vernonshire League 1 Central and West League 1
12 clubs - 1 promotion
Westerland League 1
12 clubs - 1 promotion
Deverauxshire League 1
12 clubs - 1 promotion
Waylandshire League 1
12 clubs - 1 promotion
7 Lunen Island League 2 Beaufortshire League 2 Fitzroyshire League 2 Albanyshire League 2 Kingsbury League 2

Non-league football

Representative team

References and notes

  1. Includes professional, amateur, recreational, and corporate clubs.

External links

About the game

History

Other links