David Drucker/ Contributing Writer
For Lawrence Ream, a senior and international business major, all it took to get hooked on box ball was some tape and a ball. His facilitator at Panther Camp in 2013 brought the supplies so that he could introduce his campers to the game, and a marathon of back-to-back matches manifested that night. The games only stopped when the clock struck three in the morning and the campers were forced to retire.
But Ream’s box ball career was just beginning.
“Prior to the time at panther camp, I had never played box ball before in my life. Not even in elementary school. It just didn’t seem that appealing to me, not when there was a football game or kickball game going on,” Ream, president of the Box Ball Club, said. “But now, I am addicted, as are many of the members of the Box Ball Club.”
Box ball, also known as four square, is played on a hard surface, often a wooden floor or concrete. The playing field is a square that is divided into four smaller squares, each containing a rank ranging from fourth to first. The ball must be bounced around the formation between players without touching an inside line, the boundary or the outside of the box or else the player who touched the ball last is eliminated. The ultimate goal of the game is to obtain and hold the number one rank for as long as possible.
In order to unite fellow box ball enthusiasts at the University, Ream and vice president Kevin Mantilla founded the Box Ball Club. The two were able to establish the game as an official intramural sport last year. The club uses the University pool as its primary meeting spot and plans on increasing the frequency of its meetings to Thursdays and Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. during the fall semester, although those dates are subject to change.
“On hot summer days, it’s nice to take a refreshing dunk in the pool and jump right back in line for another chance at becoming the box ball king or queen,” Ream said.
Ream has seen box ball being taken more seriously since the club was founded. The Facebook group has grown to include 94 members. He believes that box ball is no longer just a playground game within the club, but now a “competitively skilled technical sport.” Perhaps one of the club’s most skilled members is sophomore english major Garrison Faust, who utilizes a move where he slaps the ball at an angle to add backspin, which misdirects the ball when it touches the ground.
Ream’s club members are eager to get back to playing and improving their craft this semester. “All summer long I received texts, calls, and emails about playing summer matches,” Ream said.
The Box Ball Club came close to making history at the University when it almost created the first student-run scholarship, according to Ream. The club was organizing a large box ball tournament and creating a scholarship based upon it, but the plan fell apart. Ream is confident, however, that his club will continue to grow. The club already owns two domain names (FIUBoxBall.com and BoxBallClub.com) and Ream believes the future looks bright under the club’s cofounder and vice president Kevin Mantilla, a junior computer engineering major.
“He is a very proactive member of the club and I am almost positive he will be voted in as president during our first official elections,” Ream said.
Ream and his friends have transformed a simple, playground-style game into a competitive competition. Now that the club has had a year to establish its roots, there’s no telling where it can grow.
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