BSA Position on Knockerball, BubbleBall, Battle Ball, Zorbing, and Similar Orb Activities

In recent years, we have seen an upswing in the use of all sizes of orbs for everything from rolling down hills, across water, “playing” soccer or football, to outright battles. They were included as an activity at the 2015 National Order of the Arrow Conference after a hazard analysis was conducted.

To date, no one in a Scouting setting has been seriously injured in one of these and we prefer to be proactive and cautious in our approach to this activity. Hence, a multidiscipline task force composed of program, marketing, development, legal, risk management, and health and safety professionals and volunteers have evaluated the risks of their use and reviewed their accident history, as well as the positions of various state and federal agencies on their use, and have come to the conclusion that they do not have a part in either the program or as an activity of the Boy Scouts of America or its affiliates.

To that end, the next online revision to the Guide to Safe Scouting will add this as unauthorized activity.

19.  Bubbleball, Knockerball (trade mark), Zorbing, Battle Ball (trademark), bubble soccer or football, and similar orb activities where participants run into each other or roll around on land or water has been reviewed and is now unauthorized.

Please help us communicate this to all participants in Scouting as part of our commitment to their safety.