Gator Game/Gator Ball

CHILDREN’S GAME

“Gator Game/Gator Ball”                                      Informants: H.R. and S.R.                                                                                                                                Informant location: Grand Rapids, MI                                                                                                           Recorded: Oct 29, 2020 (remotely) by Lucas James

Informant Data

I am reporting on a children’s game collected from two of my younger cousins who live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. S.R., a 14-year-old girl, is a freshman in high school; H.R. a 10-year-old boy, is in the 6th grade. Both attend schools in the Grand Rapids Public School system. S.R. and H.R. were born in Grand Rapids and have lived in the same place their entire lives. Their father is an apple farmer. Their mother is a tech administrator whose parents were Dutch emigrés first to Canada, then West Michigan.

Contextual Data

H.R. and S.R. have a group of friends that have been part of their play activities in their neighborhood for many years now. While at times members of the group have attended the same schools as H.R. and S.R.—Grand Rapids Public Schools have a “school choice” program that means neighbors don’t necessarily do so—this group is distinct for being a set of friendships mutually held by both siblings. At school, H.R. and S.R. spend their time with different groups of people, particularly now that they are in different school divisions. But in the neighborhood, they play together.

There is a ‘play structure’ at a school playground near the H.R. and S.R.’s home. I believe that the more common American English term is ‘jungle gym’, including in Michigan, so I’m not clear why they have the other term in their idiolect. Regardless, it is a big structure close enough to their street that ‘neighborhood friend group’ games are often staged on it. The following interview describes a touch-based game played on that structure. The interview took place over Zoom while they were sitting together on the couch in their home. I have edited it for clarity, but the structure of the dialogue is intact; primarily I have removed my own commentary and the filler word ‘like’, which is ubiquitous in all three of our idiolects and would limit the text’s readability.

Item

‘Gator Game’ is a tag variant game played by H.R. and S.R., and a group of friends on a play structure near their house. All but two participants begin the game on top of the structure. The remaining two are the ‘gators’, who attempt to tag the others while remaining below waist-level from the top of the structure. ‘Gator Ball’ is a variant where the gators can also tag other players with a thrown ball.

Text

H.R.: We also have another game that has an ‘alligator’. This is, like, the most-played game—active, tag-like game I guess.

S.R.: Gator Game?

H.R.: Gator Game. And this, this is insane, alright? So you’re on the play structure. And there’s two gators. And they can’t—this play structure has tons of ladders and ropes that you can climb up to get onto it. So what the gators can do is, they can’t get onto it. They can only get waist…—

S.R.: Reaching level. So they’ll try and reach you while you’re on the playground equipment and so they’ll climb a ladder and lean over to their waist level and that’s how far they can go to try and tag you.

H.R.: And they also have a ball. And you can chuck at them.

S.R.: Well, there’s Gator Game and Gator Ball. And Gator Ball, they have a ball.

Otherwise the rules are the same?

S.R.. Mhm.

H.R.: And the people who aren’t gators, they can go on the woodchips on the ground, but then it’s just tag at that point. It’s dangerous—but it’s faster.