Title: The Whoosh Ball Game

General Information about Item:

• Customary Folklore: Game

• Language: English

• Country: United States

Informant Data:

• The informant is a Dartmouth ’21 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2017; the trip was canoeing.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context
  • All the trippees and trip leaders stand around in a circle together with a ball in someone’s hands

• Cultural Context
  • Trippees bond with each other over a fun and simple game
  • It is nice to be able to play a relatively easy game to allow everyone to relax

Item:

• The Whoosh Ball game: the group stands around in a circle passing a ball and saying whoosh. There are specific rules about what a person is allowed to do when receiving the ball.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

“We played the Whoosh Ball game. This game gave trips a very “campy” feel. You play by passing the ball to the left and saying “whoosh.” And then the person receiving the ball can either ramp it or put up a wall with his/her hand to deflect the ball.”

Informant’s Comments:

• It was a really fun game, and a cool way to learn interesting things about the other people on my trip.

Collector’s Comments:

• Informant was able to give a detailed account of the experience that he had on trips.

Collector’s Name: Madison DeRose

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Game, Whoosh Ball, Ball, fun, trippees, bonding