Article discusses the new sport of toccer and how it was started and what it is poised to do in the future.
August 30, 2004 (Press Release) --
Bantam, CT - What happens when you take a conventional soccer field and put tennis racquets and a tennis ball? You get the new sport of toccer.
Created at Camp Awosting, the oldest private summer camp in the United States, located in Bantam, CT, the game has spread from just a "diversion to play in the rain," to something far bigger. "We just started playing the game to give the kids something different to do and now its huge," said Steven Smith, a tennis counselor from England.
The game has evolved to incorporate skills learned in games like tennis and soccer, but other games like hockey, lacrosse - even football. "The game is really physical, but people don't expect that because we don't wear pads," said Ron Bronson, who wrote the rules for the sport.
"I noticed the game was interesting to people, that a wide variety of people enjoyed it and so I thought it might be worth taking it further," he said.
And its gone from there. Players have said the game is "something exciting and new. It's not everyday you get to be a pioneer in something," said Chris Sacks, a toccer player from Boca Raton, Florida.
Other players said the game was even more fun than their originals. "It's even better than soccer," said an emphatic Ernesto Aguirre who hails from Mexico.
Toccer is now played in nine countries because of campers who went home and took the sport with them. Toccer clubs are cropping up around the country from suburban New York City, New Jersey, Virginia and Oregon. Bronson founded the Toccer Players Association later this summer, to help advance the sport.
Bronson said that he's been contacted by college students from as far north as Canada regarding the sport. "Someone from Nova Scotia was interested in starting a university club. That was pretty surprising," he said.
Plans for the future include developing special racquets for toccer and a summer tour in 2005 with some of the best talent assembled to barnstorm the country showing people the new sport.
"I always envision that what we're doing today, was no different than what they must've done with baseball back in the 1800s. Only, we have the internet," said Bronson with a smile.
The Toccer Players Association web site is http://www.toccer.com
Created at Camp Awosting, the oldest private summer camp in the United States, located in Bantam, CT, the game has spread from just a "diversion to play in the rain," to something far bigger. "We just started playing the game to give the kids something different to do and now its huge," said Steven Smith, a tennis counselor from England.
The game has evolved to incorporate skills learned in games like tennis and soccer, but other games like hockey, lacrosse - even football. "The game is really physical, but people don't expect that because we don't wear pads," said Ron Bronson, who wrote the rules for the sport.
"I noticed the game was interesting to people, that a wide variety of people enjoyed it and so I thought it might be worth taking it further," he said.
And its gone from there. Players have said the game is "something exciting and new. It's not everyday you get to be a pioneer in something," said Chris Sacks, a toccer player from Boca Raton, Florida.
Other players said the game was even more fun than their originals. "It's even better than soccer," said an emphatic Ernesto Aguirre who hails from Mexico.
Toccer is now played in nine countries because of campers who went home and took the sport with them. Toccer clubs are cropping up around the country from suburban New York City, New Jersey, Virginia and Oregon. Bronson founded the Toccer Players Association later this summer, to help advance the sport.
Bronson said that he's been contacted by college students from as far north as Canada regarding the sport. "Someone from Nova Scotia was interested in starting a university club. That was pretty surprising," he said.
Plans for the future include developing special racquets for toccer and a summer tour in 2005 with some of the best talent assembled to barnstorm the country showing people the new sport.
"I always envision that what we're doing today, was no different than what they must've done with baseball back in the 1800s. Only, we have the internet," said Bronson with a smile.
The Toccer Players Association web site is http://www.toccer.com
Email
Print
SPAM
