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3-Team Sports Field

Various games can accommodate 3 teams playing at once, if the field is designed right
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Before getting to the Idea, I'll mention some links (below) that already discuss various 3-team sports contests. They all specify a triangular playing field, which I think is an error. That's because, if the goal is in the corner of a triangle, the out-of-bounds lines don't provide any room for more than a couple players in that area.

In other words, consider a standard soccer field of 105 meters length and 65 meters width --the goal is in the center of that 65- meter width, specifically providing room for lots of players near the goal. But you can't have that if the goal is in the corner of a triangle! And if the goal is in the center of the side of a triangle, well, then the distance between goals gets greatly reduced --or the overall triangular playing field must become relatively huge.

This Idea seeks to address that problem. It is possible to construct a hexagon with alternating long and short sides (just like a typical rectangle has alternating long and short sides). It won't qualify as a "regular" hexagon (all sides the same length), but all the angles in this hexagon will still be the normal 60 degrees (if the short sides are the same length, and the long sides are the same length, different from the short length).

For a soccer field, we obviously want the 3 goals to be located in the centers of the 3 short sides of the hexagon, and we want the distance between any 2 goals to be the normal 105 meters.

For ordinary basketball, the International Rules playing field is 28x15 meters (trivially smaller than the American Rules field, which is measured in feet), and so we would want any 2 baskets to be 28 meters apart, in the centers of the short sides of our irregular hexagon, for 3-team basketball.

For ordinary hockey, the playing field is 61x26 meters, and again we would want any 2 goals to be 61 meters apart, in the centers of the short sides of our irregular hexagon, for 3-team hockey.

And so on, for all games where the ball or puck or equivalent changes hands frequently. For games like baseball and American-rules football, something else, not just a modified playing field, is needed (can't have an 11- man football team trying to block 22 men of the other two teams...).

Vernon, Mar 19 2015

3-team soccer Tri-Ball
With triangular playing field, as mentioned in the main text. [Vernon, Mar 19 2015]

3-team basketball Tri-sketball
With triangular playing field, as mentioned in the main text. [Vernon, Mar 19 2015]

3-team American football triangular_20football
With triangular playing field, as mentioned in the main text. To be fair, this Idea also mentions even more teams playing, and an appropriate polygonal field (six teams playing on a hexagon, for example). [Vernon, Mar 19 2015]

"Something else" for baseball Many-team_20ballgame
As mentioned in the main text. I'm not sure I agree, and may suggest/post a different "something else" sometime.... [Vernon, Mar 19 2015]

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       I've thought about this. I don't think that any shape of field will deter a pre-determined initial two against one arrangement. (+) for the elongatwisted hexagram but there needs to be some buffer to... level the field, so to speak.   

       I feel like if you look around we've already done this here.
normzone, Mar 20 2015
  

       [2 fries], when a game sort-of requires one team member to pass the ball (or puck or equivalent) to another team member, because not allowed to control it for very long, it is difficult for ganging-up to occur. I've noticed that in basketball, for example, one guy surrounded by the opposing team can still pass the ball over their heads to a team-mate. Why should that become extra-difficult if two other teams are involved?   

       By the way, there is a rules thing that should be mentioned. In games like basketball or soccer or hockey, each team tries to guard a goal, while scoring at the other goal. Here there is still one goal to guard, but two other goals where points might be scored....
Vernon, Mar 20 2015
  


 

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