Klootschieten is a sport in the Netherlands

Sport in the Netherlands

Approximately 4.5 million of the 16 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly....

 and East Frisia

East Frisia

East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....

, Germany. In the game, participants try to throw a ball

Ball

A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...

 (the kloot) as far as they can. It is most popular in the eastern regions of Twente

Twente

Twente is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel...

 and Achterhoek

Achterhoek

The Achterhoek is a region in the eastern part of the Netherlands, Europe.Its name is geographically appropriate because the area lies in the Eastern-most part of Gelderland, and therefore of the Netherlands, protruding into Germany...

.

Field

In the field (veld) version of Klootschieten, it is the intention, alone or in a team, to reach a particular patch of grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 and/or sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 in as few throws as possible (similar in this respect to golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

). The course contains curves and variations of height (small hills and valleys and such), so that skill as well as strength is an important factor.

The field kloot is a round ball of wood or synthetic material, made heavier with lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

. The diameter of the kloot is mostly between the 7 and 8 centimeters, but these can deviate according to the preference of the participants. There is a minimum diameter of 5 centimeters.

Street

In the street (straat) version of Klootschieten, the rules are approximately the same as in the field version, except that the course (being a street, country lane or similar) and the ball (being heavier) are different. An important consideration in the street version is to keep the ball away from obstacles such as ditches, gutters, streams, long grass etc., which would obviously reduce the distance of ones "shoot". The experienced player will sometimes deliberately aim for such places on uphill stretches, to avoid the possibility of the ball rolling back downhill.

Setting

The goal in the standing or setting (zetten) style is to see how far the ball can travel in the air. Thus the measure of the throw ends at the point where the ball hits the ground (in contrast to the field and street variants).

Similar sports

In Germany a sport similar to field style Klootschieten is played, named "Boßeln" (Bosseln), while Klootschießen is the German name for the standing style. It is primarily played along the coast and borders of North Germany, such as in Ostfriesland, Oldenburg

Oldenburg

Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...

, Butjadingen

Butjadingen

Butjadingen is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch districts, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and on the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the...

, Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen

Dithmarschen is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony , and by the North Sea.-Geography:The district is located on the North Sea...

, Nordfriesland

Nordfriesland

Nordfriesland, English "Northern Friesland" or "North Frisia", is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia along with adjacent areas to the east and south and is bounded by the districts of Schleswig-Flensburg and Dithmarschen, the North Sea and...

, Emsland

Emsland

Landkreis Emsland is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia , the district of Bentheim and the Netherlands .- History :For a long time the region of the Emsland was...

, and Grafschaft Bentheim. It is also played in some parts of the USA by German and Dutch immigrants.

In Ireland, a similar game is played under the name road bowling

Irish Road Bowling

Irish road bowling is an ancient sport. It is centered in Ireland - primarily in County Armagh and County Cork. However, it also has players in Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, New York, and Bennington, Vermont, vicinity; Traverse City, Michigan; the Bronx, New York; New Zealand; Asheville, North...

.

European championship

In May 2004, the European Championship was shot in Westerstede

Westerstede

Westerstede is the capital of the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km northwest of Oldenburg.-External links:*...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

At the adult level, the German FKB (Friesischer Klootschießer Connection) won all competitions. The individual winners:

• Catriona O'Farrell (women's, veld)
• Rena Ahlrichs (women's, straat)
• Ute Uhrbrook (women's, zetten)
• Dirk Taddigs (men's, veld)
• Henning Feyen (men's, straat)
• Stefan Albarus (men's, zetten)

German

• European Championship 2004.
• http://www.nordwestreisemagazin.de/bosseln.htm
• Rules of Boßeln.