Half-rubber tourneys offer best chance of survival for this home-grown game

Tournaments play a key role in most sports but may be critical in keeping the Lowcountry's most home-grown sport alive.

Provided/Michael Ford

Spectators enjoy a previous Man of the Sand half-rubber tournament at Folly Beach.

Half-rubber, a sport similar to baseball but played without the bases and with only half a ball, is nearly a century old and barely exists beyond the coastal regions of Charleston and Savannah.

In this age when soccer, "extreme" sports and the big three compete for the attention and participation of future generations, tournaments hold a key for the survival of half-rubber.

Local tournaments provide an opportunity for teams to have bragging rights, draw players from outside of Charleston and continue a regional rivalry with Savannah, and give half-rubber exposure as an organized sport on the beach and at parks.

Provided/Michael Ford

A participant in the Man of the Sand half-rubber tournament at Folly Beach takes his turn at bat.

"I think competitive half-rubber would die if there were no tournaments," says David Wallace, 47, of Goose Creek. "People would still go to Piggly Wiggly, buy balls and bats, and play a little on the beach or whatever, but no one would take it as seriously as we do now."

Wallace adds that the die-hard half-rubber players compete in tournaments because they tend to play every weekend anyway, rather than practicing on weekends to compete in tournaments.

The half-rubber tournament season kicks off this weekend with the Man of the Sand Tournament on Folly Beach.

Victor "Flat Top" Hayes, 45, of Goose Creek says Man of the Sand is special not only because it's the first, but "more importantly, this is the only (one of two) current tournament(s) that is played in the sand and on the beach." It's also one of the most popular tournaments of the year.

"The average turnout of the 'Man of the Sand' tourney is around 35 to 40 teams or about 150 players," says Hayes. "Then you have the friends and family of the players coming to watch, which adds another 200 to 300 people plus all the normal Folly beachgoers. ... You have an event on the beach of around 600 people dressed in bathing suits and bikinis, making friends and having fun."

Provided/Michael Ford

Participants in a previous Man of the Sand half-rubber tournament eagerly wait to see how the brackets shape up.

Tournaments play another vital role. While participants are enthusiastic boosters of their sport, they also seemed equally fired up for the charities that the tournaments support. Last year, the inaugural Charleston Nine Memorial Half Rubber Tournament raised money for the families of last year's Sofa Super Store fire.

Man of the Sand raises money for Camp Good Times, a summer day camp for nearly 100 children with autism.

"It's one of our biggest fundraisers," says camp board member Ange O'Neal, adding that last year's tournament raised $8,000.

Like some sports, half-rubber is played on a variety of surfaces: beach sand, grass or hard courts. Some prefer certain surfaces, while others play them all.

Regardless, tournaments offer a chance for those who aren't familiar with the game to see its spectacular qualities.

Namely, when pitched, the half of a rubber ball cuts, curves and spins through the air in a way that few could imagine even nicking it with a bat, much less with one that looks like a mop handle.

There is a finesse to half-rubber that comes only with a certain level of maturity and fine-tuned hand-eye coordination, says Hayes.

"With baseball, you swing where the ball is at. With half-rubber, you swing where the ball is going to be. You have to see which way the ball is breaking before you swing."

2008 HALF-RUBBER TOURNEYS

The Lowcountry typically is home to seven or eight half-rubber tournaments every year. Like those who play the game, the scheduling can be a bit laid-back. The best way to keep track of the what, when and how to sign up is on halfrubber.com. Here's what's coming up in "half-rubber nation":

--MAY 17, 18: Seventh annual Man of the Sand Half Rubber Tournament, Folly Beach.

--JUNE 21: Summerfest Half Rubber Tournament, Ambuc Sports Complex, Savannah.

--AUG. 16: 10th annual Isle of Palms Half Rubber Tournament.

--SEPT. 20: Half Rubber World Series, Mount Pleasant.

--TO BE SCHEDULED: Charleston Nine Memorial Half Rubber Tournament in Summerville; Mid-Summer Half Rubber Tournament, Folly Beach; the Buddy Bowen Half Rubber Tournament, Charleston Elks Club; the Creek Masters and Battle in the Creek half-rubber tournaments, Middleton Park, Goose Creek.

Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or dquick@postandcourier.com.