Jugger: From a Niche Sport to the World Championship

Foam swords, chains, and a ball that vaguely resembles a football: What looks to many spectators like a mix of fencing, rugby, and a jousting tournament is actually a tactically challenging team sport. In early September, Dresden will become the hub of the international jugger scene. At the “World Club Championship,” taking place September 4–6, up to 120 teams will compete against each other. A team from Halle, “Anima Equorum,” will also be participating.

The idea for the game comes from a movie

The game was inspired by the post-apocalyptic movie “The Blood of Heroes.” “I saw the movie with friends in 1992, and we thought about how we could play this game without the risk of injury,” recalls Lester Balz. He runs the website Jugger.de and has played a key role in developing Jugger from a game in a movie into a real sport. Teams from Europe, Australia, Japan, and the U.S., among others, are competing at the World Championship in Dresden.

One ball and many “pompfen”

“The playing field is 20 by 40 meters, which is about the size of a handball court,” says Hans Gottschalt, coach and instructor at “JuggerSportHalle.” He coaches the “Anima Equorum” team.

On the playing field, two teams of five players each face off against one another. Each team has one runner. The other players have what are called long and short “Pompfen”—special foam-padded sticks. “There’s also a foam ball attached to a string—the so-called ‘chain’—and shields. Each team is allowed only one chain; otherwise, the selection is up to them,” says Gottschalt. 

At the start of the game, the so-called “Jugg”—a padded ball—is placed in the center of the field. After the start, the runners rush toward the Jugg. Whoever has it tries to place it in the opponent’s goal. The remaining players are “Pompfers”: Their job is to protect their own runner and stop the opposing runner.

If a Pompfer is hit with a game stick, they must kneel for a specified amount of time. The duration is signaled via a loudspeaker as an audible beat. “If a Pompfer is hit by a chain, he must kneel for eight beats; one beat lasts 1.5 seconds,” says the coach. When Pompfers are taken out of the game, gaps open up in the opposing team’s defense. 

The runner himself does not fight with a Pompfer. He must try to get through the defense. A good team must shield its own runner, tie up opposing players, create openings, and simultaneously stop the opposing runner. For spectators, the scene is unusual: padded sticks are swung, players charge at one another, and others kneel at the edge of the field or on the field after being hit. If the Jugg is successfully placed in the opponent’s goal, a point is scored. Then a new round begins.

Tactics Instead of Just Hitting Away

There’s one important feature of Jugger. “The game only works if everyone plays fair,” says Balz. “Players must recognize when they’ve been hit by an opponent’s foam stick and count themselves out.”»

“Schools are now discovering Jugger for themselves,” says Felix Puhlmann, a teaching assistant at the Saale School in Halle. “The students learn good social skills through play, while at the same time the potential for conflict among the students is defused.” 

One player explains why he’s playing Jugger right now: “I’ve already tried various other sports, like soccer and handball. But those are often boring because usually only two players on a team are involved with the ball. In Jugger, on the other hand, everyone on the team has an immediate role and is constantly challenged.”

A small scene with a large tournament landscape

The Jugger scene in Saxony-Anhalt is small and concentrated primarily in Halle. There are three teams based in Halle: “Anima Equorum,” the youth team “Anima Lupi,” and “Jugglers Jugg.” In Magdeburg, another team, “Blut der Studenten,” is registered in the nationwide Jugger database. 

Jugger has been played in Halle since 2010. In 2015, the JuggerSportHalle e.V. was founded. Gottschalt is one of the founding members. Jugger is also played outside of Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia form a single region within the German competitive system.

Balz believes it is realistic that national federations will be established. “Jugger could be an Olympic sport in about ten years,” says Balz. “The prerequisite is that the sport is established in at least 30 countries and on three continents worldwide.”