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After my cousin suffered a broken collarbone playing football, my mother banned me from ever stepping onto a gridiron. As such, I invented Jersey Handball, a much safer game."

~Hank Clifton

Henry "Hank" Clifton, a South Jersey resident, has invented a new sport that he calls "Jersey Handball." Hank said it was founded six years ago as a cluster of ideas intended to make a new, safer form of football for spring. At the time, he was submitting ideas to a corporate office that owned the XFL. Hank is still working on tweaking his idea. Below, he explains how the concept came about. 

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Besides inventing a new sport, Clifton also makes the ball that is used in Jersey Handball. "Being a new team sport it's hard to get someone interested in trying something new.  I make the game's ball because every manufacturer is deathly afraid of lawyers."

 

 

 

Clifton released the following prepared statement: 

 

Oliver Luck played QB for West Virginia.  My grandfather was recruited and coached by Earle Neale. Coach Neale left to coach running backs at Yale. My grandfather transferred to Salem College to be closer to home. During the Depression, no one knew Football would be as popular as it is today. Baseball was king then. 

 

So, seeing my genetics bleed, Football Luck and others used a few of my ideas. I can't claim anyone else had the same ideas, but a few on the list I gave made it into their game. 

 

In 2021, I suffered two strokes. I was paralyzed on my right side. Suddenly, I had a lot of dead time on my hands. This bag of ideas in my memory began to decay. I even had a recurring dream. An older man dressed up like a 1930s mobster was standing near a park bench where I was seated. 

 

We never made eye contact. He'd say, "Write it down. You know what you want to see". This went on for a few weeks. I finally made the decision to ask the guy what this was about. I asked him his name. He said, "Call me Walt". The spooky thing is I didn't discover Walter Camp until I began actual research, which started two months later. 

 

I researched American Football's history and origin. I then investigated Rugby, Australian Football, and its parent game, Gaelic Football. Rugby and Gaelic Football were once the same, but the rules differed from field to field. 

 

Jersey Handball began as "Spring Football."  I also wanted it to be a safer form of competition.  The CTE hysteria was in full bloom. I've been watching football religiously since 1972. I was five. My mother banned me from playing the game after my cousin's compound collarbone fracture. That freaked her out. So I became a baseball catcher, but in my mind, I was Bill Bergey, Leroy Jordan, and Chris Hamburger rolled into one. I envisioned stuffing halfbacks just short of the goal line and leveling tight ends over the middle. I love the game. 

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Rugby and Gaelic Football were once the same. Their origin is Mob Football, which is still played on Shrovetide in Cornwall and Devon. Cornish Hurling is played with a silver ball between two villages. The ball is placed on the opposition's church steps for the win. It's a violent display. Participants dress in like colors and wear masks of face paint to disguise their identity. This is called "mummery." Sound familiar?

 

My ancestors were brought here as enslaved people resulting from the first Jacobite Rebellion in the 1690's. At that time, Celtic languages, such as Cornish, were outlawed. Everything Celtic was being quashed in favor of Anglo-Saxonism. My ancestors weren't indentured. Most were sent to Jamaica and died of malaria. My ancestor went to Lord Fairfax's property in Virginia, which included South Jersey. Enslaved Africans were also arriving at that time. The Ulster-Scots were used to teach them the Anglish Language. 

Our local teams get their names from historic places in our area dating back to when the Dutch were selling off the colony. 

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Gaelic Football is called Caid (pronounced "Kha'Yeed). This game was played when proto-European tribes roamed the Pontic Steppe. This is our root. 

 

The structure of Jersey is related to American Football. It will look a lot like Gridiron Football, but things had to be removed to make our game safer. In order to create a compelling sport, something had to be added after neutering Football. So it got a new set of balls. Strap in there's a lot of shtick. 

 

Whenever I removed something to make Football safer, I had to add something to increase the challenge or create excitement. So, I had a list of resources. There's Canadian Football, Australian Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League, and Gaelic Football to draw from. 

 

 

Canada provides the one-yard neutral zone. I added the "no three-point stance except the center." They also inspired the one-point score, even though our Ace isn't a rouge. 

 

I hate seeing punt returners letting the ball cross the goal line to our touchbacks come with points. This fundamentally separated our game from Football's entirety. We do have the "safe catch" for balls with hang time. If the returner (Bag Man) signals the safe catch, the official's whistle will short burst, telling coverage the ball is dead when the returner catches the kick. 

 

We also have a third ball status, or "Free Ball." When a player from each team touches a live ball, the ball is live after contacting the field. So, tipped passes become free balls. The ball is also dead when it crosses a boundary in the air. The ball must be caught over the field to be complete. 

 

We want the play on and over the field, which is why we have innings. This eliminates "hurry up" and players catching passes at full speed toward the sideline, where injuries happen. You can use the whole field, where everyone can see the play. 

 

 

Blocking is performed with the hands only and is allowed in the backfield and neutral zone only. The defense can't contact any offensive player except the ball carrier. Blockers can merely be in the way. Defenders must avoid contact and go around the blocker. Interior linemen won't be 5'10", 350 lbs. They'll be 6'4" basketball types trying to deflect passes, freeing the ball. 

 

This is safe and challenging. Nobody says Shaquille O'Neal is soft because he's not getting his bell rung in the paint. So, violent Football culture has no home with us. 

 

All of this weighs down the scale in favor of the offense, so we look to Rugby League for a structural answer to even things up for defense. We have six downs to score directly from the Rugby League. 

 

We also have a version of Rugby League's 40/20. In our game, if you kick a ball from behind a set line (G, 15, 30, or 45) and the ball travels over 3 set lines in total, contacts the field before going out of bounds without crossing a 4th set line, the striking (kicking) team retains possession where it left the field with a new drive. This is the Line Out. If it was the top of the 2nd before the line out, it's now the top of the 3rd after the line out. The opponent loses possession. 

 

So what's a guy to do with no one allowed to block in an open field? You can pass the ball back in our game, like in American Football or Rugby. You can also strike the ball by hand or Foot Forward to pass and score. This comes from Gaelic Football.  The Aussies have this, too. So defenders can't stop covering a player after a completed forward pass. 

 

See where this is leading? It's an entirely different game. 

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We are recruiting athletes now. We also need two coaches per team and volunteers who want to learn the game and become on-field officials. 

 

Jersey is designed for young adult athletes who want a team sport experience without a noggin flogging. 

 

When you have your hands on my balls, you'll get that instinctive feeling for avoiding the reach around while knowing precisely what to do with a more significant end zone. (Someone tells Ben Stiller this is his next movie)

 

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Our Pitch-Grid field is the secret weapon that allows us to operate in markets with a combined population of 6 billion. 

 

Our field lines can be applied to both North American Football fields and Rugby Paddocks without moving the other game's sticks. 

 

The end zones are different depths, but when all of your league's games are on one field, your end zones are your end zones. We do not care how big the end zone is—we shall penetrate!

 

Our concept is low overhead/high profit while blue-collar friendly. Our stars are "Jimmy Down the Street" playing a pro game on TV to wipe out debt. Our game is safe and compelling. 

 

I didn't even get to tell you about the casino gaming table played to the game on TV. 

Quanco.org  

 

Get the word out. 

 

Wilson might make the Duke, but Henry has the Earl.

 

Remember the first rule of Handball. You're not allowed to get hurt.

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For more information contact Mr. Clifton at [email protected]

 

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