1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

field, that the players there are unable to strike it back before itis dead.The number of the players, as a rule, is 14, there being 7 oneach side. The number can be less, but hardly larger.The captains of the different side, who are the only men thatreceive the serve, are called “pärk-karlar” (“pärk-men”), and theyare usually the best players.The points or “vunsterna” are four in number, viz: 10, 20, 30(“fullt” or set ball) and 40 (“vunnet” or game).The Play.The captains toss for innings. We can call the sides, the “Blues”and the “Yellows”. The Blues win the toss and the players take uptheir respective places. The placing of the men of each side is arbitrary,but the “pärkkarlen” of the “Ins” has his place behind the“backsticka” (back end) of the pärk. See the sketch.The Yellows, who are the outs, attack first, and endeavour to geta so-called “kas”, i. e., to get the ball dead, (i. e., so that it stops rolling),at a spot as far inside the defender’s part of the field as possible.If the Outs can get a “kas” behind the “bakstickan” or an imaginarycontinuation of this back end of the “pärk”, they have got whatis called “kas i baken” (dead ball at the back), the best that can behad and the two sides at once change places. If the Outs cannot succeedin getting any “kas” at all in their opponents’ territory, then theboundary line (“stötan”: see sketch) is “kas” or dead-ball line. Eachman, in turn, of the Outs, must, if necessary, (i. e. unless a “kas i baken” ispreviously made), serve (“slå in”— strike in) the ball with a strokeof the hand; i. e., he must endeavour to serve the ball from theboundary-line just in front of the “pärk”, so that it bounces thefirst time in the “pärk” without touching the sides of the same. Allthe first serves must be made from the “stöta”, or boundary line, infront of the “pärk”. If, when the ball is served, it should bounceoutside the “pärk”, or touch the side, the stroke (“hugget”) is afault, and the player that has made the fault cannot repeat the serve,but the next man on his side takes his place. The harder theserve is given, the more difficult it is to get the ball to bounce inthe “pärk”, but, on the other hand, a hard (“snarvt”) serve is alwaysmore difficult for the opponents’ “pärkkarl” to take. If theserve succeed, then the “pärkkarl” of the Blues (the Ins, or defenders),and he alone, endeavours with hand or foot to return this firstserve, after it has bounced once, as far as he can, back into the territoryof the Yellow (attacking) party which, in its turn, tries to get theball back into that part of the field belonging to the Blues. Shouldhe not succeed and the ball, after bouncing, becomes dead behind the“backsticka”, then “kas i baken” has been won by the Yellows andthe two sides at once change places. (See below.)In this way the ball is struck backwards and forwards until it is deadon one side or the other. After the serve, the ball may be taken inthe air or on the hop, after one bounce. The spot where the819