Newcomb ball

Newcomb ball
Game of Newcomb ball in action, 2015
Highest governing bodyNational Newcomb Advisory Committee (now defunct)
NicknamesNuke 'em
First played1895; 129 years ago (1895)
Characteristics
ContactNo
Team membersUp to 20 per team
Typemale and female
EquipmentSimilar to volleyball
Presence
OlympicNo
World GamesNo

Newcomb ball (also known simply as Newcomb, and sometimes spelled Newcombe (ball))[Note 1] is a ball game played in a gymnasium or court using two opposing teams and a net. Newcomb ball and the sport of volleyball were both created in 1895 and are similar in their design. The sport rivaled volleyball in popularity and participation by the 1920s.[1] The sport of throwball may be a possible relative.

Newcomb ball was invented in 1895 by Clara Baer, a physical education instructor at Sophie Newcomb College, Tulane University in New Orleans. The sport is one of a rare number of sports that were created by women and is of historical significance in American sport, not only for having been invented by a woman, but also for becoming the second team sport to be played there by women after basketball.[2] In 1996, an article in the Journal of Sport History written by Joan Paul speculated that Newcomb ball may have preceded the creation of volleyball and may have influenced its development.[2]


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  1. ^ Dale A. Somers, The Rise of Sport in New Orleans, 1850-1900 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972),
  2. ^ a b "Paul, Joan, "A Lost Sport: Clara Gregory Baer and Newcomb Ball", Journal of Sport History, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Summer 1996)" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-26.