How to Play Final Fantasy X’s Blitzball in Real Life

If you ever played Final Fantasy X, you know that the made-up sport, blitzball, had a pretty significant role in the game.  Well, back in 2002, my high school buddies and I had the grand idea of turning that fictional, water-based sport into a real game that we could play on weekends.

Granted we had to make some changes since the FFX blitzball is played in a giant sphere of water.  Well, being the 10-year anniversary of our beloved sport, I decided that it was high time to share the rules of a game that we loved to play and was pretty awesome in general.  So below are the official rules of how to play Final Fantasy X’s blitzball in real life.

BLITZBALL AREA OF PLAY AND GENERAL RULES

• Blitzball is best played in a small indoor basketball court gymnasium with walls relatively close to the out-of-bounds lines.  We used a church gym that my buddy’s dad worked at.
  • The reason you want a smaller gym is that having walls for the ball to bounce off of helps keep the game moving as you don’t have to chase the ball down all the time.
  • Also, there really is no out-of-bounds, so players can jump off walls, bounce the ball off walls, etc.
  • Everything and everywhere is playable.  Bleachers in the gym? Playable area.  Vending machines in the corner? Playable.  The ball can go anywhere and bounce off anything.  This was our way of simulated the sphere-like arena from Final Fantasy X.
  • We played 5-on-5, with 4 “court” players and 1 goalie per team.
  • To start the game, place the ball in the middle of the court and have all players start on the baselines (using traditional basketball court lines).  Have someone blow a whistle, yell “go!”, whatever and the game begins with a mad rush to get the ball first.
  • To win the game, a team has to score 11 points (I honestly can’t remember why we settled on 11.)

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

• We used a volleyball as our blitzball.  A good volleyball is easy to grip, relatively soft, and bounces well.  It will be common that the ball will slam into you at high speeds, that’s why I recommend a volleyball.
• For goals, we just set up a makeshift scoring area using trashcans, but any net or area that is about 8 feet across and about 8 feet tall will work.
• In Final Fantasy X, blitzball players would tackle each other in the water to steal the ball.  Well, we’re not in the water and we’re not padded, so we used flags as the method to stop the offense.

Sadly, we did not have the official ball and triangular goal available at our church gym in Indiana.

RULES FOR OFFENSE AND SCORING

• Play consists of moving the ball up the court any way possible.  You can just carry it, pass it, roll it, dribble it, kick it, whatever.  You can move forwards and backwards anywhere on the court at any time.
  • Players on offense may try to avoid defensive players by passing the ball away or performing stiff-arms, spin moves, etc.
  

  We tried to keep the rules as close as possible to the game. Hence the only kicking to score a point.

  • A player with the ball can only score by kicking the ball through the goal.
    • He must be wearing both flags at the time.
    • He can shoot from anywhere on the court.
    • The last contact with the ball by an offensive player must be from the foot or knee.
    • Shots can be performed as drop-kicks, running kicks, or “alley-oop” type kicks from passes from teammates.

RULES FOR PLAYING DEFENSE

Tackling and stealing the ball is actually harder in real life. Not to mention, much quicker.

• Defenders will try to steal the ball or stop the offense by forcing a turnover by pulling both of the ball carrier’s flags.
• A defender can only pull your flag is you have the ball.
• Once one flag is pulled, a player is ineligible to shoot and score.
• If a player has both flags pulled while holding the ball, it is an immediate turnover.  The offensive player must immediately give the ball to the defender.
• Once a defender pulls a flag, the defender must immediately drop it on the ground at the spot where they pulled it.
• A player can pick up his flags and reattach them at any time, but he must have both flags attached to become eligible to score again.
  • You do NOT have to pick up your flags immediately.  If only one flag has been pulled, you can still play on offense, but you can only pass and move the ball around until you reattach your missing flag.
  • Defenders will try to block the shot pretty much any way possible or by pulling the ball carriers flag so he can’t shoot.
  • There is a fair amount of contact in the game, much like there is in flag football, but as all of us that played were pretty good friends, we didn’t run into issues with getting too physical.  But theoretically, if you felt you were literally tackled, then you could call a foul.

That’s really the general gist of the game.  It’s been years since I played, but back in 2002-2003, my buddies and I played this fairly frequently and it’s a lot of fun.  It’s very fast-paced and very tiring, but if you get the chance to play with 10 friends, it is a blast.

I wish I had pictures or footage of how we played, but it was 10 years ago, well before any of us had digital cameras or smartphones with us all the time.  Feel free to leave comments for me with any questions.