Hocker (sport)

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Hocker is a team sport created in Fairfield, Connecticut by attorney John Henry Norton in the late 1950s. He spent about ten years refining it and promoting it in the 1970s. Norton built a field on his property and hosted a weekly game for his family and a small group of players and spectators. The nearby Boy's Club of America in Southport started a league for players aged 11 to 15, and by 1977 the league had grown to more than 1,100 clubs. The sport also spread to schools in Connecticut, California, and Florida, and appeared as an intramural sport at several colleges, including the University of Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State, and Miami-Dade Junior College.

Norton, who had 14 children, wanted a sport they could all play together, boys and girls of different ages, sizes, and skills. He also wanted a game he could play with them and enjoy himself. Hocker is fast and has simple rules.

Equipment and field: a 16-inch rubber ball (smaller balls possible) and a field about the size of a football field, enclosed by a fence. Two teams have nine players each. The ball can be dribbled like in soccer or basketball, kicked, punched, or headbutted, but not carried. Goals are 18 feet wide and nine feet high, with a double cross-bar at the top. Inside the goal, the space is divided into two rectangles and a center square.

Scoring: going through the largest area of the goal is 1 point; the upper rectangles are worth 3 points; the smallest center square is worth 5 points. A set ends when a team reaches 7 points. A short game is won by taking two of three sets; a long game is won by taking three of five sets.

By 1977 the Boys Club league was established and the sport was expanding to colleges, so Norton sought corporate sponsors to spread Hocker worldwide. A federation, Hocker Federation International, was founded. By 1977 it was reported that about 100,000 people played hocker in the United States and in countries such as Australia, Taiwan, and Brazil. By 1979 inter-college competitions began, and hocker was played in the Special Olympics. Bruce Jenner even played it on a 1978 episode of Good Morning America. Today, Hocker is not widely played. Three of Norton’s children pursued professional tennis, including Beth Norton, who played in the 1976 US Open.