Remember when you were young and all the kids on your street would meet outside, all bundled up in their colourful one-piece snow suits, to duke it out in a snowball fight?

First you’d split into teams, trying to decide who had the best throwing arm, who was the fastest, who had the best fort and who was the best snowball maker on the block. Once the teams were set, it was time to prepare a stash of snowballs, while discussing the tactical plan for the fight.

Then, all hell would break loose, with kids running, screaming, dodging, throwing and dinging each other in the head.

Remember how fun that was?

Well, if you’re 18 years of age or older, you can recreate that childhood memory during Jasper in January’s first ever “Canadian Rockies Snow Battle.”

The only thing is, there are a few rules, as this snowball fight is actually a full-blown tournament that will allow up to 60 teams of seven to compete.

The event is based on a Japanese sport called Yukigassen, which means snow battle. The first Yukigassen tournament was held in Japan in the late 1980s, and by 2004, the sport became so popular that there were 190 teams and 28,000 spectators in attendance.

The sport is like a cross between dodgeball and capture the flag. Two teams of seven face-off on a 40-metre-long court and attempt to either capture the opposing team’s flag, or eliminate their team members by hitting them with snowballs. On the court are three shelters per team and one shared shelter on the centre line, allowing team members a place to hide and catch their breath.

There are three three-minute periods in a match. In each period, both teams get 90 snowballs, for a total of 270 snowballs per team, per match.

The teams are required to make their own snowballs before the match, under the supervision of a Yukigassen official.

Now, that might sound daunting, rolling and compacting nearly 300 snowballs with a diameter between the regulated 2.5 to 2.75 inches, but it’s actually made easy with the help of snowball makers. (If only we had those when we were kids!)

Yukigassen is already being played in other Canadian cities, including Edmonton and Saskatoon, but this will be the first tournament in the Canadian Rockies.

The event will take place over two days, Jan. 27 and 28, at Centennial Park. The first day will include exhibition games, between up to 30 teams. The second day will be the main event, with up to 60 teams competing.

So far, one team has registered for the tournament, which is being organized by Tourism Jasper.

“The Canadian Rockies Snow Battle will be an incredible addition to the Jasper in January festival lineup,” Maggie Davison, CEO of Tourism Jasper, stated in a press release. “We anticipate the excitement building in our region. From new ski lifts at Marmot Basin to dynamic snow battles, the winter experience in Jasper just keeps getting better.”

For those who don’t want to compete in the snow battle, but do want to participate, Tourism Jasper is looking for referees and volunteers.

Those interested in refereeing will be trained on Jan. 7, 2012 by Yukigassen Canada’s Carrie Ferguson. This intensive one-day training program finishes with a “Learnament” where referees can participate and try their hand at capturing the flag and firing some snowballs.

To register a team, visit www.CanadianRockiesSnowBattle.ca. To become a referee, email BattleRef@jaspercanadianrockies.com. Or to become a volunteer, contact Debby at phatcateventplanning@gmail.com. 

Yukigassen by the rule book

How to win a snow battle

There are three three-minute periods in a Yukigassen match. Within those three periods, there are numerous ways to win the battle.

• If a team wins the first two periods of a match, it is declared the winner.

• If each team wins a period, then it is the winner of the third period that takes the match.

• If the third period comes out in a tie and each team has won a period, all of the period points are tallied up and the team with the most points wins.

• If the match is still tied after tallying the points, the winning team will be decided in a shoot-out (or “victory throw”).

How to win a period

• A team wins a period by a score of 10-0 when one of its athletes captures the other team’s flag. (If a flag is pulled just as the period’s ending whistle sounds, it is not considered captured.)

• A team wins a period by a score of 10-0 when it has eliminated all of the opposing team’s athletes.

• A team wins a period if it has more active players on the court than the opposing team when the ending whistle blows. Each team will receive one point for each active player.

• If both teams have the same number of active athletes on the court when the time expires, the period is declared a draw and each team is awarded one point per active athlete.

You’re outta here

In a game of Yukigassen the following players are called out:

• A player who is hit by a snowball.

• A player whose foot crossed an end line or sideline.

• A player who is a forward whose foot crosses his own team’s blue line.

• A player who makes an illegal snowball.

• A player who hides or carries a snowball inside his or her clothing or penny.

• When two players hit each other simultaneously they are both considered out.

You can stay

Under the following circumstances a player is NOT considered out:

• When a player is struck by a crumbled snowball.

• When a player is struck by a snowball that has rebounded  off of something first (another player, the ground, a flag, a shelter, a chateau, etc).

• When a player is struck by a snowball from an “outed” player, or a snowball that came from outside of the court.

• When a player is struck just as a period’s ending whistle is blown.