Grand Drywall Ball League

Grand Drywall Ball League

Liga Bola Drywall Besar
Abbreviation	DBL
Formation	1914
Founded at	San Fernando, Slokais Islands
Type	Drywall Ball League
Headquarters	San Fernando, Slokais Islands
Website	DBL.si

The Grand Drywall Ball League (Liga Bola Drywall Besar) is the top flight of Slokasian drywall ball founded in 1978 by the creator of the sport itself Fredrick Jones. 28 teams compete for the Stacy Daniel's Trophy, the national championship of Drywall Ball in Slokais. Two teams are relegated to the G2 League at the conclusion of each season, and replaced with the champion and runner-up of the G2 League.

Rules

The Grand Drywall Ball League, as the first professional Drywall Ball league in the world established the rules of the game of Drywall Ball is played even among amateurs. The game is played between two large walls each about 15-20 feet high, depending on the court. The length between walls is regulated at a precise 115 feet between each wall, with each wall being 35 feet long. There are two teams of 15 players, organized into three lines, Attacking, Grand, and Final. The goal of the game is to get the ball to touch the opponent's wall without leaving your half. To start a play you must serve the ball such as in Volleyball, however, to pick it up you must use your feet to scoop it into your hands. You can however touch the ball when it's on the ground if you are in the Final Line, who must start back to the wall. Play is divided into 25-minute halves, although the play is stopped if the ball leaves the field of play if this happens, a throw-in occurs, where the player closest to the dead ball may throw it back into play. Crossing over the halfway line results in a restart where the opposing team gets to serve. Players may also be subbed in or out during transitions or a dead ball. Teams and players may also receive penalties for using any other body part to pick up the ball or engaging in improper conduct or roughness with other players. These penalties result in a free serve for the opposing team if a player receives more than 5 penalties they are ejected from the game and may not be replaced. If a team has fewer than 9 players they must forfeit the match.

Players are organized into Attack, Grand, and Final Lines. The Attack Line consists of a Server, who serves the ball from a dead ball or penalty. The Server is typically flanked by 2 or 3 Center's who usually pass to the Server. On the left and right wings are the Wingers, who often have the best kicks on the team. The Grand Line is typically spread between the Attack and Final Lines consisting of usually fast and agile players who typically pass to the front for a quick counter-attack. The Final Line consists of 2 Keepers, distinguishable as they are typically the only players to wear gloves. The remaining three players are spread out along the wall and act as defenders.

League Structure

The league's 28 teams are divided into 4 divisions. Each is named after the original teams at the school where Fredrick Jones developed the game of Drywall Ball. Each division has 7 teams and play against each other more often than teams from other divisions. The top 2 teams from each division advance to a second round, while the bottom team from every division play each in a group, with the bottom 2 being relegated from the league. The Second Round is contested by the top two teams, in the Blue, Gold, Silver, and Green Divisions. Each team then plays each other, with the top two teams in the group of 8 playing each other in a best-of-three series playing for the Stacy Daniel's Trophy.

Blue Division

Team	City	Stadium	Capicity	Championships	Years
Southland Althletic's	New Liverpool	Southland Event Center	24,340	(0)	1986-
New Liverpool Ballclub	New Liverpool	New Liverpool Stadium	64,780	1979, 1981, 2001	1978-
Northrock United	New Liverpool	SunTech Stadium	55,340	1993-1995, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2017, 2019	1990-
South Riverlands Steamers	Brighton City	Brighton Commons Arena	19,340	2014, 2022	2004-
San Jose Titians	San Jose	Dasi Motors Arena	25,200	1998, 2023	1995-
Pinjiang Valley Miners	Quindagana	Riverside Center	17,420	(0)	2014-
San Sabla Catamounts	San Sabla	VU Energy Arena	18,100	(0) G2 League (2020)	2021-

Gold Division

Team	City	Stadium	Capicity	Championships	Years
San Fernando Ballclub	San Fernando	Promenade Stadium	52,430	1980, 1982-1985, 1988, 1997, 1990, 2006, 2020	1978-
Salvador City Pythons	San Fernando	Canalside Park	22,710	(0)	1990-
Banco Grande Hawks	Las Pinas	Tri-City Arena	30,120	1986, 2013	1985-
Wojiang Bay Pirates	Point Lee	PLI Industry Center	48,700	1991, 1992, 1999	1988-
Ambonar Seahawks	Benian City	Wake Health Arena	19,050	(0)	2013-
Colorado Waterbuffalo	Pinjiang	Baoxian Indoor Stadium	21,300	(0)	2008-
Hua-Qisa Warriors	Hua-Qisa	Island Municipal Park	9,100	(0) G2 League (2022)	2023-

Silver Division

Team	City	Stadium	Capicity	Championships	Years
Victoria City Ironmen	Victoria City	Antonio Mendes Arena	35,200	1979, 1987, 2008	1978-
Ciudad Victoria Bateadores	Victoria City	Estadio Municipal	28,760	2009, 2012, 2016	1990-
Beaufort Lightning	Beaufort	Pezca Arena	20,120	2007	1995-
Pindai Brown Bears	Pindai	Pindai Event Center	23,120	(0)	2002-
San Fernando Valley Stars	Buena Vista	Zhang Auto Arena	18,100	2018,	2013-
Xulin Greyhounds	Xulin	OVE Arena	12,320	(0) G2 league (2013)	2009-
Kirkwall Islanders	Kirkwall	Elnora Park	15, 300	(0)	2014-

Green Division

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Championships	Years
Kaijan City Dragons	Kaijan City	Kaijan National Stadium	54,320	1989, 1996, 2021	1978-
Pendang Knights	Kaijan City	Zanial Abdin Arena	24,390	2002	1998-
Dockland Ballclub	Kaijan City	ATEC Arena	16,500	(0)	2017-
Ciudad Esenavda Broncos	Ciudad Esenavda	Palacio de los Broncos	26,000	2003, 2015	1995-
Cupertino Clippers	Cupertino	Bayside Stadium	18,000	(0)	2013-
South Kaijan Lions	Magdgana	Mohammed Zavala Dome	24,590	2005	1994-
Clydewood Valley Wildcats	Clydewood	Clydewood Event Center	9,340	(First Season)	2023-

2023-2024 League Table

Blue Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	San Jose Titians	30	24	6	1358	710	1.45	72	Advances to knockout rounds
2	New Liverpool Ballclub	30	22	8	1210	860	1.40	66
3	South Riverlands Steamers	30	19	11	910	688	1.32	57	Transfers to Wild-Card round
4	Southland Athletics	30	16	14	827	878	0.94	48
5	Northrock United	30	16	14	845	912	0.92	48
6	Pinjiang Valley Miners	30	11	21	511	1120	0.45	33
7	San Sabla Catamounts	30	7	23	433	1289	0.33	21	Sent to Relegation play-off

Gold Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	San Fernando Ballclub	30	28	2	1297	654	1.98	84	Advances to knockout rounds
2	Salvador City Pythons	30	25	5	1176	886	1.32	75
3	Banco Grande Hawks	30	18	12	945	765	1.23	54	Transfers to Wild-Card round
4	Wojiang Bay Pirates	30	17	13	818	789	1.03	51
5	Colorado Waterbuafflo	30	15	15	760	801	0.94	45
6	Ambonar Seahawks	30	11	19	718	1076	0.66	33
7	Hua-Qisa Warriors	30	9	21	517	1306	0.54	27	Sent to Relegation play-off

Silver Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	Ciudad Victoria Bateadores	30	26	4	1210	907	1.33	78	Advances to knockout rounds
2	Pindai Brown Bears	30	24	6	1108	812	1.36	72
3	Xulin Greyhounds	30	19	11	989	807	1.22	57	Transfers to Wild-Card round
4	Victoria City Ironmen	30	19	11	1005	954	1.05	57
5	San Fernando Valley Stars	30	15	15	890	987	0.90	45
6	Kirkwall Islanders	30	12	18	698	1212	0.57	36
7	Beaufort Lightning	30	7	23	476	1401	0.33	24	Sent to Relegation play-off

Green Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	South Kaijan Lions	30	25	5	1198	605	1.98	75	Advances to knockout rounds
2	Kaijan City Dragons	30	24	6	1230	897	1.37	72
3	Ciudad Esenavda Broncos	30	21	9	1016	907	1.12	63	Transfers to Wild-Card round
4	Pendang Knights	30	19	11	932	901	1.03	57
5	Dockland Ballclub	30	14	16	800	878	0.91	42
6	Cupertino Clippers	30	12	18	632	1102	0.57	36
7	Clydewood Valley Wildcats	30	10	20	570	1178	0.48	30	Sent to Relegation play-off

Wild Card Round

23-24 Grand Drywall Ball League

16:30 CSST

Blue and Gold Wild-Card

South Riverlands Steamers	39–41	Banco Grande Hawks

Brighton Commons Arena, Brighton City, Slokais Islands

Attendance: 19,210

Referee: Paul Norenga (Slokais Islands)

2023-24 Grand Drywall Ball League

16:00 CSST

Green and Silver Wild-Card

Ciudad Esenavda Broncos	28–41	Xulin Greyhounds

OVE Arena, Xulin, Slokais Islands

Attendance: 12,300

Referee: Alexander Chen-Ke (Slokais Islands)

Second Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	San Fernando Ballclub	9	7	2	256	87	2.94	21	Championship Game
2	San Jose Titians	9	7	2	242	101	2.39	21
3	South Kaijan Lions	9	6	3	270	154	1.75	18
4	Salvador City Pythons	9	6	3	256	161	1.59	18
5	New Liverpool Ballclub	9	5	4	178	159	1.11	15
6	Ciudad Victoria Bateadores	9	5	4	128	131	0.97	15
7	Banco Grande Hawks	9	4	5	107	209	0.51	12
8	Kaijan City Dragons	9	4	5	97	198	0.48	12
9	Xulin Greyhounds	9	3	6	105	121	0.86	9
10	Pindai Brown Bears	9	1	8	79	269	0.29	3

History

Orgins and Early History

The Grand Drywall Ball League was founded in 1978 by Fredrick Jones. Jones invented the sport in 1971 as a PE teacher at his High School in New Liverpool. The game was created to build teamwork and accountability among his students. One of his students Stacy Daniel began to teach others at San Fernando University in 1973. Eventually forming a small league among students at the university. He then connected with other students who were in Jones's class. This led to 4 teams being created, New Liverpool Ballclub at the University of New Liverpool, the previously mentioned San Fernando University. And the Victoria City Ironmen and Kaijan City Dragons at UNL-Victoria and Mohammed Zavala College respectively. In 1978 the league became professional holding its first season over 6 weeks, with each team playing each other. The winner was decided via the number of points, that being NL Ballclub.

1979-1985: The Collegiate Era

In 1979, the Victoria City Ironmen won their first title although like many seasons of this era also won the Collegiate League. The season was regelated to a warmup for college teams warming as colleges started a successful league with 20 clubs. This led to an era of domination by the only team fielding non-college players, the SF Ballclub. From 1980 to 1985, they only lost once in 1981 to their rivals NL Ballclub. In 1984 SF Ballclub won on a last-minute fullcourt serve against the rivals NL Ballclub to win the league. This game was also the first to be broadcast on TV, with it being shown live on Public Acess TV in New Liverpool. The moment was picked up by sports journalists with the SIBC who reacted to the segment. This brought new attention to the league, and as a result, the 1985 season was the first to occur in the now traditional November to May window, and the expansion franchise the Grand Bank Hawks.

1986-1995: The Expansion Era

The Grand Bank Hawks made immediate results in their first season winning the first Stacy Daniel's Trophy, named for the league's first commissioner and founder. This was also the first season with a playoff system, consisting of the top 4 teams. The Grand Bank Hawks were led by Richard Morales, Morales is considered the league's first true star for his serving abilities, often scoring from the initial serve. This led to rule changes restricting the inbound area at 15 feet to give defenses a chance against powerful hitters like Morales. Between 1988 and 1990, the league expanded to 10 teams. This led to the league being divided into two divisions of 5 teams, Blue and Gold. In 1990 the wild card system was introduced with the top 2 teams from each division making the post-season and the two 3rd placed teams playing each other, while the overall number 1 team by record had a bye-round. 1990 was the first season where all games were broadcast on various local SIBC stations, growing the fanbases of teams. During this time, the league was dominated by two teams, Northrock United and the Wojiang Bay Pirates. Both teams were part of their respective football teams and thus had by far the largest budget. In 1992, the Pirates created the first super-team by signing Morales, Hector Zhou, and Henry Johnson to a combined salary of 25 million marks. That season the team went 32-8, including an 18-game stretch of wins. They stormed through the post-season and swept SF Ballclub 42-25 in the final. The next season, Northrock United came in with a unique strategy, kicking. Although scoring with your feet instead of your hands was allowed under the rules, it was a rarely used tactic. Nortrock however used football players from its reserve squad to kick directly from the initial serve. This overwhelmed poor defensive teams, often leading to high-scoring matches. Over the course of the three-peat, Northrock went 101-34 in all games and moved into SunTech Stadium, becoming the most attended team by far over those seasons.

1996-2002: The Divisional Era

In 1996 the 4 division format was created, with the winner of each division making a 4-team playoff. During this period, the top 2 divisional teams, played in a final after the regular season ended. This created a tense game such as in the 1996 Green Division Championship when the two teams with the best record in the entire league, Kaijan City Dragons and South Kaijan Lions faced off. The intense game went to sudden-death overtime that lasted three additional periods. The Dragons went on to win in a convincing fashion against a weak Beaufort Lighting team. The next season, was one of the most balanced seasons with the difference between the best team, San Fernando Ballcub, and Ciudad Victoria Bateadores, the worst being only 14 games. The next season, despite being bottom of their division mid-season, the San Jose Titans won their first and only championship to date. In 1999, the Wojiang Bay Pirates with the same core as the team in 92' as well as some new additions won in a classic 7-game series against Salvador City Pythons who remain titless to this day, a drought of 33 years. In 2000, Northrock United won again for the 4th time in 7 years using the same strategy that had propelled there wins in the mid 90s.

Awards and Trophies

In addition to Stacy Daniel's Trophy, the GDBL gives out a number of awards and trophies. Every season since 1990, the GDBL has given out awards voted on by a mix of legends, coaches, players and fans. Also since 1996, each division also gives it's own trophy contested by the top 2 teams in each division.

Grand Drywall Ball League Trophies

Year	Stacy Daniel's Trophy	Riverland's Trophy	SunMart Gold Division Trophy	Fredrick Jones Trophy	Islander Trophy	Commissioners Trophy
1996	Kaijan City Dragons	San Jose Titan's	San Fernando Ballclub	Beaufort Lightning	Kaijan City Dragons	South Kaijan Lions
1997	San Fernando Ballclub	Northrock United	San Fernando Ballclub	Victoria City Ironmen	South Kaijan Lions	San Fernando Ballcub
1998	San Jose Titan's	San Jose Titan's		Victoria City Ironmen