Amongst the many ancient treasures lost with Atlantis were the original shells, gilded ducks and decorated courts of the ancient game of Duckball.  Although the trappings of the game, and the great Atlantean athletes who played it, were lost, the game lived on.  Carried from Atlantis on trading ships were scraps of knowledge about how the Nobles, Priests and Power Brokers of Atlantis would gather in the sacred pools and compete.  Many an alliance, treaty and trading deal were made and broken on the spin of a duck.  Carried to the four corners of the civilised world, and beyond, were the stories of the power of the Golden Ducks.  Like so many of the Atlantean gifts, the stories of Balling the Duck became absorbed into local legend and evidence of this can be seen in the Duck symbolism in Mayan temples, Golden Ducks in the hieroglyph on the Great Pyramid at Giza. 

But what of the rules and playing the game?  Did the game live on, or was it just remembered?  Possibly due to its origin as a Game played only by the great, and with the prospect of an unpleasant end for those of lower status who dared to emulate, any game playing that spread with the stories, was a strictly secret affair.  Never the less, game playing continued and flourished in successive ancient civilisations, from Egyptians to Greeks, Romans to Moors, from Persia to the far east.   It is no coincidence that Duck continues to be a Chinese delicacy to this day.  So mystical was the draw of the game in the ancient world that it once again became the preserve of the sacred and secret.  Only the initiated could be enlightened with the rules, or allowed to view the games in play.  And only the very powerful could participate.  And all the while, it remained shrouded in mystery, beyond the fringes of respectability.  Despite its origin as the game of Kings, it was never again adopted as part of the official power structures, and it continued to be something of a guarded secret.

Unfortunately for the champions of the duck, not everybody was happy about the widening popularity of the royal game within the ancient power circles.  As suspicion rose in the official corridors of power about the influence the players of the Balled Duck had, so its players became more secret and devoted.  As with all suspected subversive activities, it became the focus for investigation, discrimination and persecution.  The Game of Kings had to go further into hiding, disappearing from social record except in coded and cryptic references.

It is a credit to the skill of the persecuted duckballers in going underground, not to mention the official ‘cleansers’ that there is not one surviving reference to the sacred game in either the bible, the doomsday book or in any of the plays of Shakespeare!  Even the Spanish inquisition, whose real origins were an especially appointed school of priests tasked with stamping out the game, made no reference to their real purpose in any of their documents. 

There have been suggestions that in an attempt to suppress the game, a conspiracy of puritans has cleansed historical record of references to the sacred game.  The chosen few who carried on the Game of Kings had managed to slip disguised references into many literary works and official documents.  There then followed a period of clumsy re-writing of history by the official Duck Cleaners.  In some cases the replacements are laughable.  Duckball.co.uk can confirm that "let slip the dogs of war" is one example of this cleansing.  The original battle-rage inspiring exaltation was in fact the traditional Duckball battle cry "let slip the ducks of ball".  It beggars belief that the Duck Cleaners thought the world would believe the idea of “dogs of war” as something in any way intimidating!

Despite the persecution, the game survived and in the enlightened times of the late 20th century, began to emerge once more.  If not quite respectable, the Game of Kings became more obviously accepted.  During the post WWII years, with the cold war in full swing, Duckball was, curiously, suspected by both the forces of the West and the Communist states.  As with previous persecutions, the guardians of the Balled Duck gradually began to surface and arrive at a balance of marginal respectability.  It is no coincidence that at this time one of the symbols of the flourishing middle class was a set of Flying Ducks prominently displayed in the homes of the players.  A sign to other players that they were amongst friends.

The modern game surfaced properly in the mid 1980's and has continued to be a visible, if exclusive, feature of the sporting landscape.  No longer the preserve of royalty and religious leaders, the game has adopted a more 21st century status.  The power brokers of the modern age are Medics, Engineers, IT specialists, Journalists and (how do you classify what Alf does?).

In the last few years a rather poor imitation of the game has surfaced in the United States.  Apparently the contestants of a pointless game show called Big Brother are claiming to have invented a game called Duck Ball.   Although there are some slight similarities, the US version is very inferior and puerile and is in no way related to Real Duckball.  Accept no imitations. Duckball.co.uk is committed to stamping out this slur on the reputation of the great game and will be seeking suitable redress through the courts.  Your assistance as a supporter of the real game is greatly appreciated! 

Here at duckball.co.uk, the official home of the "Duckball as an Olympic Sport" campaign, we are disappointed that Greece 2004 will not be the first modern Olympics to recognise the ancient game; one of the few events of the ancient Olympiads not yet adopted. We are hopefull for 2012 and consider our chances significantly better than those of the Olympics being held in London!

Here’s to the future.